Impact (1949)

They're one kiss away from MURDER! Millionaire industrialist Walter Williams is marked for murder by his sexy young wife and her seedy lover. When the insidious plot ends in a fiery disaster, Williams is thought dead. In reality, he finds himself without a clue as to who he is or what happened. But as his memory starts to return, his shattered life becomes a runaway roller coaster ride of suspense and excitement! Beautifully photographed on location in San Francisco, this hard-boiled drama snaps with smart dialogue, a hell-frosted broad and more twists than a rusty corkscrew. "Impact" is truly a forgotten film noir masterpiece.

Flawed but Gripping and Well Worth Watching

This reviewer had never heard of IMPACT when it was recommended by Amazon. I recognized the male lead, Brian Donlevy, as having played the cruel sergeant in one of my all-time favorites, BEAU GESTE, but it was Anna May Wong who really piqued my interest in the film.

Donlevy plays a wealthy, San Francisco engineering executive, Walter Williams, whose sultry, younger wife (played by Helen Walker) plots his murder with her paramour. Wong plays the Williams' maid. After the murder attempt fails and the wife's lover is killed in a flaming car wreck, the police (and everyone else) think that Mr. Williams is the one who died. (It was his car.) A heart-broken Williams, having learned of his wife's betrayal, decides to lay low in a small Idaho town as his wife is prosecuted for his murder. There he falls in love with a war widow (played by Ella Raines) who convinces him to go home and clear things up.

Implausibly, however, after Mr. Williams goes to the San Francisco police, his wife is set free and he instead ends up on the stand, accused of murdering his wife's boyfriend. Although Williams' predicament seems unreal, the film still remains interesting.

Anna May Wong, who starred in silent films, is in her mid-40s here, but she looks great for her age. Her radiant beauty and stage presence still shine through. If I had to take any of the females in this flick with me to a desert Island, I would easily pick Wong over the younger actresses, Walker and Raines, who are both very attractive nevertheless. January 17, 2008

Lakespur Idaho or San Francisco Ca. ?

Not your typical noir thriller, Impact has just enough intrigue and an interesting cast of characters to keep classic film viewers appeased. When Ella Raines dressed in mechanics clothes pops her head from under the hood of a car, I thought the clock on my wall stopped. She is absolutely gorgeous in this film. Her performance in this film probably went largely unnoticed, but I could see shades of Kathreen Hepburn in Raines's mannerisms, clever vocal delivery, and classy style. Her role as the good natured well doer resembles an earlier performance as Carol "Kansas" Richmond in The Phantom Lady. Actor Brian Donlevy almost 20 years her senior is slightly miscast as her love interest. But at the same time, Donlevy's role as a high powered executive with a pushover heart for his scheming wife played by Helen Walker is right on the money. Impact moves uncharacteristically away from the shadows of the metropolis where Helen Walker plots the murder of her husband to the bright, openess of small town America in Lakespur Idaho. This geographic paradox paralells the conundrum that the protagonist Walter Williams ( Donlevy) is faced with. Revenge/forgiveness, unrequited love/innocent love, embarrassment/pride, the victim/the accused all surface for our protagonist Williams in this story. Helen Walker gives a slick performance as Irene, Williams's wife. The scene when Irene suddenly sees her husband alive is brillantly acted. You can feel the ice between the two characters that in Walter's heart were deeply in love. Again for me, shades of Susan Heyward surface in Walker's performance as the crafty, dangerous, Irene. Charles Coburn rounds out the fine cast as the resilient inspector who cracks the case. Minor flaws in the film include the bungled murder plot. Did the boyfriend really think that one hit to the head with a crowbar would mean certain death? The ensuing crash was not convincing. It seems that scale models were used to simulate the burning car and gasoline truck. Still the film is a must see for noir fans. July 1, 2007

Solid Mystery, an Ode to Small Town American Values

"Impact" is a sturdy 1949 release that delivers much in the way of suspense mystery, keeping viewers guessing, while also revealing much about small town American values in the early post-World War Two period. This was a time when people were accustomed to helping one another resulting, in part, from the Depression period.

