Impact — Impact( Blu Ray & DVD)
Impact, from the late 1940s, is a mix of noir and small-town/ courtroom drama. It concerns a scheming wife who tries to off her big city millionaire husband, but instead, her lover gets killed- though the press reports her husband is dead, as he goes into hiding in small town America, and she goes to the slammer. Here from VCI Entertainment is a dual DVD/Blu-ray release of the film, featuring a commentary track
Impact is from the year 1949- it was directed by LA-born Arthur Lubin. The film was shot between San Francisco and a small town in California, Larkspur. Lubin started off acting in films in the 1920s- before moving into directing in the 30’s, going on to have an impressive eight four directing credits to his name- these take in sixty features, and twenty-four TV credits/ shorts. His features go from comedy/ romantic drama/ adventure Honeymoon Limited (1935), mad doctor horror meets noir Black Friday (1940), English Victorian set crime thriller Footsteps In The Fog (1955), and musical comedy featuring Herman's Hermits Hold On (1966).
After the credits, and Mr voice over dramatically discusses the word impact over an open dictionary. We meet our lead, Walter Williams (Brian Donlevy), a sleekly dressed executive, who we find out worked his way up the company from the bottom. We see him being outspoken/ firm in the boardroom, but when he gets home to his overly pampered wife Irene (Helen Walker), he’s all loved up, using pet names & appealing to her every whim.
Walter has to go and visit a new factory site some distance away. Initially, Irene says she’ll join him, but then at the last minute decides against it. Instead, she asks if he can give a lift to her cousin, but in reality, the man is her lover Jim(Tony Barrett). The plan is to off Walter on the trip, but things don’t go as planned and Jim dies in his place- with the papers going onto report Walter is dead.
After the death, the industrialist staggers and falls into the back of a removal van, passes out, and ends up in the small town of Larkspur( which in the film is in Idaho). Where he meets Marsha( Ella Raines), who has taken over/ working in the town's garage after her husband was killed in the war.
Meanwhile, back in the city, brash/outspoken Irish America cop Lt Quicy (Charles Coburn) is on the case of the industrialist's death, and one thing leads to another, Irene ends up in the slammer accused of being involved with her husband's death.
The above may seem like a big plot dump/ reveal, but in reality, this is just the first twenty/ thirty minutes of this near two-hour film. And the rest of the film mixes small-town drama, police investigation, and courtroom action, with some nice, tense scenes, and decent twists & turns
The cast is good, with Donlevy shifting from a man who has everything, then loses it all, selling both sides well. Walker is well placed as the deceitful/ out for herself wife, Raines makes for a believable grown-up small town tomboy, and Coburn is great as the swaggering cop.
I’d say the noir elements are not as thick and defined as some films in the genre, with the small-town drama elements diluting things even more. So if you're after 100 proof noir, you may be disappointed/ a little underwhelmed. But as a mix of noir & small town drama, Impact is fine, and you do get pulled in as the plots unfold/ twists.
I’d say there could have been a few cuts here and there, especially with some of the smalltown stuff, which does become a little bit too nice/ contrived- but on the whole, I enjoyed what Impact had to offer.
This region-free dual disc release seemingly features a new scan of the film- this looks ok, though there were a few glitches here and there- also some of the nighttime scenes are a little murky/ overly contrast heavy.
The only extra here, aside from an image gallery, is a commentary track from Associate Professor of English Bernard Proko. This is certainly well researched, and at points well observed- though it is a little sporadic, with Proko suddenly darting from subject to subject, and at points he does sound a little too smug. He starts off by talking about a review of the time, which criticised the opening credits of a dictionary. He briefly talks about part of the career of the film producer Leo C. Popkin. He debates whether the film is a noir or not. Later on, he talks about the different ways the city & small town locations were shot/ presented. He touches on bios of the films' actors/actresses, etc. It’s a passable track, which at points I did find somewhat frustrating.
It's always worth checking out VCI Entertainment releases- as they always home in on worthy/ often lesser known/ forgotten films, and that’s what Impact is. So if you enjoy where noir is mixed in with other genres, I think this will appeal.