"Impact" is an interesting and entertaining mix of film genres. I won't give away details of the plot and story, but just some generalities to whet the appetite of anyone may be looking for a good movie to watch. It starts with some drama and romance, moves into suspense and skulduggery, then takes an unusual twist, then another unusual twist and another, and ends on romance. This 1949 film is a very nice vehicle for Brian Donlevy who plays the part of Walter Williams. This film came about mid-point in Donlevy's career. At 48, he had already played a number of diverse roles. In 1940, he received an Oscar nomination for supporting actor in 'Beau Geste." He didn't reach the level of stardom of the big names of Hollywood, but he had a respectable portfolio for his film years. Whether he was a crook or a cop, a cowboy or a comic, Donlevy always entertained. He slowed down in his later years and did more work in TV roles than for the silver screen. Ella Raines has a nice role opposite Donlevy, as a war widow who falls for this quiet but kind guy who knows how to fix cars. Raines is best known for her female lead in "Hail the Conquering Hero," made in 1944 while WWII was still begin fought. For a short career – just 29 credits including films and TV appearances, she played opposite some big stars of the time. Among them were John Wayne, Charles Laughton, George Sanders, Broderick Crawford, Randolph Scott, Dan Duryea, Edmond O'Brien, Burt Lancaster and William Powell. She had good roles in films that did well at the box office, but she chose to retire from films in 1956 – after just 14 years in Hollywood. "Impact" doesn't have a large cast, but the supporting roles are all very good. Helen Walker plays a very good devious wife, able to cover up her chicanery with sweetness. This is toward the end of Anna May Wong's career, and she is very good. But Charles Coburn delivers the best supporting performance as detective Lt. Tom Quincy. I wonder if other people – those who have been around a few decades, enjoy seeing scenes of familiar cities and towns, as I do. This one has some nice scenes, with late 1940s automobiles, clothing and other things. While those change over time, the street scenes from that area of San Francisco are probably the same these many decades later. They were when I last visited there a few years ago. And we can count on the fabled cable cars to continue operating for decades to come. They are part of the San Francisco culture – enjoyed and used by locals as well as tourists. "Impact" isn't a fast-action film – not that many were in that time. It develops slowly, and after some crime-related scenes, it moves into a nice story of recovery, honesty, integrity and love. As I said – quite different than the usual fare of a crime drama film.

This wonderfully twisted tale of the events that take place before and after an attempted murder is both highly entertaining and full of surprises. It was written by Jay Dratler who also co-wrote the screenplays for other film noirs such as "Call Northside 777", "The Dark Corner" and "Laura" and his skills as a storyteller and a writer of snappy dialogue are both in strong evidence in this movie.Walter Williams (Brian Donlevy) is a wealthy industrialist whose wife Irene (Helen Walker) colludes with her lover, Jim Torrence (Tony Barrett) to murder him. She arranges for the two men to share a car journey to Denver during which they have to stop on a mountain road to change a wheel after a tyre (which Jim had previously damaged) suddenly blows. Jim uses the opportunity to hit Walter over the head with a wrench and leaves him for dead. As Jim prepares to continue his journey, a large van pulls up and the driver offers him assistance which he refuses, but this incident spooks him so much that he drives off in the car at high speed and accidentally crashes head-on into a tanker full of fuel. Walter regains consciousness in time to jump into the back of the van but soon passes out again.When the wreckage of Walter's car is later discovered and the occupant is so badly burned that he's unrecognisable, the presumption is made that Walter is the dead man and further evidence found by the police soon leads them to believe that Irene is culpable.Walter eventually arrives at the small town of Larkspur, Idaho where he's offered a job as a mechanic at a gas station run by an attractive young widow called Marsha Peters (Ella Raines). From a remark that Jim had made when he attacked him, Walter knows that his wife was behind the attempt on his life and so, when he reads in a newspaper about her arrest on suspicion of his murder, the opportunity to take revenge by doing nothing to help, becomes very attractive.Walter and Marsha fall in love and when she learns about what happened to him she persuades Walter to do the honourable thing and return to San Francisco to tell the police his story. Unfortunately, when he does this, further unexpected developments follow and he finds himself charged with the murder of Jim Torrence."Impact" is a film in which certain sharp contrasts are made. The city is compared unfavourably with the small town where people are much more friendly and supportive, the difference between the evil Irene and the kind and decent Marsha couldn't be more stark and Walter's conduct in his professional and personal lives are also incredibly different.When Walter first appears , he's seen as an extremely dynamic and forceful businessman but is then later shown as a very caring husband who Irene calls "Softy". He's also normally confident and direct in his manner but during his time in Larkspur, he goes through a period of confusion and self-doubt. The fact that Brian Donlevy is able to bring all these aspects of Walter's personality together in a believable way is very commendable and enjoyable to watch.Helen Walker and Ella Raines are both excellent in their roles and Charles Coburn provides the pick of the supporting performances as the veteran detective who's assigned to investigate the case.