The film begins with Brian Donlevy showing his firm side as head of a major construction company based in San Francisco. When the board of directors refuses to approve new plant construction he nonchalantly tells them that he will go elsewhere and put the same plan into effect. A 9-0 vote against then turns quickly into a unanimous margin in Donlevy's favor, showing how invaluable the board recognizes him to be.

Donlevy's Achilles heel is quickly recognized when he returns to the posh Nob Hill apartment he shares with beautiful, elegantly attired wife Helen Walker. Her pet name for Donlevy of "Softy" has him readily assenting. He tells her that she is the one person that causes the tough business executive to melt.

Walker causes Donlevy to gush while she in turn double deals. Using a bad toothache as a pretext for not traveling with Donlevy to Lake Tahoe, after which he will proceed on to Denver on business, she pulls off a scheme with paramour Tony Barrett. He is allegedly her "cousin" from Chicago.

After Walker tells Donlevy "regrettably" that she cannot make the trip with her toothache bothering her, she asks him if he will give her cousin a ride as far as Denver, where the executive has business activity scheduled.

Donlevy falls into her web and agrees. The plot is predictable enough, to get Donlevy out of the way so that the widow, after a period of appropriate "grieving," can find love with her new friend, augmented by a hefty inheritance courtesy of Donlevy.

To reveal anymore would jeopardize intricate plotting replete with numerous story twists. The film is divisible into two parts, Donlevy's activities prior to the moment with fate that will ultimately change his life, and when he arrives in the friendly town of 4,502 called Larkspur, Idaho, where he meets Ella Raines.

"Impact" adopts the familiar and time-proven "good girl-bad girl" duality with Walker naturally the latter and beautiful Ella Raines, a wholesome girl next door type, steering Donlevy from a state of bitterness combined with depression after he realizes that the woman who had meant more to him than anyone else has ruthlessly betrayed him and attempted to kill him.

Raines runs a gas station and seeks to double as a mechanic. She is much better at pumping gas and hires Donlevy to serve as mechanic. He then receives a different impression of life apart from the likes of Walker and Barrett. Not only is Raines sincere and solid; so is her mother, played by Mae Marsh.

Donlevy and Marsh hit it off instantly, so much so that she asks him if he would like to come and live with them. "You've got yourself a boarder," he tells her.

The simple decency of Larkspur is contrasted with the tougher world of San Francisco corporate boardrooms. Not only does Donlevy fix plenty of cars gratis; he also jumps into the community spirit by joining Larkspur's volunteer fire department.

Donlevy realizes that eventually he must return to San Francisco and face up to the responsibility of events spiraling around the machinations of Helen Walker. Raines insists on helping him, even after he ultimately is compelled to stand trial for "murder" for an alleged crime he never committed.

Raines' unswerving loyalty and assistance during such an hour of need, saving the man she loves from potential death by execution, is reminiscent of her role in "Phantom Lady" when she assists Allen Curtis.

Charles Coburn, a crafty San Francisco Police lieutenant nearing retirement, becomes convinced that Donlevy is a victim. He works closely with Raines to follow all leads, at one point drawing the disgust of his boss, played by veteran Broadway actor Robert Warwick, known for giving Humphrey Bogart a major early theater career break.

When time begins running out for Donlevy, Raines is able to garner valuable assistance from the defendant's former maid, played by notable character performer Anna May Wong. Her assistance prompts the team of Coburn and Raines to achieve a meaningful breakthrough on Donlevy's behalf at a critical moment.

Director Arthur Lubin maintains skillful pacing. He had earlier directed the Universal hit "Phantom of the Opera" with Susanna Foster, Nelson Eddy and Claude Rains. Later he would direct Universal's popular Francis the Talking Mule series.

Harry Popkin produced "Impact." In that same year of 1949 another Popkin-produced film debuted, the film noir classic "D.O.A." starring Edmond O'Brien. February 10, 2007

"Hollywood Crime Dramas ... Ultimate of Film Noir ... Passport Video"

Passport Video presents "THE ULTIMATE FILM NOIR" (1945-1953), --- (Dolby digitally remastered) --- ten tantalizing tales of Film Noir on five suspenseful discs --- featuring top performances from the '40s and '50s with outstanding drama and screenplays, along with a wonderful cast and supporting actors to bring it all together ... another winner from the vaults of Film Noir Hollywood gems.

Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe Hollywood crime dramas that set their protagonists in a world perceived as inherently corrupt and unsympathetic...Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography, while many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression...the term film noir (French for "black film"), first applied to Hollywood movies by French critic Nino Frank in 1946, was unknown to most of the American filmmakers and actors while they were creating the classic film noirs..the canon of film noir was defined in retrospect by film historians and critics; many of those involved in the making of film noir later professed to be unaware at the time of having created a distinctive type of film.

Five-disc collector's set includes "SCARLET STREET" (1945) (95 mins/Universal Pictures), featuring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea and Margaret Lindsay --- "DETOUR" (1945) (67 mins/PRC), featuring Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake and Edmund MacDonald --- "THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS" (1946) (117 mins/Paramount Pictures), featuring Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Kirk Douglas, Lizabeth Scott and Judith Anderson --- "WHISTLE STOP" (1946) (85 mins/United Artists) featuring George Raft, Ava Gardner, Victor McLaglen, Tom Conway and Jorja Curtright --- "HE WALKED BY NIGHT" (1948) (80 mins/Eagle-Lion), featuring Richard Basehart, Scott Brady, Jack Webb, Roy Roberts, Whit Bissell and James B. Cardwll --- "TRAPPED" (1949) (78 mins/Bryan Foy Productions / Eagle-Lion), featuring Lloyd Bridges, Barbara Payton, John Hoyt, Russ Conway and James Todd --- "IMPACT" (1949) (83 mins/United Artists), featuring Brian Donlevy, Ella Raines, Charles Coburn and Helen Walker --- "D.O.A." (1950) (83 mins/United Artists), featuring Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, Luther Adler and Beverly Campbell --- "QUICKSAND" )1950) (79 mins/Samuel Steifel Productions / United Artists), featuring Mickey Rooney, Jeannie Cagney, Peter Lorre and Barbara Bates --- "THE HITCH-HIKER" (1953) (71 mins/RKO Pictures), featuring Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy and William Talman --- and the documentary "THE BEST OF FILM NOIR".

Film noirs tend to revolve around heroes who are more flawed and morally questionable than the norm, often fall guys of one sort or another...the characteristic heroes of noir are described by many critics as "alienated"; in the words of Silver and Ward, "filled with existential bitterness."...certain archetypal characters appear in many film noirs--hardboiled detectives, femmes fatales, corrupt policemen, jealous husbands, intrepid claims adjusters, and down-and-out writers...as can be observed in many movies of an overtly neo-noir nature, the private eye and the femme fatale are the character types with which film noir has come to be most identified, but a minority of movies now regarded as classic noir feature either...crime, usually murder, is an element of almost all film noirs; in addition to standard-issue greed, jealousy is frequently the criminal motivation...a crime investigation--by a private eye, a police detective (sometimes acting alone), or a concerned amateur--is the most prevalent, but far from dominant, basic plot...in other common plots the protagonists are implicated in heists or con games, or in murderous conspiracies often involving adulterous affairs...false suspicions and accusations of crime are frequent plot elements, as are betrayals and double-crosses...amnesia is far more common in film noir than in real life, and cigarette smoking can seem virtually mandatory.

This collection of "The Ultimate Film Noir" (1945-1953) --- still has the magic that we remember from those bygone years --- but as long as we have the labels and networks who play and show these wonderful films of yesteryear, they will never be forgotten --- plus the Bonus of Best of Film Noir on the final disc --- and a great job by Passport Video for this release --- looking forward to more of the same from the '40s and '50s vintage...order your copy now from Amazon or Passport Video, stay tuned once again for more remarkable films from the vaults of classic television and Hollywood during the Golden Era of Film Noir --- All My Heroes have been Gumshoe Detectives!

Total Time: 909 mins on DVD ~ Passport Video #5480 ~ (5/02/2006) October 17, 2006

In this world, you turn the other cheek, and you get hit with a lug wrench.

