Product: Detour [VHS] (1945)
Rating: 5.0
THE FINEST " B " FILM NOIR.
Quite possibly the bleakest and most nihilistic of the genre, it is well-known among film buffs that DETOUR was filmed on a shoe string budget in six days. Today this little gem enjoys an outstanding critical reputation for its depiction of a man caught in the grip of forces beyond his control. Neal is hitchhiking to Los Angeles to join his fiance. He is picked up by McDonald who tells him of a female hitchhiker he picked up earlier; she scratched him when he made advances toward her. When it begins to rain, Neal (who is driving while McDonald sleeps) tries to awaken the car's owner in order to put the convertible top up - and finds he's dead. Lo and behold, Neal stops to picked up Savage, the gal who was previously picked-up by the man he's just dumped - lifeless - in the the desert...Think you've got it figured out? Forget it, Charley, you haven't even scratched the surface! As the despicable vixen Vera, Ann Savage is no less than sensational and her comeuppance is the highlight of the film. A very significant, fine motion picture.