Kim Novak and Fredric March meet in the “Middle of the Night”

Middle of the Night (1959) is an American drama film directed by Delbert Mann and starring Fredric March and Kim Novak. The supporting cast includes Glenda Farrell, Albert Dekker, Martin Balsam, Lee Philips, and Lee Grant.

Betty Peisser (Novak) a recently divorced and working as a secretary for a clothing manufacturer. Her boss, Jerry Kingsley, a much older widower who lives with his unmarried sister Evelyn (Edith Meiser) listens to Betty’s retelling of her loveless marriage to her ex-husband George (Philips). At first, Jerry’s affection for Betty is fatherly. But as time goes by, the two begin to fall in love.

Will Jerry and Betty make their relationship work despite the backlash from their friends and relatives?

Kim Novak and Fredric March

Delbert Mann (1920 – 2007) was an American television and film director. He won the Best Director Academy Award for his first film, Marty (1955). Other Mann films include The Bachelor Party (1957), Separate Tables (1958), Middle of the Night (1959), Lover Come Back (1961), and Dear Heart (1964). Mann still worked in television, directing several movies including Heidi (1968), David Copperfield (1969), and Jane Eyre (1970).

Kim Novak (1933 - ) is an American film and television actress. She retired in 1991. Novak was one of the last “studio-created” stars during a time when the studio system was in decline. Born Marilyn Pauline Novak in Chicago, her name was changed to Kim after she signed a long-term contract with Columbia Pictures in 1954. By the next year, Novak was a major star working opposite the likes of Frank Sinatra and William Holden. Some of her significant films include Picnic (1955), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), The Eddy Duchin Story (1956), Pal Joey (1957), and Bell, Book and Candle (1958). Perhaps her most celebrated film is her dual role in Vertigo (1958) co-starring James Stewart and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. In 2012, the British Film Institute’s Sight & Sound critic’s poll voted Vertigo as the best film of all time. After retiring from film, Novak has devoted herself to painting and has exhibited her work publicly.

Fredric March (1897 - 1975) was an American actor and two-time Best Actor Academy Award winner. Also a famous stage actor, March won two Tony Awards as well and is one of a few actors to have won both the Academy Award and the Tony Award twice. March was an immediate success in films receiving his first Best Actor nomination in 1930. He won his first Best Actor Oscar for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932) and second for The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). During the 1930s and 1940s, March was a popular leading man starring opposite Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Janet Gaynor, Norma Shearer, Katharine Hepburn, and Carole Lombard. March continued acting on stage and in films until 1973, two years before his death from cancer.

 

Lee Grant and Kim Novak

Middle of the Night trivia

• Kim Novak considered this her best performance.
• Edward G. Robinson played March’s role on Broadway. Gena Rowlands had the Novak role on stage opposite Robinson.
• James Stewart, Ernest Borgnine, and James Cagney were all considered for the role of Jerry Kingsley.
• Jean Simmons was considered for the role of Betty.

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Discussion questions

1. Did you find the relationship between Novak and March believable?
2. Do you think May-December relationships can be successful in real life?
3. Was the chemistry between Novak and March believable?
4. Did you find the ending satisfying?

Gary Cooper and Ann Sheridan star in Leo McCarey’s “Good Sam”

Good Sam (1948) is an American comedy-drama directed by Leo McCarey and starring Gary Cooper and Ann Sheridan. The supporting cast includes Ray Collins, Edmund Lowe, Louise Beavers, and Ruth Roman.

Gary Cooper is Sam Clayton, a Good Samaritan who is so helpful to others that he neglects his own family. Sam’s wife Lucille “Lu” Clayton is frustrated with her husband’s efforts to help everyone he meets, including her free-loading brother who has lived with them rent-free for six months.

Will Sam’s “helpful” efforts destroy his career and family life or will he realize that he can’t save the entire world on his own?

Ann Sheridan and Gary Cooper

Leo McCarey (1898 – 1969) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. McCarey is perhaps most famous for his critically acclaimed and commercially popular comedies like Duck Soup (1933), The Ruggles of Red Gap (1935), and The Awful Truth (1937). Other popular films directed by McCarey include Going My Way (1944), The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945), and Good Sam (1948). McCarey won two Best Director Oscars for The Awful Truth and Going My Way.

