Impact (1949)

A unfaithful wife plots with her lover to kill her husband, but the lover is accidentally killed instead. The husband stays in hiding, and lets his wife be charged with conspiracy.

Director:

Arthur Lubin

Writers:

Dorothy Davenport (screenplay), Jay Dratler (screenplay),

Stars:

Brian Donlevy, Ella Raines, Charles Coburn

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brian Donlevy	...	Walter Williams
Ella Raines	...	Marsha Peters
Charles Coburn	...	Lt. Tom Quincy
Helen Walker	...	Irene Williams
Anna May Wong	...	Su Lin Chung
Robert Warwick	...	Capt. Callahan
Clarence Kolb	...	Darcy
Art Baker	...	Eldredge - Defense Attorney
William Wright	...	Prosecutor
Mae Marsh	...	Mrs. King
Sheilah Graham	...	Sheila Graham
Tony Barrett	...	Jim Torrence
Philip Ahn	...	Ah Sing
Glen Vernon	...	Ed (as Glenn Vernon)
Linda Leighton	...	Miss Revere - Telephone Operator (as Linda Johnson)

Storyline

In San Francisco, the successful self-made businessman Walter Williams has just bought three factories in Denver with the approval of the board of directors. His beloved wife Irene tells him that she is not feeling well to travel with him, and asks Walter to give a lift to her cousin Jim Torrance. On the highway, Jim, who is actually Irene's lover, tries to kill Walter hitting his head and throwing him in a cliff, and has a fatal accident while escaping driving Walters's car. Walter is considered dead and later his wife is sent to jail accused of plotting his murder. Meanwhile, the wounded Walter sleeps in a moving van and awakes in Larkspur, a small town in Idaho. He is hired as a mechanic in a gas station by the owner, Marsha Peters. For three months, Walter reads the news, expecting revenge with Irene sentenced to death, and he and Marsha fall in love for each other. When Walter discloses the truth to Marsha, she convinces him to return to San Francisco and save his unfaithful wife...

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Plot Keywords:

mechanic | newspaper | small town | gas station | tire iron | 

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Taglines:

Wanted By Two Women! One For Love! One For Murder!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 September 1949 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Mysteriet Williams

Filming Locations:

Brocklebank Apartments - 1000 Mason Street, San Francisco, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cardinal Pictures (II)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Midway through the film, Walter tells Marsha: "A rolling stone gathers no moss." Later, when Marsha asks Walter if he's returning to hometown, Walter replies: "Wild horses couldn't drag me back there." Nearly 25 years after the release of this film, British group The Rolling Stones had a hit with the song "Wild Horses."

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Goofs

When Marsha tries to convince Walter/Bill that he has to return to San Francisco and tell his side of the story, the shadow of the boom is visible on the wall behind them.

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Quotes

Narrator: [First lines] Impact, the force with which two lives come together. Sometimes for good, sometimes for evil.

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Connections

Featured in Avain (2006)

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Soundtracks

"It Can't Be"
Written by Leo C. Popkin and Chuck Gould

User Reviews

Great unknown classic

Donlevy is a cuckolded husband whose wife and lover plan to kill him. Things go wrong and it is the wife's lover who dies in a fiery wreck, allowing Donlevy to assume a new identity as the mechanic for a garage owner who looks like a supermodel. After recovering from his temporary amnesia, he plans to watch his wife "get what she deserves" by waiting to come out until after she's in jail for murder (whose? I can't remember! But it all makes sense in the movie, believe me, it's just very twisted!). When he finally does come out, all big heart, she accuses HIM of her lover's murder! Good suspense, character acting, photography, with a lively pace. It's hard to figure out how talking animal movie specialist Lubin managed to pull this one off so well, but it will send me looking for other movies along this same vein by the director.