DETOUR, EDGAR G. ULMER, 1945

Detour, directed by Edgar G. Ulmer in 1945, is a deeply unsettling oneiric film. Often described as the quintessential low-budget film noir, its reputation has steadily grown making it a cult classic, and for good reason. Shot in just a few days, with minimal investment in production, Ulmer manages to create a highly stylized nightmare in the best tradition of the genre. The film’s visual dynamism, with surreally magnified objects, dramatic lighting, and overwhelming fog make this agonizing existential journey a truly unique experience. 

 While the film is devoid of big stars, both Tom Neal’s hapless and self-pitying portrayal of Al and Ann Savage’s acerbic and raw performance as Vera are superb. Vera not only makes every other femme fatale ofthe period look genteel by comparison; she is also one of cinema’s most ruthless characters.  

Ulmer, who began his film career assisting F.W. Murnau, migrated to the United States from Germany, as did many of the outstanding directors of Hollywood’s classic era, such as Frtiz Lang, Billy Wilder, andOtto Preminger. While he never received the recognition bestowed on the latter, he made more than 100 films and was hailed as the “King of Bs”. Detour is Ulmer at his best, offering a doomed adventure that is both abstract and realist, sparse and twisted, rotten and tender. If, as suggested by Kent Jones, film noir is a corrective to Hollywood gloss, then Detour is its most punitive manifestation.