Gary Cooper (1901 - 1961) was an American film actor who was known for his down-to-earth, understated acting style. He was a major star for almost four decades until his untimely death at age 60. Cooper got his start in silent film but easily made the transition to sound. During the early 1930s, he became a major star in films like A Farewell to Arms (1932), The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935), and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936). Other popular Cooper films include Meet John Doe (1941), Sergeant York (1941), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1952). Cooper won two Best Actor Academy Awards: Sergeant York and High Noon (1952).

Ann Sheridan (1915 - 1967) was an American actress and singer. Her movie career began in 1934 when she appeared in 19 films! Her roles were all small and mostly unbilled, but she appeared in another 20+ films before she was signed to Warner Bros. in 1938. She was given better roles and was groomed for major stardom. The studio dubbed her “The Oomph Girl,” a title she hated but helped contribute to her popularity. During World War II she was a popular pin-up girl. As a star, Sheridan starred in Angels Wash Their Faces (1939), Castle on the Hudson (1940), It All Came True (1940), They Drive by Night (1940), City for Conquest (1941), and The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942). During this time she starred opposite Warner’s top leading men including John Garfield, James Cagney, and George Raft. Her biggest success during this period came with Kings Row (1942), a film in which she received top billing over Robert Cummings, Ronald Reagan, and Betty Field. Sheridan made the transition to television and was starring in the weekly western series, Pistols 'n' Petticoats (1966-67) when she became sick with cancer. She died on January 21, 1967, at the age of 51.

Gary Cooper and Ann Sheridan in church

Good Sam trivia

• The film was a big commercial success which enabled Gary Cooper to negotiate a favorable contract with Warner Bros.
• Ann Sheridan was borrowed from Warner Bros. to co-star as Cooper’s wife, Lu.
• Director McCarey shot two different endings and let preview audiences decide which ending to use. The alternate ending is lost to film history.

 

Click HERE to watch the film on YouTube.

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Discussion questions

1. How would you, categorize this film? Do you consider it a comedy-drama, romantic comedy, or something else?
2. What did you think of Gary Cooper and Ann Sheridan as a married couple?
3. Do you think there was a serious message amidst the comic situations?
4. Did this film remind you of any others you’ve seen?

Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly in “Christmas Holiday”

Christmas Holiday (1944) is a film noir directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly. Audiences in 1944 might have thought they were going to see a light musical, considering the talent involved, but it’s a heavy drama with both Durbin and Kelly playing against type.

This was Durbin’s biggest box office success up to that time and Universal’s biggest hit of the year, but it’s practically forgotten today. The film has an interesting pedigree. It’s based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham, with a screenplay by Herman J. Mankiewicz (Citizen Kane). The cinematographer was Woody Bredell (The Killers, The Inspector General). It had an Academy Award-nominated film score by Hans J. Salter (The Reckless Moment), and a new song, “Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year” by Frank Loesser.

Deanna Durbin reads her fan mail. Durbin had the largest fan club in the world.

Like Judy Garland, Durbin had grown up on film. At 15, Durbin starred in Three Smart Girls (1936) and became an overnight sensation. She had the vocal range of a legitimate lyric soprano. Durbin had considered a career in opera, but the movies changed all that. In 1938, she was awarded the Academy Juvenile Award. Durbin starred in a string of box office hits where she was the wholesome heroine with a beautiful singing voice. In almost all of her features, Durbin would sing a famous opera aria. As she matured, Durbin wanted to tackle more adult roles. Durbin was 23 when Christmas Holiday was released. Critics weren’t too sure the role was right for Durbin, but director Siodmak thought she was a “real actress” and had confidence that she was up to playing the abused wife of a small-time criminal (Kelly).

This publicity still for Christmas Holiday belies the dark subject matter.

Kelly was brought to Hollywood and put under contract by M-G-M based on his performance in Pal Joey on Broadway. The same year that Christmas Holiday was released, Kelly, on loan to Columbia, starred with Rita Hayworth in the Technicolor musical Cover Girl. With Durbin and Kelly in the same picture, movie fans surely expected a musical or light comedy but were drawn into a complicated drama set during the Christmas holiday.

Despite the critics being “bothered” that wholesome Durbin was playing a woman of questionable character, audiences ate it up. It was a huge commercial success. Based on the film’s box office, Durbin signed a new exclusive six-year contract.

