Detour
The life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend.
Cast
Our Take
Detour is proof that a great film does not need a real budget. Shot in about six days on threadbare sets, it tells a bleak, paranoid story of a hitchhiker whose road trip spirals into a nightmare of bad luck and worse decisions. Critic Roger Ebert included it in his Great Movies collection specifically because of how much genuine dread it manages to create despite its obvious limitations.
Ann Savage's performance as Vera is the film's most talked about element, a genuinely unsettling presence that elevates the material well beyond its budget. Like many films from this era, its copyright was not properly renewed, placing it in the public domain today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Detour public domain and free to watch?+
Yes, its copyright was not renewed after the required term, which placed it in the public domain and makes it legal to download and share today.
Why does this film look so rough technically?+
It was made on an extremely small budget in about six days, with sparse sets and limited production value, which was typical for low budget films of this era known as B pictures.
Is Detour worth watching despite its low budget?+
Many film critics and historians consider it one of the best examples of film noir precisely because of how much tension it creates despite its limitations, and it has been preserved in the US National Film Registry.
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