MovieChat Forums > Detour (1946) Discussion > laughter in the dark

laughter in the dark

posted 9 years ago by ghbbrown-1
4 replies | jump to latest

I'd seen this twice on my own, and watched it yesterday with a group of 60 years plus folk. There was considerable laughter at the "tough"lines, the overheated acting and the unfolding plot. Tom Neal's persistent sweatiness seemed a set up for seeing his character as ridiculous. Our brief discussion afterward seems to have been deflected from productive analysis by a shared sense of the absurdity of the movie. It seemed to be a parody of noir films more than an exemplar. Were we simply lazy or is it impossible to take this film seriously given our collective experiences of the neo-noir that came later?

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 9 years ago

I'd seen this twice on my own, and watched it yesterday with a group of 60 years plus folk. There was considerable laughter at the "tough"lines, the overheated acting and the unfolding plot.

Could you please post this comment on the CFB (classic film board)?

I love this movie (and I love many pre-1970 films), but there are some people on the boards who are absolutely convinced that only certain age groups are able to appreciate certain films.

~~~~~
Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen 🎇

[–] liscarkat (18886) 4 years ago

You all sound like a room full of smug, smirking hipsters who are clueless about film noir and old movies in general. It's interesting how a group of "60 years plus folk" could be so inexperienced at movie watching.

[–] Ace_Spade (9601) 3 years ago

See, it depends on the laugh, doesn't it? I laugh at plenty of the lines in the film because they're clever, witty barbs. They're that sparkling noir dialogue, which is clever word play. So what's not to laugh at? It doesn't mean it's campy, corny, cheesy, or funny. It just means the lines are clever. My guess is that the 60 years plus folk were laughing for reasons like that.

Now, Savage does push the melodrama, so I could see her getting a chuckle from somebody where she wasn't trying to. I thought her performance works for the movie, but she is going a bit over the top sometimes.

[–] TheArgentinian (7178) 2 years ago

just because it's noir doesn't meant it can't be funny. It has a bunch of funny moments