R.I.P. Ann Savage: 1921-2008
12-28-08, 07:27 PM
#1
DVD Talk Legend
Thread Starter
R.I.P. Ann Savage: 1921-2008
Most folks on this forum have probably never heard of Ann Savage, but she delivered one of the most ferocious femme fatale performances of all time in Detour. She also appeared recently in Guy Maddin's Winnipeg. Those of you who haven't seen Detour, do yourself a favor and watch it through the link in my sig. It is truly a hard-nosed, bleak noir, and Savage is, well, savage. Here's the AP obit:
"If you act wise, well, mister, you'll pop into jail so fast it'll give you the bends!"
"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?"
Rest in peace, Ann.
'40s femme fatale star Ann Savage dies at 87
4 hours ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ann Savage, who earned a cult following as a femme fatale in such 1940s pulp-fiction movies as "Detour," has died at 87.
The actress died in her sleep at a nursing home on Christmas Day from complications following a series of strokes, said her manager, Kent Adamson.
Her Hollywood career had largely been over since the mid-1950s, but she had a resurgence over the past year with a starring role in Canadian cult filmmaker Guy Maddin's "My Winnipeg."
Starting with her 1943 debut in the crime story "One Dangerous Night," Savage made more than 30 films through the 1950s, including Westerns ("Saddles and Sagebrush," "Satan's Cradle"), musicals ("Dancing in Manhattan," "Ever Since Venus") and wartime tales ("Passport to Suez," "Two-Man Submarine").
Savage was best-known for director Edgar G. Ulmer's 1945 B-movie "Detour," in which she played a woman ruthlessly blackmailing a stranger, played by Tom Neal.
"It's actually a showcase role," Adamson said. "Neal and Savage really reversed the traditional male-female roles of the time. She's vicious and predatory. She's been called a harpy from hell, and in the film, too, she's very sexually aggressive, and he's very, very passive. It's very unusual for a '40s film to have a woman come on that strong."
Decades later, "Detour" and Savage gained a cult audience on television and home video.
Adamson said Maddin had been a longtime fan of "Detour." Maddin cast Savage to play his mother in "My Winnipeg," a combination of documentary, drama and personal memoir about his native city in Manitoba.
Savage did some television in the 1950s, including "Death Valley Days" and "The Ford Television Theatre," then left Hollywood for New York City, where she appeared in commercials and industrial films.
In 1986, Savage returned to acting with an appearance in "Fire With Fire," a drama whose cast included Virginia Madsen and D.B. Sweeney.
4 hours ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ann Savage, who earned a cult following as a femme fatale in such 1940s pulp-fiction movies as "Detour," has died at 87.
The actress died in her sleep at a nursing home on Christmas Day from complications following a series of strokes, said her manager, Kent Adamson.
Her Hollywood career had largely been over since the mid-1950s, but she had a resurgence over the past year with a starring role in Canadian cult filmmaker Guy Maddin's "My Winnipeg."
Starting with her 1943 debut in the crime story "One Dangerous Night," Savage made more than 30 films through the 1950s, including Westerns ("Saddles and Sagebrush," "Satan's Cradle"), musicals ("Dancing in Manhattan," "Ever Since Venus") and wartime tales ("Passport to Suez," "Two-Man Submarine").
Savage was best-known for director Edgar G. Ulmer's 1945 B-movie "Detour," in which she played a woman ruthlessly blackmailing a stranger, played by Tom Neal.
"It's actually a showcase role," Adamson said. "Neal and Savage really reversed the traditional male-female roles of the time. She's vicious and predatory. She's been called a harpy from hell, and in the film, too, she's very sexually aggressive, and he's very, very passive. It's very unusual for a '40s film to have a woman come on that strong."
Decades later, "Detour" and Savage gained a cult audience on television and home video.
Adamson said Maddin had been a longtime fan of "Detour." Maddin cast Savage to play his mother in "My Winnipeg," a combination of documentary, drama and personal memoir about his native city in Manitoba.
Savage did some television in the 1950s, including "Death Valley Days" and "The Ford Television Theatre," then left Hollywood for New York City, where she appeared in commercials and industrial films.
In 1986, Savage returned to acting with an appearance in "Fire With Fire," a drama whose cast included Virginia Madsen and D.B. Sweeney.
"If you act wise, well, mister, you'll pop into jail so fast it'll give you the bends!"
"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?"
Rest in peace, Ann.
12-29-08, 08:19 AM
#3
DVD Talk Legend
She was absolutely fantastic in Detour - I hated that bitch! Why? Partly because of the way she was written, but more because of the way that Ann Savage played the character. She really brought that character to life and it was a tour-de-force performance. If not for Ann Savage's performance Detour might have been lost along with hundreds of other movies of that era. It certainly wouldn't have been nearly as noteworthy.
It's a shame to hear that she's passed away. She will be remembered for quite a long time, though, thanks to the rediscovery of that movie.
It's a shame to hear that she's passed away. She will be remembered for quite a long time, though, thanks to the rediscovery of that movie.
