"Detour" (dir: Edgar Ulmer, 1945)

This was a small-budget independent film, made for less than $100,000 in 1945 (equivalent to about $1,800,00 today). Since 1945 it has become a classic film noir, restored so that today's audience can enjoy it. It is now in the public domain, freely available to all.

The plot centers around a piano player who is hitch-hiking from New York to Los Angeles to join the singer he is in love with. The ending, in which the protagonist is picked up by the Highway Patrol, is completely bogus, made necessary by the absurd motion picture code of the time, which requried that nobody can be depicted as getting away with a crime.

The short run time of only 66 minutes adds to the appeal of this movie, as it does not require a large time investment on the part of the viewer.