| Impact | |
|---|---|
Brian Donlevy with costar Ella Raines in Impact |
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| Directed by | Arthur Lubin |
| Produced by | Leo C. Popkin |
| Written by | Dorothy Davenport Jay Dratler |
| Starring | Brian Donlevy Ella Raines |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | March 20, 1949 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 111 min |
| Language | English |
Impact is a 1949 film noir starring Brian Donlevy and Ella Raines. It was filmed entirely in California and included scenes at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. The film was based on a story by film noir writer Jay Dratler.
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Millionaire industrialist Walter Williams has a young wife, Irene, who is trying to kill him with the help of her young lover, Jim Torrance. The plan falls apart when Williams survives a hit on the head from the would-be killer. Torrance flees the scene in Williams' car but dies in a head-on collision. At this point, it is believed that Williams was the driver.
The dazed Williams ends up in a small town in Idaho. He gets a job as a service station mechanic and falls in love with Marsha, the station's owner. Meanwhile, the police arrest Williams' wife for his "murder." Marsha eventually persuades Walter to go back to clear his wife, but he is charged with the murder of the lover. That leaves Marsha and a kindly police detective named Quincy scrambling to prove his innocence.
| 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 |
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 in Impact.
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]
In the 1940s, it was still uncommon for brand name products to be seen in movies, but this was a notable exception. A Bekins moving van is prominent in several scenes. The movie trade paper Harrison's Reports typically called attention to cases in which such products appeared on screen, and always took a stand against that practice. Although its review did not mention Bekins, the Harrison’s review noted "advertising plugs worked in for such products as Blue Ribbon beer, Raleigh cigarettes, Coca Cola, Mission Orange soda pop, Mobiloil gasoline, oil and tires, Gruen watches, and the trade name, Rexall."[2]
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