Product: Detour [VHS] (1945)
Rating: 4.0
Ann Savage - Nothing Else Needs To Be Said
Two words - Ann Savage - make this film worth viewing....and owning, if you are a film noir collector.She is not a major player here. There is one lead actor (Tom Neal) and a few supporting ones in this ultra-low budget, amateurish-production values film. However, her character "Vera" has a place in film noir history as probably the nastiest woman to ever make an appearance in this genre.Savage is so brutal that her insults, put-downs and nasty demeanor just make you laugh out loud. If this was made today, I could the imagine the profanity spewing out of her. She shows you don't need that to get your points across.The movie, as a whole, is not as good as many critics would have you believe. Until Savage enters, it's so-so at best. Since it's only 68 minutes, one can endure some mediocre material which features a real loser-of-a-man until the femme fatale arrives. Neal's character is one of the ultimate downers on film and his life is just one big soap opera, at least if you listen to him moan about it. Without Ann, one viewing of this film would have been enough because Neal is just too much of a whining wimp to endure more than once.....but sweet little Vera saves the day, er film.