Detour

DETOUR is a very good example of what a film noir is, and yet it is not a very good film. Characteristic of noir films, DETOUR has a down on his luck man (a musician in this case played by Tom Neal) who is chasing after a girl. However, things keep getting in his way, and because the film is told in flashback by the musician, we know at the beginning that this man is doomed. In gritty, striking black and white the musician traverses across the California desert for Hollywood and his girl, spouting sci-fi-esque musings about the nature of the world. These half-assed Chandler-esque sayings are part of DETOUR's slightness, but the troubles that befall the musician are even slight in their executions. The musician makes his way by hitchhiking and comes across, luckily, he presumes, a man named Haskell who's going the whole way. This turn of luck is not the good king, he finds out, as Haskell mysteriously dies on the way. The musician figures he'll be fingered for the crime, as he isn't the most credible source as a hitchhiker, so he throws the body in the bushes with his own ID, and assumes the identity of Haskell. However, in this brisk transformation, the musician comes across more bad luck in the form of Ann Savage, who takes advantage of the hold she has over the man pretending to be Haskell, and gets everyone into a whole lot of trouble. DETOUR, as I have mentioned, is slight. But it is nevertheless an entertaining B film. And a lot of its charm comes from its director: Edgar G. Ulmer, who made many low budget films back in the 40's and 50's.
Detour: ★★★