Impact

The first half is a really taut noir, from happy loving marriage to double crossing, murder and confusion, the turns feel very smooth. Donlevy is great through it all, and especially in the aftermath that makes up the second half of the film, and he's matched every step of the way by Walker. The second half is a mixed bag. On the one hand the rapport between Donlevy and Raines is wonderful. But a lot of it feels like filler, made worse by a rushed ending.

The first act of this movie is absolutely dynamite. It's pure noir, tense and dark. And the third act is a satisfying courtroom drama. But oh, that second act sucks. Donlevy discovers the joys of small town Americana, where everyone is friendly, goes to church, and is happy to serve in the volunteer fire department. It's a load of saccharine crap, and an incredibly annoying detour. The vastly underrated Helen Walker steals the show as the scheming femme fatale.

She almost got away with it! While everything is wrapped up too neatly at the end, I did get a lot of satisfaction from watching Walter live the good life in small-town America while his murderous wife Irene languished in jail. Does this make me a bad person? No; Walter's conduct was entirely ethical from start to finish, he was simply making the best of a bad situation. In contrast, Irene got exactly what she deserved for betraying Walter. I love the use of miniatures for the 'car crash' scene.

Entertaining crime thriller/drama.

I rented this thinking it was going to be a seedy little film noir and instead I got a rather pedestrian drama, with Brian Donlevy attempting to get all sensistive as a rich husband who finds love in a small town after his wife has attempted to kill him. Charles Coburn sleepwalks through his role as the detective and the courtroom climax is ridiculous. I can't help but wonder what Nick Ray would have done with this same material.

A fair movie until the horrible trial scenes.

Had enough intrigue to make an Impact (1949). A devious murderous wife and her revengeful old man provided enough twists to entertain, though it might have been a tad bit on the long side. Still a explosive take on a murder story.

To begin with, the exposition is insufferable. The suspense is great when the turning point finally comes around, but the movie then tries to begin two or three different movies patched unevenly and unnecessarily together. What's more, they all star Brian Donlevy, the most boring actor in the universe.