Click HERE to watch the film on YouTube

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Discussion questions

1. What did you think of Gene Kelly and Deanna Durbin playing against type?
2. Would you consider Christmas Holiday a film noir? If not a film noir, what genre would you categorize it?
3. Did the setting (New Orleans) add anything to the film?
4. The film has a strong supporting cast. Did any of the supporting performances stand out to you?
5. Did anything about the film surprise you?

Irene Dunne and Cary Grant discover “The Awful Truth”

 In 1937, Irene Dunne was at the height of her career. The year before, Dunne received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for Theodora Goes Wild, a comedy role she was reluctant to take. That picture was a critical success for Dunne and a huge box office hit for Columbia Pictures. So it wasn’t surprising that the next picture she would make for the studio would be another comedy.

From Stage To Screen
The Awful Truth was based on a play by Arthur Richman and brought to the screen with the aid of screenwriter Vina Delmar and Theodora Goes Wild screenwriter, Sidney Buchman, who went uncredited. Teamed with Dunne for the first time was Cary Grant. Grant quickly became a top leading man in Hollywood, but his pairing with Dunne was inspired and their on-screen chemistry delighted movie-going audiences. B.R. Crisler writing in his New York Times review said, “Miss Dunne and Mr. Grant, as the couple...have fun with their roles, and the pleasure seems to be shared, on the whole, by the [Radio City] Music Hall audience.”

What Is The Awful Truth?
The plot revolves around the marital woes of Lucy (Dunne) and Jerry (Grant) Warriner. Each becomes suspicious of the others’ marital fidelity, which eventually leads them to divorce court. After the divorce, Lucy and Jerry are consumed with foiling each other’s new romantic interests. Is the awful truth the fact that Lucy and Jerry are still in love?

Get Me Out Of This Picture

Irene Dunne and Cary Grant

Like Dunne in the previous year’s Theodora Goes Wild, Grant wasn’t too happy working on this film. Director Leo McCarey’s working style didn’t sit well with Grant and he tried to get out of the movie, even going so far as requesting he swap roles with supporting player Ralph Bellamy! McCarey liked to get spontaneous performances out of his cast, which meant a lot of on-set improvising, which Grant found unsettling. Eventually, things worked out for all concerned. Ironically, this is the movie that catapulted Grant to superstar status and is responsible for the Grant movie persona beloved by generations of moviegoers.

Comedy Triumph
For Dunne, The Awful Truth was a delightful experience. She loved working with both McCarey (who became a personal friend) and Grant. Professionally, it was another triumph. Once again, the critics raved about her and the film. And once again she was nominated for Best Actress by the Motion Picture Academy. If there was any doubt about Dunne’s comedy chops, they were all dispelled when the film was first released on October 21, 1937. Dunne and Grant would go on to star in two other popular films: the comedy My Favorite Wife (1940) and the melodrama Penny Serenade (1941).

Award Winner
The Awful Truth was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor. McCarey won the only Oscar for his direction and ensured his place in motion picture history.

Lasting Legacy
In 2000, the American Film Institute listed The Awful Truth at #68 on its list of 100 Years…100 Laughs. In 2002, the AFI listed it at #77 on the 100 Years…100 Passions list.

Leo McCarey (1898 – 1969) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. McCarey is perhaps most famous for his critically acclaimed and commercially popular comedies like Duck Soup (1933), The Ruggles of Red Gap (1935), and The Awful Truth (1937). Other popular films directed by McCarey include Going My Way (1944), The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945), and Good Sam (1948). McCarey won two Best Director Oscars for The Awful Truth and Going My Way.

Irene Dunne (1898 –1990) was an American actress and singer who was one of the most popular movie stars during Hollywood’s Golden Age. She is probably best remembered for her comedic roles, though she first became famous playing in melodramas like Back Street (1932) and Magnificent Obsession (1935). In fact, Dunne was so popular as a star of melodramas that she was dubbed “The Queen of the Weepies” by the press. Her comedic breakout performance was in Theodora Goes Wild (1936), earning her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She would go on to make other comedy classics like The Awful Truth (1937) where she earned another Best Actress nod, and My Favorite Wife (1940). Dunne and Grant were one of the most popular screen teams in movie history. All three of their films were critical and box office successes. Dunne earned five Academy Award nominations for Best Actress but never won a competitive Oscar. The fact that the Motion Picture Academy never awarded her an Honorary Academy Award for her work is a travesty.

