Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

After RKO and Fox, United Artists may be the most prolific source of B-picture crime dramas produced during the genre’s 1940s prime. In 1919, various artists (Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, husband Douglas Fairbanks and director D. W. Griffith) united to provide a means of release and distribution for independent producers not affiliated with the major studios. These low-budget money-makers proved popular with the changing and maturing tastes of post-WWII audiences. As a result of renewed popularity, obscure titles of assorted quality from this vast United Artists back-catalog such as Impact and the 1949 Mickey Rooney vehicle Quicksand are continuously finding their way to DVD.

“Impact - the force of which two lives come together... sometimes for good - sometimes for evil”
Impact tag line

One of the best pot-boilers released by UA in the crime genre later referred to as film noir is the 1949 semi-thriller Impact. With a fine cast, moderate budget and solid screenplay by Dorothy Reid and Jay Dratler (Oscar-nominated for Laura, 1944), the film weaves its frequent twists into a cross-genre success story.

Putting the “Fatale” back in “Femme” . . .

A stunning mid-century San Francisco is the visual backdrop from the moneyed and multi-windowed penthouse owned by Walter and Irene Williams (Brian Donlevy and Helen Walker). Walter is the quintessential businessman - a hands-on engineering tycoon who’s always one step ahead of the competition. Amidst the opulence of their personal financial largess, Williams and wife seem the perfect couple; an image supported by the expensive diamond brooch bestowed upon the surprised and affectionately-appreciative Irene.

“Packard - Ask the Man who Steals One...”

When a toothache forces Irene to cancel plans to accompany hubby on a motor trip to Denver, she arranges for her long-lost “cousin” to take her place. Jim Torrence (Tony Barrett) is East-bound to see “Aunt Margaret” when he meets-up with Walter in Sausalito. As Jim talks of his past, he plays his shady side close to the vest with bits of misinformation and historical inaccuracy (Patton’s army never made it to Italy), but not enough to worry the talkative and trusting Walter.

“Flat as a Flounder . . .”

A diner stop gives Jim the opportunity to manipulate the rear tire of Walter’s 1948 bathtub Packard convertible for an unplanned pit-stop further down the road. After fixing the flat on a lonely mountain road, Jim uses the tire iron for nefarious purposes not approved by or covered in the owner’s manual. While making his hasty escape from the unconscious Walter, the hot and soon-to-be hotter Packard doesn’t quite succeed as a sports car - Jim just never saw that gasoline tanker comin’ ‘round the mountain.

“Sorta smells, don’t it Cal?”

The first of many staples of the film noir style emerge as a twist of fate and mistaken identity have Captain Callahan (Robert Warwick, In A Lonely Place) investigating the apparent death of the millionaire industrialist, whose body is burned beyond recognition in the fiery crash. Lt. Tom Quincy (Oscar-winner Charles Coburn, The More The Merrier) offers both intellectual and comic support as the (non-stereotypical) Irish cop who becomes suspect of appearances after elements of the grieving widow’s story don’t quite square regarding the true identity of her kissin’ cousin.

“It’s wonderful how tools seem to come alive in your hands . . .”

Meanwhile, as the stunned and suspicious Walter stumbles about the countryside, he ends-up in Larkspur, Idaho and is befriended by Marsha Peters (Ella Raines), a young war widow who runs a filling station. A trained engineer, he signs-on as mechanic for a welcome stretch of the simple life as he sorts through his bewildering betrayal amongst new-found friends.

Callahan: “Quite a dish . . .”
Quincy: “A little too seasoned for my taste.”

In light of her relatively short career in films, Helen Walker is best remembered for her role as scheming psychologist Lilith Ritter opposite Tyrone Power in Fox’s unconventional A-noir masterpiece Nightmare Alley. The many shades of Irene Williams make her performance in this twist on the Double Indemnity theme one of the best femme fatales of the period. Though not in the same league by any stretch, she compares to Barbara Stanwyck with an economy of unspoken subtlety that always hits its mark with rarefied underplay.

Brian Donlevy hit a mid-career stride with a 1940 supporting nomination for Beau Geste and settled-into a solid B-movie career. Aside from the significant age difference between himself and potential love-interest Raines, he turns-in a fine performance in the somewhat ham-handed Paul Douglas tradition.

The juxtaposition of the lovely Ella Raines as tom-boy frump to Walker’s boffo bad girl sets-up a simmering yet controlled cat-fight that pays-off with a clever correlation to the hard shadow of a noontime San Francisco. Impact is the flip side of noir - the high contrast look of sun-washed streets and shaded back alleys from Fisherman’s Wharf to Chinatown serve-up all the style and effect of a slick and shiny evening rain in the capable hands of Oscar-winning cinematographer (and eight-time nominee) Ernest Laszlo. Art direction by Rudi Feld gives the interior scenes a touch of the high life worthy of the best M-G-M had to offer.

“Sufferin’ Chopsticks!”

As with any film of this era, the reality and nuance of stereotype and societal oppression show their hand in attitude as well as dialogue. Irene’s maid Su Lin (Anna May Wong) grapples with convention as a first-generation American torn between the morality of tradition vs. the manipulations of the justice system and the press. What initially seems like a throw-away role becomes surprisingly incorporated and pivotal, with due respect and regard to both the actress and the screen-writers.

Effects . . . not so special

If only the producers had resisted the idea of showing the Packard kiss the gasoline tanker in a rear-projected flaming moment of driver panic and miscalculation. On the plus side, unlike situations in similar films they actually found a Packard scale model that matched the full-sized version for the fiery leap. Unfortunately, some poor kid suffered a complete deforestation of the majority of plastic trees stolen from his model railroad display to pull-off the simulated event. The reduced volatility of the slow-spreading lighter fluid finale only adds fuel to the degree of unintentional comedy.

These wholesale bits of the cinematic cheese can actually be quite enjoyable in this jaded age of CGI excess. More troublesome is the issue of Walter’s maintenance of anonymity throughout his stay in Idaho, despite the circumstance of his alleged fiery death being front page news for weeks. The scandal of Irene’s incarceration as she awaits trial on charges of accessory to murder is news everywhere, as is speculation regarding the involvement and mysterious disappearance of her “cousin” Jim. Walter’s decision whether to return from the dead leads to more credible and interesting events - complete with the requisite amateur detective-work that helped define the genre.

The Alpha Video DVD contains a very good quality un-remastered print with sharp contrast and minimal debris. No relevant special features are included. A listing also appears under the more reputable Image Entertainment banner at Amazon.com. Impact is one of the better independently-produced films noir currently available. Four stars for this most interesting B-picture hidden jewel.

Impact (1949)
Director: Arthur Lubin
Screenplay: Jay Dratler, Dorothy Reid
United Artists
DVD:
Alpha Video (2003)
Image Entertainment (2000)

This review is yet another entry in the Good Movies Write-Off hosted by CaptainD.

Ahoy, Cap’n!


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older