Discussion of "Detour"

Detour (1945) is an American film noir directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and starring Tom Neal and Ann Savage. It was released by Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC), a Poverty Row movie studio that operated during the 1930s and 1940s.

Al Roberts (Neal) is depressed that his career as a piano player is going nowhere. To top it off, his girlfriend Sue Harvey (Claudia Drake) quits her job as a singer in a New York City nightclub to pursue a career in Hollywood. With little money in his pocket, Al decides to hitchhike across the country with the hopes of marrying Sue when he gets there.

Charles Haskell Jr. (Edmund MacDonald), an Arizona bookie gives Al a ride in his Lincoln convertible. During the ride, Haskell takes several pills and at one point asks Al to drive. Al pulls over to put the top up with Haskell asleep in the car during a rainstorm. Al tries to rouse Haskell from his sleep but he appears dead. Al opens the passenger side door and Haskell tumbles out and hits his head on a rock.

Fearing that the police will think he killed Haskell, Al hides the body and assumes his identity along with his money and clothes. Al picks up a woman named Vera (Savage) who knows that he isn’t Haskell and doesn’t own the car he is driving.

What happens next is a battle of wills between Vera and Al as they travel West.

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