Impact

This film noir has three distinct movements. Brian Donlevy proves masterful at playing a high-powered executive, self-satisfied and in control. As in any good drama, his secure world is assaulted and turned upside down The film portrays his characters descent, loss of faith and subsequent redemption. Donlevy handles each of the stages well.

Helen Walker is brilliant as Donlevy's wife. Her ability to portray a duplicitous and homicidal spouse is immaculate in it's delivery.

I found great pleasure in watching the legal machinations and the ambivalence of the justice system.

More then anything, and I've commented on this in other film noir reviews, I enjoyed the street scenes of San Francisco a half century ago. Sometimes I think I'd be just as happy to forgo plot in favor of travelogue Also, Larkspur (whether it is in California or Idaho,) just seems like a fine little town the likes of which we now pine for. The volunteer fire department scene was reflective of my sense of small town values.

All in all, an absorbing,nostalgic and thought provoking piece of film art.

The silvery Packard convertible Brian Donlevy drives is one of the most beautiful cars I've ever seen. It's basically all I'd remembered from years ago when a local a cable channel that no longer shows old movies ran a bad print of this from time to time.

Donlevy is not an exciting actor but he is fine. He plays an industrialist madly in love with his wife, who is not worthy of his devotion (to say the least.) She is played by Helen Walker, a specialist at cold, intelligent, sleek women. (She's the best part of "Nightmare Alley.") We also have Charles Coburn as a detective and Ella Raines as a girl who wants to help cuckolded Donlevy out of a predicament I can't reveal. (But remember: This is a film noir.) In her early scenes, Raines smiles too much and looks like an ad for gum. (And speaking of ads, yikes! This has one of the earliest examples of product placement: Someone offers Donlevy a Coke and for quite a while, in the foreground, is a Coca-Cola machine!) Also on hand is Mae Marsh as Walker's mother. She looks great and is very good. And Anna May Wong, one of Hollywood's greatest, most poorly used stars, is fourth-billed as Donlevy and Walker's maid.

The movie is not exactly suspenseful but it's a solid piece of work. The acting ranges from good to excellent and the plot, though it wanders a bit from time to time, is intriguing. It's also unusually literate: The characters speak in impeccable (though never stilted) English.

Impact (1949)

An underrated, understated, nicely stylized, and tightly constructed film noir. The director, Arthur Lubin, is a B-movie figure (with a lot of films to his name), and I'm going to guess just from this one that there are others in the history that are very good. This has been running the noir circuits for a long time, and is especially noteworthy. The photography by Ernst Laszlo is especially helpful, and with some smart editing it makes for a visually terrific movie.

But the acting is great, too. Yes, everyone fills some familiar roles for this kind of upper crust murder and cover up, but it's tightly done, convincing throughout. Brian Donlevy is a fabulous (and typically Donlevy) industrialist who has to take on a second identity for part of the film, and it's a great surprise. The two lead women, both the same age (29), and both with short careers, play two very different types of women that the industrialist bounces between. The first, Helen Walker, is the clever, rich wife. The second, Ella Rains, is the homespun girl who wants only for everything to turn out okay. (Rains was a Howard Hawks discovery, and with her classic clean cut looks, even made it on the cover of Life Magazine twice, on February 28, 1944 and August 11, 1947.)

One other character whose performance is sterling is Charles Coburn, playing the aging detective. A lesser role, but from a remarkable actress, is the maid, played by Anna May Wong (who got stereotyped in the movies but who is now increasingly appreciated as the first major Chinese-American actress).

Yes, this is a great film for film buffs, and a really good story for everyone. Make sure you have a clean DVD transfer to appreciate the photography (see http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare10/impact_.htm for some info on that kind of thing).

I imagine there will be many who dispute the characterization of "Impact" as film noir, and I can't blame them. It's not photographed in typical noir fashion, to be sure, but its themes are definitely in the noir neighborhood. There is a stark contrast between the murderous doings in San Francisco (and on the road), and the pastoral joys of Larkspur, Idaho--a contrast that is emphasized by the score, which favors harp and flute for Larkspur and dramatic strings, or even complete silence, for the rest of the film.

Brian Donlevy turns in a solid performance as the loving husband and successful industrialist who discovers his beloved wife is scheming with a lover to kill him; the scene where he breaks down after realizing this is more than solid, and reveals a depth of emotional understanding that Donlevy rarely showed, or at least got the chance to show. Helen Walker is just tremendous as the scheming wife, whose lightning-fast wit helps her transfer the murder rap from herself to her husband, despite her surprise at his being alive at all.

Charles Coburn slips in and out of an Irish brogue as the detective who suspects Walker and supports Donlevy, even at the expense of undercutting the D.A.'s case. Anna May Wong has a small role that emphasizes how the years have worn on her since her beautiful turn in "Shanghai Express." Philip Ahn has an even smaller role as Wong's uncle, who responds to Coburn's condescending query, "You savvy English?" with an urbane "Yes. Also French, Italian, and Hebrew" (reminiscent of his character years earlier in "Something to Sing About").

The plot gets a little convoluted, and the triumphant ending may seem like a bit of an anticlimax, but "Impact" should still be better known than it is.

Although the final third gets in the way and is finally disappointing,it does not keep "impact" from being absorbing and entertaining.One of the rare film noirs -maybe the only one - which takes a look on the brighter side of the road:sandwiched between two very dark parts,the second one has Capra accents:the country town is some Shangri-la where time stood still ,with its very nice people ,the girl who owns a garage but of course does not know anything about mechanics(woman's lib supporters will cringe),the young father proud of his new-born son ,the Sunday service,the old lady cooking tasty little dishes.All of this is unusual in a film noir.Some might say that "shadow of a doubt"(1942) had already that ,but evil could enter this world,as the heroine 's uncle came to town.Here,the evil is elsewhere ,in San Francisco.Only in San Francisco.Or on the dark road where anything can happen:first part is effective,and shows some "Postman always rings twice" (1946) influence.