Cary Grant (1904 – 1986) was an English-born American actor who became one of film history's most popular leading men. Grant started his career in vaudeville before heading to Hollywood. He became a superstar in the late 1930s in a series of screwball comedies including The Awful Truth (1937) with Irene Dunne. He was a memorable C. K. Dexter Haven in The Philadelphia Story (1940) opposite Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart. He received two Best Actor nominations for Penny Serenade (1941) and None but the Lonely Hearts (1944). Other classic Grant films include Gunga Din (1939), Only Angels Have Wings (1939), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). He made four popular films with Alfred Hitchcock: Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955), and North by Northwest (1959). He was awarded an Honorary Oscar at the 42nd Academy Awards in 1970.

Click HERE to watch the film on the Internet Archive.

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Discussion questions

1. Did either character, Jerry or Lucy break their marriage vows?
2. Do you think there was a serious message about marriage underneath all the comedy?
3. What did you think of Irene Dunne and Cary Grant together as a team?
4. Ralph Bellamy made a career out of being the other man. What did you think of his performance?
5. Did you have a favorite scene or piece of dialogue?

Joan Crawford, Dana Andrews, and Henry Fonda in Otto Preminger's Production of “Daisy Kenyon”

Daisy Kenyon (1947), based on the best-selling novel by Elizabeth Janeway, is one of many films referred to as “women’s pictures” during Hollywood’s Golden Age. In many ways, it fits that genre perfectly, especially with Joan Crawford—“an old hand at being emotionally confused” according to The New York Times review—playing the title role. However, in director Otto Preminger’s hands, it’s so much more, with the male protagonists, Henry Fonda and Dana Andrews, also grabbing the spotlight.

Andrews plays prominent attorney, Dan O’Mara who is married to Lucile (Ruth Warrick). They have two daughters Rosamund (Peggy Ann Garner) and Marie (Connie Marshall). O’Mara leads a double life: On the one hand, he’s a family man, and on the other, he’s a philandering husband carrying on an affair with Daisy (Crawford), a single career woman. The relationship is a strained one primarily because O’Mara refuses to divorce his wife and marry Daisy. Daisy is torn between her love for Dan and her desire for a relationship that doesn’t need to be kept secret. To complicate matters further, Daisy meets World War II veteran, Peter Lapham (Fonda). Not as exciting a character as Dan, but a safe one.

Who will Daisy choose? 

Otto Preminger (1905 -1986) was an American film director who made more than 35 feature films during a five-decade career. Born in Austro-Hungarian into a Jewish family. Preminger was drawn to acting from an early age and became the apprentice of famed stage director Max Reinhardt. In 1935, he was recruited by Twentieth Century-Fox to apprentice as a director at the studio. After a rocky start, Preminger established himself as an A-list director after Rouben Mamoulian was fired from Laura (1944). The film noir classic made major stars of Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews and is considered one of the best film noirs of all time. While under contract to Fox, Preminger directed Fallen Angel (1945), Centennial Summer (1946), Forever Amber (1947), and Daisy Kenyon (1947). After he left Fox, Preminger became a maverick, constantly clashing with members of the Production Code. He released two films without the approval of the Production Code: The Moon is Blue (1953) and The Man with the Golden Arm (1955). Both films were financial successes and helped bring an end to the Code entirely. Later successes for Preminger include Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and Exodus (1960).

Crawford at the top of the triangle.

Joan Crawford (190? – 1977) was an American actress. A former dancer, Crawford was signed to a movie contract by M-G-M in 1925. She started out in small parts in silent films, sometimes doubling for established star Norma Shearer. Crawford was an amazing self-promoter and by the 1930s, her popularity rivaled Shearer and Greta Garbo. She was famous for playing shop girls who somehow made it big. During the height of the Depression, women flocked to her films. But by the late 1930s, her popularity was beginning to wane. She left M-G-M and was absent from the screen for almost two years. She signed with Warner Bros. and made a successful comeback in Mildred Pierce (1945). The film was a hit with audiences and critics alike and won Crawford her one-and-only Academy Award for Best Actress. She went on the star in Humoresque (1946) with John Garfield, Possessed (1947) with Van Heflin, and Flamingo Road (1949).

