Rent Impact (1949)
3.6 of 5 from 50 ratings
1h 50min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Walter Williams' two-timing wife and her lover plot his murder but he survives the attack and the lover is burned beyond recognition whilst driving Williams' car. Whilst the dazed Walter (Brian Donlevy) recuperates in Idaho, his memory is brought back by reading reports of his so-called demise. When he returns to San Francisco he finds himself on trial for the murder of Irene's (Helen Walker)'s lover.
- Actors:
- Brian Donlevy, Ella Raines, Charles Coburn, Helen Walker, Anna May Wong, Robert Warwick, Clarence Kolb, Art Baker, William Wright, Mae Marsh, Sheilah Graham, Tony Barrett, Philip Ahn, Glen Vernon, Linda Leighton, Jason Robards Sr., Erskine Sanford, Ruth Robinson, Lucius Cook, Tom Greenway
- Directors:
- Arthur Lubin
- Producers:
- Leo C. Popkin
- Writers:
- Dorothy Davenport, Jay Dratler
- Studio:
- Elstree Hill Entertainment
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Thrillers
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Reviews (1) of Impact
Minor Noir. - Impact review by Steve
Low budget film noir about an unfaithful wife (Helen Walker) who schemes have her rich husband (Brian Donlevy) murdered during a car journey. When her lover/accomplice fails to complete the kill and is consumed in the flames of a crash with a petrol truck, everyone assumes it is Donlevy's burned corpse at the scene of the accident.
While the concussed, amnesiac husband stumbles into a small town in Idaho to work as a mechanic for the tomboyish Ella Raines, Walker is busted by a smart Irish cop (Charles Coburn) and goes on trial for a murder that never happened.
Impact shows how robust the conventions of film noir are. The film is a reshuffling of noir archetypes, made by an unremarkable director and crew with a B standard cast. But it's still a very entertaining film, with a strong atmosphere.
Donlevy is fine as a schmuck that gets played for a sap, and Raines lifts the second half as the down to earth good girl who contrasts with Walker's glamorous femme fatale. Arthur Lubin was a lifelong low budget director but he could turn out a pacy thriller and he handles the narrative well. American film noir rarely lets you down.
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