On this day in movie history - Detour (1945):

Detour

directed by Edgar G. Ulmer,

written by Martin Goldsmith,

based on the novel Detour: An Extraordinary Tale by Martin Goldsmith,

was released in the United States on November 30, 1945.
Narrated by Tom Neal.
Music by Leo Erdody.

Cast:

Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake, Edmund MacDonald, Tim Ryan, Esther Howard, Pat Gleason, Don Brodie, Roger Clark, Eddie Hall, Harry Mayo, Harry Strang.

Recommended reading - Detour: An Extraordinary Tale By Martin M. Goldsmith (1939):

Detour: An Extraordinary Tale

By Martin M. Goldsmith.

Filmed as Detour (1945), directed by Edgar G. Ulmer.

Published by Black Curtain Press.
First published 1939.
Hardcover.
ISBN-10: 1515426785
ISBN-13: 978-1515426783

Description:

Alex Roth is a musician who thumbs it out for L.A. and the woman of his dreams. Things hit a snag when a bookmaking driver Alex flags down suddenly ends up dead. With its tight, crisp writing comparable to James M. Cain and Chandler, the work translated perfectly on screen into the legendary noir "Detour," perhaps the greatest low-budget film ever made.

THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED … 1938. Alexander Roth is hitchhiking from New York to Los Angeles, where he hopes to reconnect with his self-absorbed, cutesy-poo girlfriend. A car stops to pick him up and he is soon plunged into a long nightmare from which there may be no escape. This fatalistic novel is a forgotten noir masterpiece that has languished for decades in the swamps of neglected crime fiction. In 1945, film director Edgar G. Ulmer cranked out the movie version in a couple of weeks on a microscopic budget, and it is now widely recognized as one of the greatest gems in film noir history. The novel is its equal in every way. Legendary crime fiction author Lawrence Block provides a foreword unique to this edition.

On this day in movie history - The Black Cat (1934):

The Black Cat,

directed by Edgar G. Ulmer,

written by Eve Greene and Richard Macaulay,

based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe,

was released in the United States on May 3, 1934.
Music by Heinz Roemheld.

Cast:
Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Julie Bishop, Egon Brecher, Harry Cording, Lucille Lund, Henry Armetta, Albert Conti, Virginia Ainsworth, Luis Alberni, King Baggot, Herman Bing, Symona Boniface, John Carradine, André Cheron, George Davis, Andy Devine, Anna Duncan, John George, Rodney Hildebrand, Lois January, Ula Love, Michael Mark, Tony Marlow, Alphonse Martell, Paul Panzer, Albert Pollet, Peggy Terry, Harry Walker, Paul Weigel.