Detour

"He went searching for love… but fate forced a DETOUR to revelry… violence… mystery!"

1945 1h 8m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

🔥

98%

CERTIFIED FRESH

⭐

7.3

IMDB

★7.2TMDB · 427🍅98%Rotten Tomatoes★7.3IMDB · 22,460

DramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend.

“He went searching for love… but fate forced a DETOUR to revelry… violence… mystery!”

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Cast

Tom Neal
Al Roberts
Ann Savage
Vera
Claudia Drake
Sue Harvey
Edmund MacDonald
Charles Haskell Jr.
Tim Ryan
Diner Owner Gus
Esther Howard
Hedy
Pat Gleason
Joe
Don Brodie
Used Car Salesman (uncredited)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Edgar G. Ulmer
Writers: Martin Goldsmith
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 68-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

81 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, shot by Benjamin H. Kline. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Leo Erdody. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor George McGuire shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Tom Neal and Ann Savage and Claudia Drake carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Edgar G. Ulmer directs. Benjamin H. Kline behind the camera. Leo Erdody scores. George McGuire cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 68-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
2Shot for just $0.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
381 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
5Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, shot by Benjamin H. Kline. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Leo Erdody. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor George McGuire shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Tom Neal and Ann Savage and Claudia Drake carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "He went searching for love… but fate forced a DETOUR to revelry… violence… mystery!".
10IMDB entry: tt0037638 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Benjamin H. Kline
Original score: Leo Erdody
Editing: George McGuire
Makeup / hair: Bud Westmore
Runtime: 68 min · 1h 8m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $30,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Detour (1945)
Rotten Tomatoes: 98% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.3/10 · 22,460 votes
MPAA: Approved
US box office: $16,172

Awards

1 win total

Also by

Edgar G. Ulmer

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

talisencrw2016-07-31
★ 9/10
This was excellent. One of my very favourite film noirs--and at a fraction of the budget. It made me instantly want to see ALL of Ulmer's films--as well as a lot more of Ann Savage. A priceless find for the adventurous cinephile.
John Chard2020-04-19
★ 9/10
Sleazy Nightmare! Playing out as some kind of fate accompanied nightmare, Detour demands repeat viewings since the running time is so short it leaves you hankering for more come the end. We follow the protagonist Al Roberts on the road, and watch (with accompanied narration) a sequence of events that see him in the middle of nowhere at a diner fearing for his future. Devilishly dark in tone, the film relies on a fine underplayed performance from Tom Neal as Roberts, and a gloriously annoying harpy femme fatale turn from Ann Savage as Vera. The film was made for next to nothing in only one week, and the whole film screams out as a low budget movie shot with a sleazy tint and less than stellar tech credits. Yet money can't buy this type of atmospheric misery, where the vagaries of fate play their brutal film noir hands. Upon release, it was just a poverty row "B" picture, and it passed by almost quietly. Unsurprisingly a few years later "French" cineastes picked up on it and as the years rolled by it has garnered critical reappraisals. So much so the likes of Scorsese and The Coen Brothers cottoned on and gleefully let the influence wash over them. Director was one Edgar G. Ulmer ("The Black Cat", "Bluebeard", "Strange Illusion", "Ruthless"), and here he shows himself the master of low budgetary nous and devilish story telling. 9/10
CinemaSerf2022-07-01
★ 5/10
I think that in order to get anything from this film noir, you have to accept from the outset that the acting is pretty poor. An implausibly weak Tom Neal, a downright irritating Ann Savage & an especially wooden Claudia Drake make this something you might win a perseverance award for, for sticking with. Tom Neal is driving across the USA when he makes a decision he soon regrets - picking up a rude, gobby woman (Ann Savage) on the highway who proceeds to rob, bully & blackmail him. Accidentally, she comes a cropper and (aside from a general feeling of thank the Lord from the audience) his relief is palpable. The route to his predicament is relayed via his somewhat pathetic retrospective narrative and her relentless onslaughts and they both combine to really grate after a while (say 20 minutes). It has little to redeem it, I'm afraid - neither the photography nor the script inject much pace and/or menace - it's just a tiresome tirade.