I saw this movie a few years ago on a cable channel and missed the beginning and never knew what the name of it was. I was throughly impressed by the piano segment and couldn't figure out the name of the real person playing. Well, finally found out the name of this impressive film and I think the pianist could be Jess Stacy, who played in Bob Crosby's band or Cy Walter.
Jess Stacy also played with Benny Goodman and recorded one the most famous piano solos during a live concert in Carnegie Hall. However, Jess Stacy didn't have the kinda classical technique that was portrayed in the segment.
Cy Walter was a 1st-call studio pianist who played on many movie soundtracks during the 1940's - 1960's. By all accounts this guy could play anything extremely well - classical, jazz, boogie-woogie, latin, etc. He was also a major cocktail pianist in several 5-star clubs/restaurants in New York and Los Angeles.
My best guess would be Cy Walter. Though he never recorded a solo record, he is on several movie soundtracks. I heard a sound clip (I can't recall the name of the musical) and he could really play like the segment from Detour, a nice fusion of classical and jazz styles.
Of course, it could be someone entirely different since during the 1940's there were some amazingly talented pianists - Art Tatum for example.
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jacklwood
18 years ago
Thanks for the names! I think it could be Jess Stacy since Bob Crosby is in the movie...but Cy Walter is another possibility. My dad is a musician and knew and knows many of the LA studio and movie musicians and I'll run this info by him. Thank you very much!
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denscul
18 years ago
I don't know who was playing the piano, except I do know anyone with more than 40 fights would have trouble playing Chopin like it was played in DETOUR. I found the music score, if you could call it that, was the classiest thing about the movie unless you consider the 1941 Lincoln V-12. Everything else was bottom of the barrel dialogue, plot and acting. But considering the time and money spent, the movie is a gem if you plot it on a cost per profit basis. Movies like DETOUR found a market in a lost American tradition - the Drive In Movie. When I was young and needed a private place that I could afford, the back row at the drive in was my favorite hiding spot. You could even tell your parents that you saw a movie, and since they were usually so bad with actors your parents never heard of, there was no chance they would see it themselves. How times have changed. Now they produce movies for millions and some are no better than DETOUR. And there is no market for deliberately bad movies!!!
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fubared1
9 years ago
If you read the trivia, you would know it's the film's composer Erdoddy or whatever his name is.
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hobartz
8 years ago
Good catch. I wonder if anybody else was irritated at Tom Neal's very lazy portrayal of a gifted pianist. The distance shots of Tom Neal show him playing with wrists dropped, fingers flat, hands and arms rigid... terrible technique portrayal for a professional advanced pianist. An unbelievable point in the film and entirely the fault of an unprepared and careless actor.
We can tell he's not really playing the music because the hand/wrist/arm action of the closeup player is nothing like what we see of Tom Neal's supposed playing. He's sure got the "moody musician smokes cigarette" act down cold, though.
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