7. Detour
Detour may take the prize as the purest distillation of film noir ever committed to film. Made on a pitifully small budget with limited resources in six days, Detour features all the great noir clichés: a down and out protagonist running from his past, a foul-tempered femme fatale, stylized dialogue, and a moody, bleak voiceover. It deals with a hitchhiker played by Tom Neal. He hitches a ride with a businessman one night who complains about his previous passenger, a crazy woman who scratched him. Much to the hitchhiker’s dismay, the businessman dies. He panics and throws his body into the desert and drives off. Too bad his next passenger is a fiery redhead who asks him where the real driver of the car is. She threatens to blackmail him because she knows that he has stolen the car. In that moment, their destinies become linked and they plunge towards a tragic outcome that they cannot escape. A filthy, messy production, Detour’s flaws become its greatest strength. It achieves a kind of transcendent power by wallowing in the filth of its story and creation. It is a dim, weary, claustrophobic masterpiece that will haunt you for the rest of your life. Just remember, be careful who you pick up by the side of the road at night…
Best Hardboiled Line
That’s life. Whichever way you turn, Fate sticks out a foot to trip you.