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 | theremin | 

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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:

Stow Lake - Golden Gate Park, 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

The failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely (and usually badly) edited and/or of extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation (or more) copies of the film.

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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

Lt. Tom Quincy: Are you Ah Sing? Understand? You understandee English?
Ah Sing: [nods] Also French, Italian, and Hebrew.

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Connections

Remade as Kraft Suspense Theatre: Doesn't Anyone Know Who I Am? (1964)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Doing the Right Thing Never Works Out

In San Francisco, the successful self-made businessman Walter Williams (Brian Donlevy) has just bought three factories in Denver with the approval of the board of directors. His beloved wife Irene (Helen Walker) tells him that she is not feeling well to travel with him, and asks Walter to give a lift to her cousin Jim Torrance (Tony Barrett). 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 (Ella Raines). 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. The situation changes when Irene accuses him of plotting to kill her lover Jim, and Walter has to prove his innocence.

"Impact" is a great film-noir, with a melodramatic story full of twists. Helen Walker is perfect in the role of a cynical femme fatale, and Ella Raines is extremely beautiful and efficient in her role. Brian Donlevy performing a character of twenty-five years old is miscast. This is the greatest flaw in the screenplay, since he was a successful man that had worked for ten years as a worker and than reached a supervisory position. How could he be so powerful executive with this age only? Considering Walter Williams a man of forty and something years, the story becomes credible. This excellent unknown movie hooks the attention until the very last scene. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "Impacto" ("Impact")