DEEP DIVE: Noirvember on the Road

*This is a watch at home, discuss in person event. Happy Noirvember to all who celebrate! At the last deep dive I hosted, I was chatting with a few of you about potential film noirs to do for the next deep dive. Huge shout out to Anna for recommending The Hitch Hiker (1953), whose premise reminded me of two of my all-time favorite noirs. Evidently, a common noir trope is a lonely character setting out on the road in the company of strangers. Maybe it's because it's a helpful framing device for the themes of fear of the unknown and fatalistic decisions that are so abundant in the genre, or maybe it's because hitch-hiking dudes in suits and hats with guns look really cool. Nevertheless, should be a fun group of watches! Please try to watch all three films before the discussion, but it's okay if you've only seen one or two. Films: Detour (1945, Edgar G. Ulmer): The life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend. Stream for FREE on Kanopy The Hitch-Hiker (1953, Ida Lupino): Roy and Gilbert’s fishing trip takes a terrifying turn when the hitchhiker they pick up turns out to be a sociopath on the run from the law. He’s killed before, and he lets the two know that as soon as they’re no longer useful, he’ll kill again. The two friends plot an escape, but the hitchhiker’s peculiar physical affliction, an eye that never closes even when he sleeps, makes it impossible for them to tell when they can make a break for it. Stream for FREE on Kanopy Kiss Me Deadly* (1955, Robert Aldrich): One evening, Hammer gives a ride to Christina, an attractive hitchhiker on a lonely country road, who has escaped from the nearby lunatic asylum. Thugs waylay them and force his car to crash. When Hammer returns to semi-consciousness, he hears Christina being tortured until she dies. Hammer, both for vengeance and in hopes that “something big” is behind it all, decides…