Detour (1945) - Quotes

Searching for Love Amidst Chaos and Mystery

Taglines: He went searching for love... but Fate forced a DETOUR to Revelry... Violence... Mystery!

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Negotiating Car Sale Terms

Vera: I'm gonna see that you sell this car so you don't get caught.

Al Roberts: Thanks! Of course, your interest wouldn't be financial, would it? You wouldn't want a small percentage of the profits?

Vera: Well, now that you insist, how can I refuse? 100% will do!

Al Roberts: Fine! I'm relieved! I thought for a moment you were gonna take it all!

Vera: I don't wanna be a hog!

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Life's Game of Chance and Opportunity

Vera: Life's like a ball game. You gotta take a swing at whatever comes along before you find it's the ninth inning.

Al Roberts: You read that somewhere...

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

A Moment of Unexpected Connection

Al Roberts: How far you goin'?

Vera: How far YOU goin'?

Al Roberts: [as narrator] That took me by surprise, and I turned around to look at her. She was facing straight ahead, so I couldn't see her eyes. She was young - not more than 24. Man, she looked like she had been thrown off the crummiest freight train in the world! Yet in spite of that, I got the impression of beauty, not the beauty of a movie actress, mind you, or the beauty you dream about with your wife, but a natural beauty, a beauty that's almost homely, because it's so real. And suddenly she turned to face me...

Vera: How far did ya say you were goin'?

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Dangerous Encounters with Women and Scars

Al Roberts: [as narrator after thumbing a ride] I guess at least an hour past before I noticed those deep scratches on his right hand. They were wicked, three puffy red lines about a quarter inch apart. He must have seen me looking at them because he said...

Charles Haskell Jr.: Beauties, arent they? They're gonna be scars someday. What an animal!

Al Roberts: Whatever it was, it must have been pretty big and vicious to have done that!

Charles Haskell Jr.: Right on both counts, New York! I was tussling with the most dangerous animal in the world - a woman!

Al Roberts: She must've been Tarzan's mate! Looks like you lost the bout!

Charles Haskell Jr.: Certainly wasn't a draw! You know, there oughta be a law against dames with claws!

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Peril of a Woman's Influence

Charles Haskell Jr.: I was tussling with the most dangerous animal in the world, a woman.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Recognizing Deception in Unlikely Places

Vera: Say who do you think you're talking to - a hick? Listen Mister, I been around, and I know a wrong guy when I see one. What'd you do, kiss him with a wrench?

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Warning Against Dangerous Choices

Vera: I'd hate to see a fellow as young as you wind up sniffin that perfume Arizona hands out free to murderers!

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Rainy Reflections on a Journey

Al Roberts: [as narrator] As I drove off, it was still raining and the drops streaked down the windshield like tears.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

A Reflection on a Humble Establishment

Al Roberts: [voiceover] It wasn't much of a club really. You know the kind. A joint where you could have a sandwich and a few drinks and run interference for your girl on the dance floor.

A Shift in Life's Direction

Al Roberts: [as narrator] Until then I had done things my way, but from then on something stepped in and shunted me off to a different destination than the one I'd picked for myself.

Disillusionment with the Value of Money

Al Roberts: So when this drunk handed me a ten spot after a request, I couldn't get very excited. What was it I asked myself? A piece of paper crawling with germs. Couldn't buy anything I wanted.

The Troubling Nature of Money

Al Roberts: Money. You know what that is, the stuff you never have enough of. Little green things with George Washington's picture that men slave for, commit crimes for, die for. It's the stuff that has caused more trouble in the world than anything else we ever invented, simply because there's too little of it.