Impact (1949)
Directed by Arthur Lubin, Impact is a gripping film noir drama starring Brian Donlevy, Ella Raines, Helen Walker, and Charles Coburn. With a plot that twists through betrayal, murder, and mistaken identity, the film explores the emotional fallout of a man whose life is nearly destroyed by those closest to him.
Plot Summary
Walter Williams (Brian Donlevy), a wealthy industrialist from San Francisco, seems to have it all—until his wife Irene (Helen Walker) and her lover Jim Torrence (Tony Barrett) plot to murder him. On a mountain road trip, Torrence attacks Walter and leaves him for dead. But Walter survives and, after seeing a newspaper report of his own death, decides to disappear and start anew.
He ends up in the small town of Larkspur, Idaho, where he finds peace working as a mechanic for Marsha Peters (Ella Raines), a war widow. Meanwhile, back in San Francisco, Irene is arrested for Walter’s murder. Torn between revenge and compassion, Walter must decide whether to expose the truth or let justice take its course.
Cast Highlights
- Brian Donlevy as Walter Williams
- Ella Raines as Marsha Peters
- Helen Walker as Irene Williams
- Charles Coburn as Lt. Tom Quincy
- Anna May Wong as Su Lin Chung (her penultimate film role)
- Tony Barrett as Jim Torrence
Behind-the-Scenes Trivia
- Though set in Larkspur, Idaho, the film was actually shot in Larkspur, California, with recognizable downtown scenes
- This marked Anna May Wong’s return to film after a seven-year hiatus since Lady from Chungking (1942)
- Director Arthur Lubin called it “a very, very good picture” with “a very nice cast”
- The screenplay was based on a story by Jay Dratler, a noted noir writer who also contributed to Laura (1944)
- The film opens with a voiceover reading a dictionary definition of “impact,” setting a symbolic tone for the story’s emotional collisions
