At the Coral Gables Cinema: Screening of “Detour” with Michael Patrick Gillsepie

From the gutters of Poverty Row came a movie that, perhaps more than any other, epitomizes the dark fatalism at the heart of film noir. As he hitchhikes his way from New York to Los Angeles, a down-on-his-luck nightclub pianist (Tom Neal) finds himself with a dead body on his hands and nowhere to run – a waking nightmare that goes from bad to worse when he picks up the most vicious femme fatale in cinema history, Anne Savage’s snarling, monstrously conniving drifter Vera. Working with no-name stars on a bargain-basement budget, B auteur Edgar G. Ulmer turned threadbare production values and seedy low-rent atmosphere into indelible pulp poetry. Long available only in substandard public domain prints, Detour haunts anew in its first major restoration. 4K restoration

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The Tuesday, 3/26 screening will be introduced by Michael Patrick Gillespie, a Professor of English at Florida International University, who will also lead a post-screening Q&A. His latest book, Film Appreciation through Genres, was published in January.

About the Book:

Our love of films often leads us to discuss them in enthusiastic, if not necessarily sophisticated, conversations. Many moviegoers want a better understanding so that they might better articulate their experiences. This midpoint between theorizing and plot summary is not difficult to achieve. Since their introduction just before the turn of the 20th century, the vast majority of narrative films have followed the same structure–now known as Classic Hollywood Cinema. This book examines what “classic” means, particularly in Westerns, gangster films, film noir, horror, science fiction, slapstick comedy and screwball comedy/romance. The reader is introduced to concepts of film theory, which leads to a better and deeper appreciation of the movies. A 20-page comprehensive industry glossary of film terms is included for easy reference.

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