Detour (1945 film)

Detour is a 1945 film noir that stars Tom Neal and Ann Savage.

Piano player Al Tom Neal is bitter about having to work in a New York nightclub. After his girlfriend Sue Claudia Drake leaves to seek fame in Hollywood, he decides to join her. With little money, he has to hitchhike his way across the country.In Arizona, bookie Charles Haskell Jr. Edmund MacDonald gives him a ride in his convertible. Haskell has Al pass him pills several times along the way. That night, Al is driving while Haskell sleeps, when a rainstorm forces Al to pull over to put up the top. Unable to rouse Haskell, Al opens the passengerside door. Haskell falls out and strikes his head on the ground. Al then realizes the bookie is dead. Fearful that the police will believe he killed Haskell, Al dumps the body off the side of the road, takes Haskells money, clothes and identification, then drives away. After spending the night in a motel, Al picks up another hitchhiker, Vera Ann Savage, at a gas station. By sheer bad luck, it turns out that the femme fatale had also been picked up by Haskell earlier. She scratched him deeply in the arm and got out after he tried to become too friendly. When Al identifies himself as Haskell, she blackmails him by threatening to turn him in. ........

Source: Wikipedia