Sunday, October 06, 2024

TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 a.m. ET is Detour (1945), with Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Edmund MacDonald and Claudia Drake


[“Too Tawdry to be True?! And Starring a Real-Life Killer?! TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at 12:15 and 10 a.m. ET is Edgar G. Ulmer’s “Cult Classic,” Detour (1945), Featuring Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Edmund MacDonald and Claudia Drake.”]

By David in TN
friday, october 4, 2024 at 11:13:00 p.m. edt

TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 a.m. ET is Detour (1945) with Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Edmund MacDonald and Claudia Drake

This is the third time Eddie Muller has shown this one. The last sentence of Film Noir Guide’s overlong description is, “You’ll either hate it or love it.”

N.S.: Is it possible for David to be even more fed up with Red Eddie than he already was?

Yes, it is.



5 comments:

Anonymous said...

How many films were designated "film noirs" and how many haven't they shown?

Any suggestions of what they should show?

--GRA

David In TN said...

Film Noir Guide has a list of 745 films that are classified as "film noir." It's subjective. Some think any film of the 40s and 50s that are mystery or crime films fall into the category.

Eddie Muller has been doing this series for seven-eight years. Still hasn't shown some good ones, The 1946 version of The Killers for example.

Anonymous said...

Thanks,David in TN. I looked that one up--Ava Gardner in her prime and Burt Lancaster's first movie. How could they both not be movie stars?

--GRA

Anonymous said...

Don't know what's in the "Film Guide" or what's been on TCM (or even what movies they're licensing these days), but off the top of my head...

Sam Fuller's "The Crimson Kimono" (1959), "Brainstorm" (1965) (not to be confused with the later movie), "I Love a Mystery" (1945), Leslie Stevens' '"Private Property" (1960), "Crashout" (1955), "Walk the Dark Street" (1955), "The Last Crooked Mile" (1946), "Nightmare" (1956), and this little made-for-TV gem:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodnight,_My_Love

Then there's "Chinatown," which would make an interesting double feature with its parody version, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"!

Some of these films are on Youtube, if not there then on Ok.Ru.

-RM

David In TN said...

TCM's Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at 12:30 and 10 a.m. ET is Robert Florey's The Crooked Way (1949) with John Payne, Sonny Tufts, Rhys Williams, Percy Helton, John Doucette.

Film Noir Guide: "Silver Star winner Payne, with a piece of shrapnel still embedded in his head, is released from a military hospital after doctors have told him he has 'organic amnesia,' for which there is no cure. Military paperwork shows only his name and his hometown, so Payne decides to return to Los Angeles in the hope that someone will recognize him.

"He gets his wish at the airport when he runs into a couple of cops (Williams and Doucette), who call him by a different name and take him to the police station for questioning. (As it turns out, the war hero was a racketeer who turned state's evidence against his partner, Tufts, who ended up serving time).

"After being released by the no-nonsense cops and advised he's no longer welcome in L.A., Payne runs into is ex-wife (Drew), who immediately informs the vengeance-minded Tufts that Payne is back in town.

"Payne gives a solid performance as the amnesiac war hero, and Drew is good as his ex-wife, who ha started noticing some pleasant changes in him since his return. Tufts hams it up as Payne's sinister ex-partner, and girly-voiced Helton is wonderfully typecast as a wretched flunky.

David In TN: Eddie Muller finally shows a good one that hasn't been on Noir Alley. In late 40s movies, Los Angeles was full of war veterans with amnesia.