Choc en retour

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.

The interesting story and cast help to make this a good film-noir, with an involved plot that keeps your attention even through a couple of slower stretches. In the lead role, Brian Donlevy gives a low-key performance that works pretty well.

Donlevy plays a talented but rather naive businessman who suddenly finds himself the target of his scheming wife and her calculating boyfriend. The story passes through several different stages, as the whole story gradually comes out. It's structured so that the audience knows much more than any of the characters do, and thus much of the suspense comes from wondering how they will react if and when they figure it all out.

As the scheming wife, Helen Walker is solid in conveying her character's deceitfulness. Ella Raines is satisfactory as a resourceful woman who befriends Donlevy's character. Charles Coburn gets a good amount of screen time as a detective, and although much of the time his character serves only to advance the plot, Coburn makes good use of his occasional opportunities to do more. Mae Marsh only gets a handful of scenes, but she has one good speech in a scene with Donlevy. Anna May Wong plays a character who is important to the plot, but unfortunately the role does not give her much of a chance to display her considerable acting ability.

Aside from meandering a bit at times, the story works pretty well. The various pieces of the movie fit together most of the time, and it maintains the tension effectively. As a whole, it's somewhat above average, and it should not disappoint most fans of its genre.

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.

Successful businessman Walter Williams (Brian Donlevy) loves his pretty wife Irene (Helen Walker) more than anything. Little does he know she's plotting with her lover to kill him. During the murder attempt, Walter is hit hard on the head but lives. The other guy, however, is killed in a car crash and burned beyond recognition. Believed to have been the man killed in the crash, Walter decides not to come forward. Instead he goes to work as a mechanic in the garage of Marsha Peters (Ella Raines). When Irene is tried for his murder, Walter must decide whether or not to reveal he's still alive.

Brian Donlevy is pretty good. He's at his best when his character is angry or edgy. The sappy romantic stuff doesn't fit him well. Helen Walker is a particularly hissable villainess. Lovely Ella Raines is the good girl. There's no meat to the part but she does well with what she's given. Charles Coburn plays the detective out to get to the bottom of things. He's always fun. Arthur Lubin's direction in the first half is great film noir. I loved the scene where the lover tries to kill the husband. The whole thing was brilliantly executed. Then something happens and it's like a separate movie. The second half is much less like noir and more like a standard crime melodrama where a girl has to prove her guy is innocent of murder. If the entire picture had been like the first half, I'd say it was one of film noir's best. But it isn't. It's still an enjoyable movie with some good twists and turns.

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.