I am a true believe that the best films that Hollywood ever produced came from the 1940s. Whether it was in the early 40s like the film Gaslight or later like Lean's Great Expectations, I have never seen so many great stories with so much originality, humanity, and creativity. Impact is no different. What transformed this picture from your typical film-noir thriller into a full-fledged murder/mystery is not just the creative story, but also the strong characters, the twisting themes, and the questionable ending. Impact could not have been as fascinating as it was if it were not for the impressive story. From the opening scene, we think that we have this film already pegged as your typical "wife cheats on man and he now wants revenge" story, but as director Arthur Lubin guides us further down his diabolical path, we learn that there is going to be more surprises than we originally anticipated. These surprises will not only lock your jaw in a shocked position, but it will also provide 111 minutes of pure uncut film-noir.

I have read other reviews that claim that Impact does not fall within the typical film-noir genre. I see where they are saying this, but I do not agree. Lubin, I believe, was creating a classy film-noir for his audience, but he tricked us. He not only tricked us from the beginning of the film to the end, but also where the film-noir style should be placed. We assume that the because Brian Donlevy is our centralized character that he has to be the dark and brooding one the entire time, causing the sensation of film-noir. I saw this film in a different light. As Lubin kept Donlevy in the eye of the camera for most of the film, I thought that the true sinister, dark, brooding, spooky, and edgy character was Irene. Helen Walker did a superb job with this role. Not only did she portray the backstabbing wife with such precision and ease, but she also played this very strong character that I was not expecting. That sensation of film-noir with the themes of suspicion, anxiety, and pessimism are all collected well within Walker's portrayal of Irene. It is this character that fully embodies the idea of film-noir, and I couldn't keep my eyes off her the entire film. To see such a powerful female character in such an early age of Hollywood impressed me. I do not see why Impact has not made a bigger impression in the film communities. It is a landmark film that will keep you guessing in a better way than any Shyamalan film will.

Even if you cannot agree with me about Lubin's slight of "film-noir" hands, it is unmistakably true that Impact contains some of the best story coupled with acting that we have seen in quite a long time. Even in today's Hollywood you just do not see this type of intensity, excitement, and curiosity as you found in Impact. I would not be surprised if we eventually saw a remake of this film in the future. It has all the elements that one would desire to be a box-office sensation; an evil wife, a passionate husband, and a dark secret. Who wouldn't love to see this? I personally could not keep my eyes off the story or the actors in this film. Brian Donlevy was beyond normal as the disarmed man facing the truth that his wife is no longer in love with him. This being my first Donlevy film, I cannot wait to see other pieces of his work. I think he was both strong and weak enough to carry the picture. He had to show that he still loved his wife, no matter what she did, and he pulled it off with so much dedication that I nearly wanted to stand up and clap for him in my living room. I have already spoken on Irene, who I believe matched Donlevy straw for straw. Lubin needed a character that was going to counter Donlevy's like-ability, and Helen Walker did just that. As audience members, we wanted to love her and hate her at the same time. Ella Raines was nothing spectacular, but did bring this light pro-feminism theme into this light film-noir thriller. Tony Barrett was the epitome of evil; never breaking character and always making me feel slimy. My personal favorite character was Lt. Tom Quincy. I have seen many parodies when they would use the southern flatfoot, but I had never seen a film that utilized this cliché character. Impact did it and Charles Coburn perfected it. As he attempted to solve the crime, he used the vice of kindness and dedication, making this critic smile with delight. He carried the truth of this film on his back without any struggle at all.

Overall, I thought that Impact was yet another great film that I can attribute to the 1940s. I don't know who the brains were during this cinematic time, but I wish I could go back and shake their hands. Their imagination, ability to keep audiences guessing, as well as produce great "B" level actors giving more than 100% of their abilities to a film is nearly impossible to find today. I would have loved to live during this era and see these films in the smoky auditoriums packed with untouched minds. Impact was nearly flawless. I guess it dragged sometimes, and the ending seemed to be wrapped up a bit too quickly (again, the happy factor wasn't needed at the end), but this film kept my attention throughout. I cannot wait to show this movie to friends and family. To fully see where we get our ideas for our films in the year 2006, we must make sure that we respect the films from the 1940s. Impact should be at the top of every film enthusiast's list!

Grade: ***** out of ***** March 6, 2006

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