Dana Andrews (1909 – 1992) was an American stage, film, and television actor. During the 1940s, Andrews was a major star and leading man starring in Laura (1944), State Fair (1945), A Walk in the Sun (1945), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Canyon Passage (1946), Boomerang! (1947), and Daisy Kenyon (1947), the latter co-starring Joan Crawford and Henry Fonda. During the 1950s, film roles were harder to come by, but he had success in Elephant Walk (1954) co-starring Elizabeth Taylor and Peter Finch, While the City Sleeps (1956), and Curse of the Demon (1957). In 1958 he replaced Henry Fonda on Broadway in Two for the Seesaw. Andrews worked a lot on television guest-starring on shows like The Twilight Zone, Checkmate, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, Ben Casey, The Love Boat, Ironside, and Falcon Crest. He also starred in the daytime soap opera Bright Promise (1969 - 1971).

Trouble in the O’Mara household

Henry Fonda (1905 –1982) was an American stage and film actor. Fonda came to Hollywood in 1935 and became a star overnight. Early starring roles include Jezebel (1938), Jesse James (1939), Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), and The Grapes of Wrath (1940) for which he received his first Best Actor nomination for playing Tom Joad. Fonda played opposite Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve (1942), My Darling Clementine (1946), and Mister Roberts (1955). In 1981 he finally won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as Norman Thayer Jr. in On Golden Pond.

Daisy Kenyon trivia

• Joan Crawford requested both Henry Fonda and Dana Andrews as her co-stars.
• Fond and Andrews didn’t want to make the film but had to it to fulfill their contracts.
• During an interview during the 1970s, Otto Preminger said he had no recollection of Daisy Kenyon.
• Crawford was borrowed from Warner Bros. for her role as Daisy.
• Andrews had already worked with Preminger on Laura (1944) and Fallen Angel (1945).
• John Garfield appears as an extra sitting at the bar in the Stork Club.
• Columnist Walter Winchel, writer Damon Runyon, and New York Post columnist Leonard Lyons all have cameos as themselves.

Dan O’Mara at the Stock Club with Leonard Lyons and check out
John Garfield drinking far left!

Click HERE to watch the film on the Internet Archive.

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Discussion questions

1. When the film was released on DVD, the film company classified it as a film noir. Do you think this film fits that genre? How would you classify it?
2. Did you find the relationships between the three stars believable? 
3. Do you think Daisy made the right choice?
4. Were you surprised by anything?
5. Was the ending satisfying?

Pat O’Brien, Claire Trevor, and Herbert Marshall are involved in a “Crack-Up”

Crack-Up (1946) is an American film noir directed by Irving Reis and starring Pat O’Brien, Claire Trevor, and Herbert Marshall. The supporting cast includes Ray Collins and Wallace Ford.

Art critic George Steele (O'Brien) remembers surviving a train wreck that never took place; it's just the first incident in a growing web of intrigue and murder.

Film critic Leonard Maltin described the film as a “Tense, fast-paced Hitchcockian thriller with many imaginative touches.

 

Irving Reis (1906 – 1953) was a radio program producer and director and a film director. Reis directed several notable and popular films including Hitler’s Children (1943) The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947) All My Sons (1948).

Pat O’Brien (1899 – 1983) was an American film actor. O’Brien appeared in more than 100 films, often playing characters of Irish descent. He played cops, priests, and reporters. He was often paired with friend and movie star James Cagney. O’Brien is probably best known for his roles in Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), Knute Rockne, All American (1940), and Some Like it Hot (1959).

Claire Trevor (1910 - 2000) was an American actress who appeared in over 60 movies. She received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Dead End (1937), and The High and the Mighty (1954). She won the award for her performance in Key Largo (1948). Trevor got her start on the New York stage and made her film debut in 1933. She also appeared on radio with Edward G. Robinson in the popular radio program Big Town. Trevor’s most famous role is probably Dallas in Stagecoach, but she had other memorable roles in Murder, My Sweet (1944), and Born to Kill (1947). Her last film role was in Kiss Me Goodbye (1982) where she played Sally Field’s mother.

Herbert Marshall (1890 – 1966) was an English actor of stage, screen, and radio. Marshall was a popular leading man during the 1930s and 1940s. He starred opposite Barbara Stanwyck, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, and Bette Davis. Some of his films include Trouble in Paradise (1932), The Good Fairy (1935), Foreign Correspondence (1940), The Little Foxes (1941), and The Razor’s Edge (1946).

 

Pat O'Brien, Claire Trevor, and Herbert Marshall

Crack-Up trivia

• Crack-Up was the only film noir from director Irving Reis.
• Laura (1944) and Scarlet Street (1945) also make use of painting and art.
• The film was set in New York City, but several scenes were filmed in Los Angeles harbor.
• Reis directed many of the “Falcon” movies during the early 1940s.

