Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

secondtake Act of Violence (1948)Is this possibly Janet Leigh's best performance ever? Oh yes, that's Janet Leigh, the one in the shower in "Psycho." And Van Heflin is continually underapprectiated, so another chance to appreciate him here. Robert Ryan and Mary Astor are both in top form, too. And so is cinematographer Robert Surtees, making this one of the most dynamic (and varied) of film noirs.This is a classic. It has the feel of a noir, of course, even though much of it is set in a small town, but it has the key plot elements of the returning veteran unable to cope with the new post-war reality. Filled with believable surprises, fast and gorgeous, acted to the hilt, and yet still stylized a little beyond mere reality. A gem, a joy. The director? Fred Zinnemann, who used Leigh in the original "Manchurian Candidate," is also the man who pulled of "High Noon" and "From Here to Eternity." All four of these films have a combination of vigorous visual style, top notch acting with subtlety, and most of all, social significance. They deal with issues of their various times in ways that never preach, however. Of the four, it's actually possible that this one is the tightest and best of them all. Higher praise? Not possible.

bkoganbing Neither Van Heflin or Robert Ryan were ever considered matinée idols or big box office draws. But both men were consummate professionals who could cast well in a variety of roles. I think that Act Of Violence could have worked just as well if they had played each other's parts.MGM was a studio that did not do noir films very often, but in this case with Fred Zinnemann directing they did this one very well. No cops or private eyes in this one, both men are your average American of 1948. One has done a terrible wrong to the other and the other is seeking revenge.Heflin is a former pilot who was shot down over Germany during World War II and Ryan was his bombardier. They both did time in a POW camp where Heflin informed on escape plans that Ryan and others made. No one survived but Ryan and he now walks with a limp, courtesy of Nazi machine gunners. In civilian life Heflin is now a very successful contractor and when he hears Ryan is looking for him, he gets naturally rattled which concerns his wife Janet Leigh. Heflin who was not going to go to a convention in Los Angeles now changes his mind abruptly, but not before explaining to Leigh the reason for his fear. It's more fear of being exposed than for his life.In Los Angeles Heflin who won his Oscar for Johnny Eager playing an alcoholic borrows a bit from that role as he ends up in a waterfront dive pouring his troubles out to some lowlifes played by Mary Astor, Taylor Holmes, and Berry Kroeger. Holmes is also drawing a bit from a previous role as a shyster lawyer in Kiss Of Death as he's playing the same kind of character in seedier circumstances. In fact Holmes's character says he is an attorney. I know Fred Zinnemann must have seen Kiss Of Death and cast Holmes as a result of that.The climax might not be what you think, but in a way it's a fitting ending to the story. Though they get good support from the rest of the cast Heflin and Ryan dominate the story though they have no scenes together until the end. Act Of Violence is a noir classic and fans of Heflin and Ryan should list it among their best performances.

seymourblack-1 "Act Of Violence" is a powerful and tense melodrama about two men who, during the period immediately following World War 11, are both haunted by the past. The methods by which they struggle to resolve their troubled circumstances differ, as one chooses violent revenge as a solution whilst the other ultimately opts for an even more perversely criminal remedy. Stark visual contrasts are drawn between the brightly lit scenes which celebrate all the optimism and positivity of the period and the more darkly lit ones during which the problems of the recent past are addressed.Frank Enley (Van Heflin) is a clean cut ex-serviceman who runs his own successful business. He's happily married and well respected in his local community. Joe Parkson (Robert Ryan) is a disabled war veteran who calls at Frank's house and learns from his wife Edith (Janet Leigh) that Frank is away on a fishing trip. Joe pursues Frank to the nearby lake with the intention of killing him but is thwarted when he is unable to get a clear shot at him. When a bartender tells Frank that a stranger with a limp has been asking about him, he immediately panics and heads home.Frank tells Edith that Joe and he were in a Nazi POW camp together and that he doesn't want to see Joe as he's mentally ill. Frank also admits that it was because of Joe that he moved the family away from their previous home in Syracuse, New York. The couple hide out in their darkened house when Joe calls again and his threatening presence pacing around outside, makes the sound of his irregular stride seem extremely sinister.When Frank goes to a builders' and contractors' convention in Los Angeles, Joe goes again to his home and tells Edith that he's pursuing Frank because he was responsible for his disability and the deaths of a number of his comrades. At the convention, Joe finds Frank and after a brief scuffle, Frank escapes. He goes to a bar where he meets Pat (Mary Astor) who introduces him to a "lawyer" named Gavery (Taylor Holmes) and a hit man called Johnny (Berry Kroeger) and between them they make an arrangement for Joe to be murdered. The events that take place when the killing is to be carried out, lead to a resolution for both men and some degree of redemption for Frank.Frank is an archetypal noir character being a rather weak man, haunted by something from his past and who despite his best efforts, is unable to avoid his own destiny. His collusion with the Nazis that led to the deaths of his comrades had been an ill judged action which had been made at a time when he was under duress and the same poor judgement was shown yet again when he made a similar bad decision to conspire with criminals to kill Joe. Neither man is completely noble or unequivocally evil, but both are undoubtedly victims of their recent tragic past. Their story which initially appears to be a simple conflict between good and evil is gradually revealed to be something more complex and disturbing.Fred Zinnemann's direction and Robert Surtees' cinematography are both excellent and combine effectively to unveil the different aspects of Frank and Joe's characters and also to convey all the associated tension and anxiety that they feel throughout."Act Of Violence" certainly grows from its deceptively straightforward looking introduction into an absorbing tale of some substance and profundity.

