Detour

Play trailer

Detour

1945,

1h 9m,

Crime/

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Stream Now

Watchlist

98%

42 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

98%

Tomatometer

42 Reviews

78%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

In New York, piano player Al Roberts (Tom Neal) laments when his singer girlfriend, Sue Harvey (Claudia Drake), leaves for Hollywood, Calif. When Al gets some money, he decides to hitchhike to California to join Sue. In Arizona, Al accepts a ride with Charles Haskell (Edmund MacDonald), but during a storm in a freak accident, Haskell is killed. Frightened, Al assumes Haskell's identity and car, but soon comes upon the mysterious Vera (Ann Savage), who seems to know all about his true identity.

Watch on Fandango

Stream Now

Stream

Rent Detour on Fandango, or buy it on Fandango.

Critics Consensus

Stylish and gripping, Detour offers further proof that a patsy and a femme fatale often add up to a satisfying story.

Read Critics Reviews

Mildred Martin

Philadelphia Inquirer

Dec 29, 2020

Tom Neal does extremely well in the long, difficult role of the petrified pianist whose misadventures are told in flashback; while Ann Savage all but blisters the screen with her venoemous, snarling performance as the vicious Vera.

Go to Full Review

Wanda Hale

New York Daily News

Dec 29, 2020

2/4

[Detour] is a morbid melodrama, depressing and uninteresting.

Go to Full Review

LA Times Staff

Los Angeles Times

Dec 29, 2020

One of the most poignant and disturbing stories to reach the screen in any year is this one. You're not just looking at a picture; you're right in it and suffering along with the man whose troubles are being told.

Go to Full Review

Fedor Tot

Vague Visages

Nov 7, 2023

Detour plays like a fever dream powered by guilt and dread; an existential noir about an American male lost in the nothingness and vastness of the country.

Go to Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

Dec 3, 2022

I like to think of Edgar G. Ulmer’s waking nightmare Detour (1945), an existential, almost surreal thriller, as the “B”-est film noir ever made.

Go to Full Review

Josh Larsen

LarsenOnFilm

Apr 6, 2021

3.5/4

...a quick, grimy, and above all else guilty picture.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Abraham S

Mar 27, 2019

A great Noir film by Edgar Ulmer that does not play out as a traditional Noir film. It moves like poetry as Al Roberts journey to be reunited with his love is thwarted by a series of misfortunes. Roberts sums it up best as he talks about the Saxophone player is not playing a love song but a dirge. Should be at the top of anyone's Noir list of films.

See more

Draco P

Dec 20, 2018

A smart, unpredictable, and often overlooked film noir, Detour deserves to be recognized as one of the most clever movies of its genre.

See more

Hermione R

Apr 28, 2018

Everything about this film (except the cinematography) is wrong. Insane acting by Ann Savage. Weird, badly-written script. But it's one of the most mesmerizing movies I've ever seen! Can hardly wait to see it again.

See more

Leia W

Nov 18, 2017

The good kind of ridiculous

Sep 15, 2017

It was so much fun to watch Detour again on a early Fall Friday evening! I love old black-and-white classics that give us a good tale in 60 minutes.

See more

Abraham S

Jul 22, 2017

What is most intriguing about Detour is its ability to convince us that Al Roberts is just unlucky, but with more than enough hints that tells us he is lying even when it is physically being acted. Is it fantastical or can a man have this much misfortune is a question that if you aren't asking at the end of the movie then watch it again.

See more

Read all reviews

Edgar G. Ulmer

Director

Tom Neal

Al Roberts

Ann Savage

Vera

Claudia Drake

Sue Harvey

Edmund MacDonald

Charles Haskell Jr

Tim Ryan

Nevada Diner Proprietor

99 River Street

100%

80%

99 River Street

Watchlist

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills

100%

94%

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills

Watchlist

Lessons of Darkness

100%

92%

Lessons of Darkness

Watchlist

High Sierra

92%

78%

High Sierra

Watchlist

I Can't Sleep

64%

76%

I Can't Sleep

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

In New York, piano player Al Roberts (Tom Neal) laments when his singer girlfriend, Sue Harvey (Claudia Drake), leaves for Hollywood, Calif. When Al gets some money, he decides to hitchhike to California to join Sue. In Arizona, Al accepts a ride with Charles Haskell (Edmund MacDonald), but during a storm in a freak accident, Haskell is killed. Frightened, Al assumes Haskell's identity and car, but soon comes upon the mysterious Vera (Ann Savage), who seems to know all about his true identity.

Director: Edgar G. Ulmer
Producer: Leon Fromkess
Screenwriter: Martin Goldsmith
Production Co: Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 30, 1945, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 1, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $12.2K
Runtime: 1h 9m

Join The Newsletter

Join The Newsletter

Cookie Settings