 

Click HERE to watch the film on YouTube.

 

Click HERE to join the online discussion on November 18, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation and a link to join the discussion on Zoom.

Discussion questions

1. Did you like the background of the art world?
2. Was the story believable? Were you able to just enjoy the ride?
3. What did you think of the performances?
4. Did O’Brien and Trevor have good on-screen chemistry?
5. Were you surprised by anything?

Tom Neal and Ann Savage take a fatal "Detour"

Detour (1945) is an American film noir directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and starring Tom Neal and Ann Savage. It was released by Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC), a Poverty Row movie studio that operated during the 1930s and 1940s.

Al Roberts (Neal) is depressed that his career as a piano player is going nowhere. To top it off, his girlfriend Sue Harvey (Claudia Drake) quits her job as a singer in a New York City nightclub to pursue a career in Hollywood. With little money in his pocket, Al decides to hitchhike across the country with the hopes of marrying Sue when he gets there.

Charles Haskell Jr. (Edmund MacDonald), an Arizona bookie gives Al a ride in his Lincoln convertible. During the ride, Haskell takes several pills and at one point asks Al to drive. Al pulls over to put the top up with Haskell asleep in the car during a rainstorm. Al tries to rouse Haskell from his sleep but he appears dead. Al opens the passenger side door and Haskell tumbles out and hits his head on a rock.

Fearing that the police will think he killed Haskell, Al hides the body and assumes his identity along with his money and clothes. Al picks up a woman named Vera (Savage) who knows that he isn’t Haskell and doesn’t own the car he is driving.

What happens next is a battle of wills between Vera and Al as they travel West.

 

Edgar G. Ulmer (1904 – 1972) was an Austrian film director noted for the B movies he made at Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). He worked as a set designer for Max Reinhardt’s theater in Europe. He was an apprentice to F. W.  Murnau. He also worked with the directors Robert Siodmak, Billy Wilder, and Fred Zinneman. His most famous films include The Black Cat (1934) starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff made at Universal Pictures and Detour (1945) at PRC.

Tom Neal (1914 – 1972) was an American actor and amateur boxer. Born in Evanston, Illinois, Neal was the son of a banker and grew up in a ten-room home in Chicago. He enrolled at Northwestern University where he majored in mathematics. Neal dropped out of Northwestern after a year and began appearing in various stage productions including Summer Stock. He made his Broadway debut in 1935 and his movie debut three years later in Out West with the Hardys, the series starring Mickey Rooney.  He appeared in many B movies, with Detour (1945) being his most famous. His personal life was tempestuous and it derailed his career resulting in his being blackballed in Hollywood.

Ann Savage (1921 – 2008) was an American film and television actress. She starred in several B movies with actor Tom Neal with their most famous pairing being Detour (1945). As a teenager, she failed a screen test with M-G-M and decided not to show up at a screen test for Twentieth-Century Fox because she felt they had plenty of pretty blondes. Savage worked at Columbian Pictures co-starring with Rosalind Russell in What a Woman (1943). Savage was a popular pin-up model during World War II. During the war, she sold war bonds on two nationwide drives. After her film career faded, Savage became a businesswoman and took flying lessons, becoming a licensed pilot in 1979.

 

Detour trivia

• While setting up the hitchhiking scene, a driver tried to pick up Ann Savage.
• The 1941 Lincoln Continental V-12 convertible driven by Haskell was Ulmer’s personal car.
• Ann Savage and Tom Neal didn’t get along at all during filming and spent days not speaking to each other except when filming movie scenes.
• Director Wim Wenders called Ann Savage’s performance as Vera “30 years ahead of its time.”
• The film was made in 28 days.
• Ann Savage’s autobiography was titled Savage Detours, acknowledging her most famous film role.

 

Click HERE to watch the movie on YouTube.

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Ann Savage and Tom Neal

 

Discussion questions

1. Supposedly, this film had a budget of $100,000. Would it have been a better film with a higher budget?
2. Director Ulmer was famous for making the best use of the money he was given to direct his features at PRC. Does Detour look like a low-budget film?
3. What did you think of the onscreen relationship between Tom Neal and Ann Savage? Were their characters believable?
4. Did this film remind you of any other films noir you’ve seen?
5. Were you surprised by anything in the film?