Impact

"Impact" is a film noir that tells a story about a San Francisco businessman who got set up by his wife but tries to get his retribution in the end thrown with a love story in between. While the movie was evidently outdated being shown more than 70 years ago, it is still a good entertaining film noir as Ella Raines, Brian Donlevy, and the beauteous Helen Walker as a femme fatale provides best of their characters.What really made me enjoy this is the sceneries provided by the aerial photography of scenes from the cities of San Francisco such as the Golden Gate, Hall of Justice, the Fairmont Hotel, The San Francisco City Hall, The Fisherman's Wharf, and Mason Street together with the beautiful cities of California such as Larkspur and Sausalito . And many others like beaches and aerial view of these places. It incredibly shows how beautiful they were and truly magnificent unlike today when these areas are no longer what they used to be. That alone is worthy of the price of admission. It makes me feel on how much these places have become run down due to poor management by the public officials.

Impact (1949), American film noir on the somewhat lighter side; though the film has many of the tropes of film noir like a femme fatale, someone being knocked out, and taxis following taxis, the two main characters aren't noirish.Story is about San Francisco-based millionaire industrialist Walter Williams (Brian Donlevy), who wife Irene (Helen Walker) plots with her lover Jim Torrence (Tony Barrett) to kill Walter, with Jim pretending to be Irene's cousin and Irene asking her husband to drive Walter to Denver as part of his journey to Illinois, the idea being somewhere out on the road Jim kills Walter.The attempt goes awry, with Walter assumed dead, bad things happening to Jim, and Irene arrested for Walter's murder.Meanwhile Walter ends up in the tiny town of Larkspur, Idaho and picks up work as a mechanic for Marsha Peters (Ella Raines). Marsha owns a gas station, one her husband and her had planned to operate together but he was killed in World War II.Walter starts a happy life in Larkspur, getting friends, enjoying his job, and falling in love with Marsha (and not unhappy his wife is in jail awaiting trial for murder). Eventually Marsha persuades Walter to go back to San Francisco to set things right once she learns abouy his past but this really goes pretty poorly for Walter.Not bad. Lots of coincidences work both for and against Walter, maybe a few too many for my taste. I thought the melodramatic could be really over the top at times. One scene with miniature cars, you could tell they were miniatures. The fourth act could be convoluted at times.I really liked Ella Raines as Marsha Peters and one other character, Charles Coburn as Lt. Tom Quincy, a kindly detective who was a likeable character, at times grandfatherly but also definitely a detective who got his man (or woman).

I have seen this film a couple of times. I watched it again today because I recently saw Ella Raines in the noir "The Web," and wanted to revisit her acting -- here she is an appealing and (for the 1940s) a feminist character.This is an excellent story that shows how adversity could change one's course in life. It starts out seeming like a noir with the early incidents and deceptions. It doesn't really have noir-type dialogue, though, and much of the film takes place in a bucolic atmosphere. It is more of a drama--mystery--romance--courtroom drama.Regardless of how one might characterize it, it's a good story, and I would recommend to anyone who likes 1940s films.

Actor Brian Donlevy plays a wealthy businessman who is married to a gold-digging, shrew of a cheating wife. I don't want to spoil the plot for other viewers, so I'll just briefly say that there's an attempted murder, true romance, a spunky love interest, false imprisonment, and a suspenseful trial. Donlevy usually is characterized as a bad-guy-gangster, but in this film he portrays a betrayed and hurt individual. Ella Raines plays the role of a strong woman who is widowed and running a gas station/garage. One of my favorite actresses of that era is Anna May Wong, who helps to turn around the court case taking place. Charles Coburn is always a joy to watch, and he portrays a witty and dogged police detective with excellent people instincts. This movie is post WWII, and briefly interjects the troubles of unemployment during those years. It was also fun to see the covert advertising for items popular for midcentury: Rexall drugs, Mobil gas, Gruen watches, Pabst Beer, Coca Cola, Raleigh cigarettes...I guess you have to be older to appreciate those things. I can't address issues that other viewers had after purchasing this film on DVD. I watched this through Prime and the video was good. If you like B/W, midcentury crime, suspense films, you probably will enjoy this movie.

I really enjoyed this film and recommend it to others. Brian Donlevy was excellent in the lead role as the loving husband who is betrayed by his wife. I think of Brian Donlevy as mostly in "tough guy" roles, since he has portrayed many gangsters in his career but in this instance he is a kind, compassionate man who plays the victim with a lot of tenderness and vulnerability. The story is well written with a surprising twist toward the end. The supporting cast is also very good, with Charles Coburn as an Irish police detective particularly good. Enjoy!