Brian Donlevy (Walter) is duped into taking his wife Helen Walker's (Irene) 'cousin' to another town. They never make it. In the only scene of any kind of impact, a car crash determines the course of this film.The acting in this film is slightly sub-par from everyone except Helen Walker who steals the show in all her scenes. The character of Brian Donlevy hasn't been written very well. We see him as a man totally in control at work who is confident, determined and bullying. For him to be involved in a marriage where he revels in the name "Softy" is a complete nonsense, unless it was a sarcastic nickname. Experience shows that he would either be a controlling monster in his home life as well, or prone to episodes of sexual humiliation where he can relinquish control. A permanent label of "Softy" is just ridiculous. His character is slightly limp and frustrating during this film. He is NOT a softy so why does he act like one? Mechanic Ella Raines has been given absolutely no character whatsoever to explore so she comes across as rather dull. Considering that we spend over half the film in the company of these two, not surprisingly, the film drags. Charles Coburn (Lt Tom Quincy) is usually good value in any film, but he falls short by putting on an Irish accent. He can't do it convincingly and he can't maintain it. Why did he bother? Aside from the characters, we have a very unconvincing love story between Donlevy and Raines. Not only does short, chubby Donlevy not have the looks required for a young woman like Ella, but he is from her dad's generation and would not get a look in. We also get a nice piece of Chinese racism with the characters of maid Anna May Wong (Su Lin) and her uncle Philip Ahn (Ah Sing). His name might as well be "Ah So" and both these characters spout Chinese wisdom at every opportune moment because that's what Chinese people do! The story scores points for an interesting beginning, albeit with an annoying Donlevy leading us through the proceedings, but it then falls flat and I'm afraid we are left with not much of an impact at all. It's watchable but not recommended.

"Impact" is the ideal sort of film for a wet Sunday afternoon. It is one of those many enjoyable, if largely unmemorable, crime dramas churned out by Hollywood studios in black and white in the pre-TV era. Walter Williams (Brian Donlevy) is a self-made man. Having started life as a sheet-metal worker, he has worked his way up over a period of ten years to become a successful industrialist who has the board of directors of the company that employs him eating out of his hand. He adores his wife Irene (Helen Walker), whom he sometimes addresses as "Softy", and earns enough to keep her in fine style and to buy her expensive jewellery and flowers. However, unbeknown to Walter, his affection is not reciprocated. Irene has grown bored with him and is having an affair with Jim Torrance (Tony Barrett). The two of them hatch a plan to kill Walter in a staged car crash. But their scheme does not work out and Torrance is killed instead. Walter escapes to a small town known as Larkspur, gets a job as a garage mechanic and falls in love with the garage proprietor Marsha Peters (Ella Raines, whose role as a beautiful car mechanic stretches credulity almost to breaking point). At the same time he has begun gradually to piece together the details of his wife's duplicity. Things move on from there."Impact" is not intended to be a serious film. It is essentially a pot-boiler whose only purpose is to provide 90 minutes or so of entertainment. On that basis, it is reasonably successful. Yes, elements of the plot are frankly ridiculous and rely far too much on coincidence. The film looks technically prehistoric by today's standards in that many outdoor scenes are clearly filmed in a studio with an appropriate backdrop that, to modern viewers, will simply be unconvincing and amateurish. But that is perhaps an unfair criticism of a film that was made more than 60 years ago. The acting and the direction are competent enough, without standing out in any way. "Impact" is an enjoyable, if forgettable, film. 6/10.