Impact

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(film)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search Impact




1949 Theatrical Poster

Directed by Arthur Lubin

Produced by Leo C. Popkin

Written by Jay Dratler

Screenplay by Jay Dratler

Dorothy Davenport

Starring Brian Donlevy

Ella Raines

Charles Coburn

Music by Michel Michelet

Cinematography Ernest Laszlo

Editing by Arthur H. Nadel

Distributed by United Artists

Release date(s) March 20, 1949 (U.S. release)

Running time 111 min

Language English





Home Video DVD coverImpact is a 1949 film noir starring Brian Donlevy and Ella Raines. It was filmed entirely in California and included scenes filmed at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, and other locations around the city. The film was based on a story by film noir writer Jay Dratler.



Contents [hide]

1 Plot
Plot [edit]Millionaire industrialist Walter Williams (Brian Donlevy) has a young wife, Irene (Helen Walker), who is trying to kill him with the help of her young lover, Jim Torrance (Tony Barrett). The plan falls apart when Williams survives a hit on the head from the would-be killer. Attempting to flee the scene in Williams' Packard convertible, Torrance dies in a fiery head-on collision. At this point, it is believed that Williams was the driver.




The dazed Williams ends up in the fictional small town of Larkspur, Idaho. He gets a job as a service station mechanic and falls in love with Marsha (Ella Raines), the station's owner. Meanwhile, the police arrest Williams' wife for his "murder." After Marsha eventually persuades Walter to go back to clear his wife, he is charged with murdering Torrance. Marsha enlists the help of kindly police detective Quincy (Charles Coburn) to prove Walter's innocence.




2 Cast   below

3 Review  below

4 Product placement

5 See also

6 References

7 External links





Plot [edit]Millionaire industrialist Walter Williams (Brian Donlevy) has a young wife, Irene (Helen Walker), who is trying to kill him with the help of her young lover, Jim Torrance (Tony Barrett). The plan falls apart when Williams survives a hit on the head from the would-be killer. Attempting to flee the scene in Williams' Packard convertible, Torrance dies in a fiery head-on collision. At this point, it is believed that Williams was the driver.



The dazed Williams ends up in the fictional small town of Larkspur, Idaho. He gets a job as a service station mechanic and falls in love with Marsha (Ella Raines), the station's owner. Meanwhile, the police arrest Williams' wife for his "murder." After Marsha eventually persuades Walter to go back to clear his wife, he is charged with murdering Torrance. Marsha enlists the help of kindly police detective Quincy (Charles Coburn) to prove Walter's innocence.



Cast [edit]Actor Role

Brian Donlevy Walter Williams

Ella Raines Marsha Peters

Charles Coburn Lt. Tom Quincy

Helen Walker Irene Williams

Tony Barrett Jim Torrance

Anna May Wong Su Lin

Robert Warwick Capt. Callahan

Philip Ahn Ah Sing



This was Anna May Wong's first screen appearance since 1942. Character actor Tom Greenway made his first appearance on screen as an unnamed moving van driver.



Review [edit]Gary W. Tooze, reviewer for www.dvdbeaver.com, praised the B-movie: "As far as 'modest' Film Noirs go, this is one of the best. A simple plot idea is twisted to the max for late 1940s audiences."[1]

directed by Arthur Lubin

USA 1949







As far as 'modest' Film Noirs go, this is one of the best. A simple plot idea is twisted to the max for late 1940's audiences. Millionaire-industrialist, cool as a cucumber-bigshot, Walter Williams (Brian Donlevy) has an unscrupulous young wife (Helen Walker) who is out to see him dead. With the help of her nefarious lover/boyfriend, enlisted for the deed - the plan crumbles to pieces and not only does Williams survive a bash on the noggin, but the would-be culprit wrecks himself up in a fireball with the intended targets auto. Now everyone thinks Williams IS dead. After figuring what has transpired Walter has settled as an auto mechanic in a gentle quiet village leaving his mystery to a dogged, close-to-retirement detective, Lt. Tom Quincy (Charles Coburn). Walter succumbs to 'doing-the-right-thing' and returns with garage owner and boss/girlfriend Ella Raines (Marsha Peters), the sweet and sexy girl-next-door. Trouble is now HE has been charged with murder of the hidden lover, thanks to his wife's abilities to lie. He needs assistance from ex-housekeeper Su Lin (silent screen goddess Anna Mae Wong). Impact is one of those clandestine gems that you love to unravel. A true Noir masterpiece. out of
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0805056998/ref=nosim?tag=dvdbeaver-20&link_code=as3&creativeASIN=0805056998&creative=373489&camp=211189
Somewhere in the Night: Film Noir and the American City [Paperback]


Nicholas Christopher
In elegant and engaging prose, Nicholas Christopher explains how elements like the play of light and shadow, the backdrop of the city's mysterious maze, and the hero's haunting voice-over come together to produce the mood we love in film classics like Double Indemnity, Out of the Past, and Chinatown, as well as neo-noirs like Blade Runner and The Usual Suspects. His insightful analysis of more than 300 films reveals the many cultural archetypes and artistic influences that come into play, focusing on the modern psyche and all of the psychosis, anxiety, and existential dread that lurk just below our society's bright, pop-culture surface. But Somewhere in the Night does more than describe and explain the importance of a truly American art form, it pays homage to it as only a poet could. Christopher is, quite simply, the first author who has imbued a book on film noir with the style, humor, depth, and intelligence that has filled the genre and drawn to it countless fans for more than four decades.