Act of Violence (1948)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Fred Zinnemann

Writers:

Robert L. Richards (screenplay)
Collier Young (story)

Release Date:

21 December 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | Film-Noir | Drama

Tagline:

The manhunt no woman could stop!

Plot:

An embittered, vengeful POW stalks his former commanding officer who betrayed his men's planned escape attempt from a Nazi prison camp..

Plot Keywords:

Small Town | Revenge | Post War | Limp | Rental Car

Cast

Van Heflin	...	Frank R. Enley
Robert Ryan	...	Joe Parkson
Janet Leigh	...	Edith Enley
Mary Astor	...	Pat
Phyllis Thaxter	...	Ann
Berry Kroeger	...	Johnny
Taylor Holmes	...	Gavery
Harry Antrim	...	Fred
Connie Gilchrist	...	Martha
Will Wright	...	Pop
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Albright	...	Bellboy (uncredited)
Rudolph Anders	...	German Voice (uncredited)
William Bailey	...	Convention Party Drunk (uncredited)
Margaret Bert	...	Bystander (uncredited)
Barbara Billingsley	...	(voice) (uncredited)
Douglas Carter	...	Heavy Jowled Man (uncredited)
Bill Cartledge	...	Newsboy (uncredited)
Fred Datig Jr.	...	Bystander (uncredited)
Sayre Dearing	...	Conventioneer (uncredited)
Rex Downing	...	Teenage Boy (uncredited)
Jim Drum	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Phil Dunham	...	Convention Party Drunk (uncredited)
Dick Elliott	...	Convention Party Drunk (uncredited)
Mary Jo Ellis	...	Bystander (uncredited)
Everett Glass	...	Hotel Night Clerk (uncredited)
A. Cameron Grant	...	Man at Bar (uncredited)
Don Haggerty	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Mahlon Hamilton	...	Wino Pedestrian (uncredited)
Tom Hanlon	...	Radio Commentator (voice) (uncredited)
Larry Holt	...	Georgie Enley (uncredited)
Leslie Holt	...	Georgie Enley (uncredited)
Wesley Hopper	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Jimmy Kelly	...	Bystander (uncredited)
Paul Kruger	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Rocco Lanzo	...	Teenage Boy (uncredited)
Ann Lawrence	...	Bystander (uncredited)
Nolan Leary	...	Voice (uncredited)
Wilbur Mack	...	Convention Party Drunk (uncredited)
Mickey Martin	...	Teenage Boy (uncredited)
Walter Merrill	...	Man at Bar (uncredited)
Howard M. Mitchell	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Ralph Montgomery	...	Man at Bar (uncredited)
Roger Moore	...	Wino Pedestrian (uncredited)
David Newell	...	Bystander (uncredited)
George Ovey	...	Bystander (uncredited)
Garry Owen	...	Auto Rental Company Attendant (uncredited)
Ralph Peters	...	Tim the Bartender at Columbus Bar (uncredited)
William 'Bill' Phillips	...	War Vet Speaker at Dedication (uncredited)
Florita Romero	...	Girl (uncredited)
Fred Santley	...	Convention Party Drunk (uncredited)
Frank J. Scannell	...	Bell Captain (uncredited)
Hans Schumm	...	German Voice (uncredited)
Irene Seidner	...	Old Woman (uncredited)
Dick Simmons	...	Veteran (uncredited)
Robert Skelton	...	Cab Driver (uncredited)
Robert R. Stephenson	...	Bartender in Dive (uncredited)
Brick Sullivan	...	Conventioneer (uncredited)
Phil Tead	...	Hotel Day Clerk (uncredited)
Harry Tenbrook	...	Man (uncredited)
Candy Toxton	...	Veteran's Wife (uncredited)
Roland Varno	...	German Voice (uncredited)
Eddie Waglin	...	Bellboy (uncredited)

Directed by
Fred Zinnemann

Writing credits
Robert L. Richards		(screenplay)
Collier Young		(story)

Produced by
William H. Wright	....	producer

Original Music by
Bronislau Kaper

Cinematography by
Robert Surtees		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Conrad A. Nervig

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons
Hans Peters

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Helen Rose		(costumes: women)

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	makeup designer
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist

Art Department
Henry Grace	....	associate set decorator (as Henry W. Grace)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Music Department
André Previn	....	conductor

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1948) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #13275) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Angel's Flight Railway, Bunker Hill, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of the movie, when the car crashes head-on into the light pole, Frank Enley is thrown forward by the impact. He is next seen lying in the street several yards to the rear of the car.

Quotes:

Johnny: [giving Enley a drink] Put hair on your chest!
Frank R. Enley: [he sighs and looks confused and disoriented] Who are you?
Johnny: Me? I'm a businessman. You and me are gonna do a little business. You got dough, friend?
[looking at Pat]
Johnny: That's why they hang around - on the chisel. But not me. I'm gonna earn it!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

A Dark Tale of Guilt and Revenge

Home from WWII, veteran Frank Enley (Van Heflin) leads a comfortable life with his younger wife (Janet Leigh) in a small all-American town, until one day Joe Parkson (Robert Ryan), a former member from his platoon shows up, who seems to be out for revenge against him.

ACT OF VIOLENCE never makes it easy on you by telling who the good guy and the bad guy is: Frank may have done something wrong in the past, but is tormented by guilt (Heflin gives a great performance here), whereas Joe may be on a righteous mission, but his need for vengeance is obsessive and blind. It introduces two radically opposed characters and in the end makes you empathize with both of them. It's the movie HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG tried to be, but failed.

With a strong, gripping and tense conflict like this, you hope for a great ending. It almost delivers, but not quite: the final act wraps things up too neatly, it's a screenwriter's ending, not a real life one.

Nevertheless, ACT OF VIOLENCE is a greatly underrated American film.