I watch the broadcast of this movie on a channel the was very cleared. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, even though the broadcast was poor. Ordered the DVD and am quite pleased.

Brian Donlevy isn't a big star or a great actor, and on occasion his expression in close-up is difficult to decipher, but that only adds to the subtlety of a performance that lifts this slightly above the average level of 1940s noir movies (which I think is already quite high). The plot has echoes of Fritz Lang's 1936 classic, Fury, which stars the (much more intense) Spencer Tracy, but has enough original features to escape characterization as a mere remake.

Brian Donlevy (Walter) is duped into taking his wife Helen Walker's (Irene) 'cousin' to another town. They never make it. In the only scene of any kind of impact, a car crash determines the course of this film.The acting in this film is slightly sub-par from everyone except Helen Walker who steals the show in all her scenes. The character of Brian Donlevy hasn't been written very well. We see him as a man totally in control at work who is confident, determined and bullying. For him to be involved in a marriage where he revels in the name "Softy" is a complete nonsense, unless it was a sarcastic nickname. Experience shows that he would either be a controlling monster in his home life as well, or prone to episodes of sexual humiliation where he can relinquish control. A permanent label of "Softy" is just ridiculous. His character is slightly limp and frustrating during this film. He is NOT a softy so why does he act like one? Mechanic Ella Raines has been given absolutely no character whatsoever to explore so she comes across as rather dull. Considering that we spend over half the film in the company of these two, not surprisingly, the film drags. Charles Coburn (Lt Tom Quincy) is usually good value in any film, but he falls short by putting on an Irish accent. He can't do it convincingly and he can't maintain it. Why did he bother?Aside from the characters, we have a very unconvincing love story between Donlevy and Raines. Not only does short, chubby Donlevy not have the looks required for a young woman like Ella, but he is from her dad's generation and would not get a look in. We also get a nice piece of Chinese racism with the characters of maid Anna May Wong (Su Lin) and her uncle Philip Ahn (Ah Sing). His name might as well be "Ah So" and both these characters spout Chinese wisdom at every opportune moment because that's what Chinese people do!The story scores points for an interesting beginning, albeit with an annoying Donlevy leading us through the proceedings, but it then falls flat and I'm afraid we are left with not much of an impact at all. It's watchable but not recommended.

IMPACT (1949)Elstree Hill DVD release 2005Better than the average Elstree Hill quality.Picture and sound both good in this releaseGood Entertainment at a budget price

Un hombre al que intenta asesinar su mujer fingiendo un accidente y al que todos creen muerto, reaparece para acusarla , pero es acusado a su vez por ella de haber matado a su amante. Buen ritmo y suspense. Muy entretenida.Digna copia.

Impact n' a rien à voir avec le catastrophique long-métrage catastrophe Deep impact produit dans les années 90 ni même avec un téléfilm plus récent impact opération chaos. Ce film noir méconnu de 1947 commence comme Le facteur sonne toujours deux fois. Une femme vénale projette avec son amant l'assassinat de son riche mari. Mais les choses tournent mal pour le couple puisque l'époux échappe à la mort tandis que l'amant périt brûlé. Suit alors toute une série de rebondissements qu'il vaut mieux taire pour savourer les nombreuses surprises que réserve le scénario des plus malins. On retrouve dans Impact un certain nombre de métaphores obsédantes du film noir comme la blonde femme mante religieuse (Helen Walker est une révélation)ainsi que certaines figures stylistiques dont l'une empruntée à Lang avec la voix de l'infidèle hantant le héros (clin d'oeil évident à La rue rouge). Le seul reproche que l'on pourrait adresser en toute mauvaise foi à ce film touffu est son incapacité à choisir une direction et un point de vue et à s'y tenir. On est à la fois dans la chronique provinciale (quand après la tentative de meurtre Softy se reconstruit dans une petite ville), dans le film d'investigation (avec les efforts d'Ella Raines et de l'inénarrable Charles Coburn pour innocenter le faux coupable) mais aussi dans la peinture de caractères avec la description d'une femme fatale d'anthologie prête à tout pour parvenir à ses fins. Cette réserve n'est que de pure forme balayée par des moments d'une efficacité redoutable comme lorsque Softy apprend la nouvelle de sa mort par un journal. Petit tuyau à l'intention des amoureux de l'âge d'or du cinéma hollywoodien :la participation dans une courte scène de la commère Sheilah Graham.

All four leads are perfect for their roles - possibly Brian Donlevy's best film. Nice to see Ella Raines as small town girl instead of sultry temptress for a change. Contains not one but two twists to the story! Bears multiple viewings.