Act of Violence
| Act of Violence | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Fred Zinnemann |
| Produced by | William H. Wright |
| Screenplay by | Robert L. Richards |
| Story by | Collier Young |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Bronislau Kaper |
| Cinematography | Robert Surtees |
| Edited by | Conrad A. Nervig |
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Production
company |
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
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| Distributed by | Loew's Inc. |
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Release date
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Running time
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82 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,290,000 |
| Box office | $1,129,000 |
Act of Violence is a 1949 American film noir directed by Fred Zinnemann and adapted for the screen by Robert L. Richards from a story by Collier Young, starring Van Heflin, Robert Ryan and Janet Leigh. The film was one of the first to address not only problems of returning World War II veterans but also the ethics of war.
After surviving a Nazi POW camp where comrades were murdered by guards during an escape attempt, Frank Enley (Van Heflin), returns home from World War II. The "war hero" is respected for his fine character and good works in the California town of Santa Lisa, where he, his young wife and baby had settled after moving from the East. What his wife does not know is that Frank relocated them in an attempt to escape his past. His nemesis is Joe Parkson (Robert Ryan), once his best friend, who also lived through the ordeal, although he was left with a crippled leg. In exchange for food, Frank had alerted the Nazi camp commander to the prisoners' escape plans, thinking wrongly that the men would not be punished. Joe is determined to exact justice on Frank, whose location he has learned from a newspaper story commending Enley for his civic endeavors.
Frank's wife Edith (Janet Leigh) is completely in the dark about his past, while Joe's girlfriend Ann Sturgess (Phyllis Thaxter) knows everything about her man, but cannot dissuade him from his passion to set past wrongs right by seeing Frank dead. Frank must confront the truth that he is a coward, not a hero.
Doggedly pursued by Joe, who stalks Frank's family at their house, Frank goes into hiding, leaving his confused wife behind. At a trade convention in Los Angeles, Frank enlists a past-her-prime prostitute, Pat (Mary Astor), who introduces him to a shady lawyer and a hitman, Johnny (Berry Kroeger). Frank lures Joe into meeting him at the Santa Lisa train station, where the hitman plans to drive up and kill Joe, the gunshot muffled by the noise of the train.
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Wikipedia