Author: Seth Harris

Detour (1945)
Written by Martin Goldsmith
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer

Noir is not exclusively the realm of detective stories. Detective pictures are under its broad umbrella, but some of my favorite noir films focus on people who get into trouble and can’t escape it. There might be a crime they can commit that would fix their financial situation, or they may be convinced to join in a conspiracy to murder with promises of sex & money. These are the genre at its best, exploring the deep flaws in humanity and how we so often sabotage ourselves. Detour is one of these, possibly one of the bleakest noir films from this period. It was released by the Producers Releasing Corporation, which at the time was the smallest and least prestigious studio in Hollywood. Gower Street in Hollywood made up “Poverty Row,” a low-rent stretch where the lowest-budget studios operated. They made money, but it was often by chasing trends or simply making movies quick & cheap. Detour never feels like that; it’s a masterpiece from a filmmaking system that rarely produced such work.

Laura (1944)
Written by Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, Elizabeth Reinhardt, and Ring Lardner Jr.
Directed by Otto Preminger

I’m currently reading Hollywood: An Oral History by Sam Wasson & Jeanine Basinger. It uses transcripts from people who worked in every aspect of the film industry going back to the early silent era. These transcripts are cut apart and grouped chronologically and by subject. For instance, the chapter I’m in now goes through the departments formed when the studio system was dominant. So we get these figures’ takes on everything from costuming to cinematography to studio personnel. There are chapters on the major studio heads, what each filmmaking house was known for in their heyday, and how the whole profession went from a disposable trend to dominating the planet.