A trench-coated figure hobbles toward us in shadow. The New York City skyline hovers over him at an odd angle. The man walks up the stairs of a run-down hotel. His back is towards us, his limp pronounced. Inside his shabby room, he reaches into a drawer, pulls out an automatic pistol, and loads it. Only then does the camera show us his face. It is the unmistakable face of Robert Ryan, a face that was born to play angry, violent men. Here he plays Joe Parkson, a WWII veteran. A survivor of a Nazi POW camp. He is all darkness and shadow. He’s come looking for revenge.
Buy Act of Violence (1948) Blu-rayContrast him with Frank Enley (Van Heflin). We first see him bathed in light. He’s standing outdoors on a sunny day, accepting the praise of a small town for his business sense. He’s got his kid on his shoulders and his doting wife Edith (Janet Leigh) by his side. He should be the good guy in our picture while Joe Parkson should be the villain. In most movies, that’s how things would play out.
But Act of Violence isn’t most movies. It is a dark-as-night film noir with deeply complex morals and a surprisingly modern take on PTSD. Frank was Joe’s C.O. during the war. They served together. They were imprisoned together. Frank did things in that POW camp that Joe cannot forgive. Things that didn’t seem so bad to Frank at the time. Things he was able to justify while imprisoned, starving to death. Things that might have even saved lives. But in the cold light of day, in peacetime with his nice house with his nice family, those things feel heavy on the heart.
He’s tried to run from those feelings. He left New York in a hurry and settled for a small town in sunny California. But things like that have a way of following you. He might have been able to run away from his guilt for a time, but he can’t escape Joe, who is overcome with anger and revenge. He’s unrelenting in his pursuit of Frank.
In the first act of the film, we don’t understand why Joe is pursuing Frank. We see him grab that gun in the beginning then take a bus to California. He goes to Frank’s house, and when he learns he’s gone fishing, he pursues him to the lake. Then he waits outside his house in the wee hours of the night. Joe tries hiding at first, then he runs.
Director Fred Zinnemann films it like a thriller. Cinematographer Robert Surtees shoots it like a noir. It is a crackerjack little movie. It drops you right into the action and pushes you right to the edge. Then it pauses to add depth. These characters have been through hell. They survived a world war, not unscathed but full of wounds – guilt and anger, revenge and fear. It never lets Frank off easy. We understand what he did, and perhaps even sympathize to some extent, but his actions led to suffering and death. He’s not free from guilt. Both Heflin and Ryan are fantastic.
Janet Leigh, who was only 21 at the time, and had only been in a few films before this is marvelous as well. She adds layers of complexity to a character who could have been cardboard in lesser hands. She must look at her husband in a new light, understanding the full thrust of what he’s done, and choose whether or not she can still love him. Mary Astor is a revelation. She plays a burned-out old prostitute who at first sees Frank as a mark. He finds her towards the end of the film, on the run from Joe and at the end of his rope. She starts to set him up, but then finds some semblance of what humanity is left inside her and helps him out. Astor is remarkable, world-weary but kind.
Film noir was often the by-product of a world trying to make sense of life after the war. But that was often subtext, the metaphoric shadows swimming underneath all the real ones. Act of Violence brings all that to the forefront with two main characters who have been shattered by the war. All while delivering a top-notch thriller.
Warner Archive presents Act of Violence with a new 1080p transfer from the best available elements. This no doubt means the original negatives were not wholly existent, but it still looks quite good. Extras include an archival commentary from film historian Dr. Drew Casper who discusses the film’s many merits but also digs into the careers of the main players. There is also a short, but enjoyable featurette on the film, some cartoon shorts, and the film’s trailer.
