+3
Detour (1945)
This for me is what noir is all about. With a sharp tongued voiceover narrated by the protagonist which could be coined straight from a Raymond Chandler novel, this is the story of down in the gutter luck. Told in flashback this piano player from a low rent club tries hitchhiking across country to be with his girl. After being picked up by a gambler who mysteriously dies on him, he assumes his identity to try and escape involvement.
Things then go from bad to worse when he picks up Vera. A highly strung femme fatale who compromises at nothing. After she tries to involve him in a fraudulent scheme his luck changes for the worst as she also ends up dead. Whatever way he turns he seems to be doomed. With the first death being chance and the second a pure accident, there seems no way that fate will give him a break.
This is a really tight film at only 69 minutes long which was probably due to film costs but this is actually perfect length. There isn’t time for the plot to relax and with only a few characters featuring, it’s straight to the point. Perfect noir atmosphere and poetic dialogue make this a poverty row gem.
Last edited by Thunderbolt; 11-11-22 at 04:55 PM.