Steffi_P In the period immediately after Word War Two there was this massive divergence of moods in cinema, with fantastical escapism on the one hand, and dark pessimism on the other. This was particularly pronounced at MGM. Although the Arthur Freed unit was carrying on the studio's reputation for dreamlike extravagance, new production chief Dore Schary was also pushing a line of frank and gritty "message" movies, many of which dealt directly with the recent conflict.Act of Violence runs like a kind of dark flipside to the sublimely poignant Best Years of Our Lives, which won Best Picture for MGM a few years earlier. The director is Fred Zinnemann, who would later film a couple of Best Pictures himself, but at this point was still honing his craft in the B-unit. As in the handful of other features he had made up to this point, his primary concern seems to be creating atmosphere and tension through use of space and lighting. Virtually every shot is filled with streaking shadows and stifling frames, and to be honest this is all laid on a bit too heavily, even if it is very precise. Ironically though, his aim to give the picture this consistent claustrophobic feel means that sometimes he is forced to achieve it more subtly – for example in the shot where Robert Ryan crosses the road in front of the military parade, Zinnemann frames the action neatly with objects and people. The effect is the same but it looks very natural and unforced.Zinnemann also gets to prove his ability at handling action scenes. This is something directors usually perfect sooner than they do drama, which again is ironic for Zinnemann as he would spend most of his later career making deep dramatic pictures with little action. His staging of drama is coming along here though. He does a lot of long takes in dialogue scenes, where against cinematic convention one actor has their back to the camera whilst talking, thus focusing us on the reactions of the listener. One of the strongest pieces of direction however is the way Zinnemann introduces the two lead characters. We first see Ryan walking from a distance, then closer to, but from behind, we then see he has a gun, and then we finally pan up to his face. We are thus given clues as to the kind of man he is and what he may be capable of before we are allowed to connect with the character. The opposite approach is taken for Van Heflin, who is introduced to us with a big facial close-up, which would have been meaningful to audiences of the day as they would know Heflin and the sort of characters he played. From this point on Zinnemann allows the story to deconstruct Heflin's stereotype and add flesh to Ryan's.This intelligent focus on actors naturally brings out the best in the performances. Heflin's is strong if a tiny bit overdone at times. He probably relished this chance to show off his range. Ryan sadly doesn't get to do enough with this character, but he has great presence, and that is essentially what his character is for most of the movie – a presence. Mary Astor is great too – another player with fantastic range. I'll also mention Berry Kroeger, who plays the hit-man Johnnie, and was clearly cast as a face to fit the part, yet he does a pretty good acting job as well.One thing that does link these darker MGM post-war flicks with the studio's lighter upbeat fare is a kind of melodramatic overstatement, which is great in the right place but harms a picture like Act of Violence. In spite of the staccato, atonal intro, the music is largely schmaltzy strings spoiling the sincerity of the dramatic moments. The dialogue is fairly trite and unmemorable. It is mainly the good acting and competent direction which saves this one.