February 11, 2011

FILM THEORY 101: DETOUR

It's a movie so low-budget, it looks as if it was shot in someone's basement. The rear-projected background scenes are reversed, so passing cars appear to be driving on the wrong side of the road.

However, not only is the film Detour the first so-called "B" picture to be inducted into the National Film Registry (back in 1992), it is also the first movie of the "film noir" genre to have that honor. That's pretty high praise for a genre that includes such classics as Double Indemnity, The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Maltese Falcon, This Gun For Hire, Mildred Pierce, and others with bigger stars and production values.

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