The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture: Liberty vs. Authority in American Film and TV

8. America as Wasteland in Detour: Film Noir and the Frankfurt School

8 America as Wasteland in Detour Film Noir and the Frankfurt School It is easier for me to say this, coming from Europe, an area where nature can be seen as friendly and domesticated, unlike the USA, where nature is seen as either to be exploited or to be fled to as a relief from civilization. I am continually shocked by the unhumanized nature in this country, no parks, no formal gardens. Nature never intended human beings to live in the USA—only in just a little bit of Europe and in New Zealand. —W. H. Auden, Lectures on Shakespeare In the history of film noir, Edgar G. Ulmer’s Detour (1945) occupies an honored place, appearing on many short lists of the classics of the genre, and frequently cited as the director’s best work.1 At the time Ulmer made the movie, he was operating on the fringes of the motion picture industry , virtually as an independent producer. Although Detour was famously made in six days and on a low budget, Ulmer delivered a professional piece of work, showing why he came to be known as the King of the B-Movies.2 Despite some signs of haste and cheapness in the production, Detour is an excellent example of film noir.3 In terms of technique, Ulmer makes use of many film noir conventions: voice-over narration, unusual camera angles, and an effective use of lighting that harks back to his training in the 1920s, when he worked with F. W. Murnau at the peak of German expressionist cinema. In terms of subject matter, Detour tells a typical noir tale of an ordinary , basically decent man who, through a quirk of fate, is drawn into a web of crime, chiefly as a result of a chance encounter with a femme fatale. The story unfolds quickly, with a strong sense of inevitability, as every step the hero takes to avoid his doom only brings him closer to it. 243 244 Edgar G. Ulmer A film noir encyclopedia conveniently offers a summary of the plot of Detour: Al Roberts is a pianist in a New York nightclub where his girl friend, Sue, is a singer. The two plan to marry, but Sue is ambitious and leaves for “stardom” in Hollywood. Left alone, Roberts calls her one night and Sue tells him that she works as a waitress. He decides to hitchhike West and join her. Eventually, he is picked up by Haskell, who is carrying a lot of cash and driving all the way to Los Angeles. Haskell talks about a female hitchhiker who scratched him viciously whenhemadeasexualadvance.Later,hegoes tosleepwhileRoberts drives. When it begins to rain, Roberts attempts rousing Haskell to put up the convertible top, but Haskell is mysteriously dead, although his head hits a rock when Roberts accidentally causes the body to fall out of the car. Roberts, believing the police will never accept his innocence, hides the body and drives on alone. The next day Roberts picks up Vera, initially unaware that she is the same woman who scratched Haskell. Questioning him about the man’s death, she does not believe Roberts’ story but agrees to remain silent if he will follow her plans. Arriving in Los Angeles, they rent a room; and Vera plans that Roberts will sell the car using Haskell’s identity. But when she discovers that Haskell was the heir of a dying millionaire and that his family has not seen him for years, she plans to pass Roberts off as Haskell. That night they quarrel about this scheme, and Vera runs into the other room threatening to call the police but collapses drunkenly on the bed with the telephone cord entwined about her neck. Roberts pulls on the cord from the other side of the locked door, inadvertently strangling her. Without even seeing his fiancée, Roberts flees to Reno, where he sits in a diner and reflects on the strange circumstances that have put him in such a hopeless situation.4 Deconstructing the American Dream Even in such a bare summary, the bitterness and cynicism of Detour are clearly evident. The film systematically deconstructs the American dream. The hero’s quest for happiness—to find simple contentment with the woman he loves—leads only to his corruption and eventually to his destruction (he America as Wasteland in Detour 245 is being arrested as the film ends). Like any...