Ryan, Heflin as hunter and prey in look at WWII's dark aftermath

Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

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Sure, I was in the hospital, but I didn't go crazy. I kept myself sane. You know how? I kept saying to myself: Joe, you're the only one alive that knows what he did. You're the one that's got to find him, Joe. I kept remembering. I kept thinking back to that prison camp. One of them lasted to the morning. By then, you couldn't tell his voice belonged to a man. He sounded like a dog that got hit by a truck and left him in the street.

Van Heflin and Janet Leigh in Act of Violence (1948)

Van Heflin

Robert Ryan

Janet Leigh

Robert L. Richards

Collier Young

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

Fred Zinnemann

Act of Violence

very good

&quot;Act of Violence&quot; from 1948, directed by Fred Zinnemann, is a strong noir starring Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, and Mary Astor.

Ryan is Joe Parkson, a man disabled in World War II who wants revenge against his old commanding officer, Frank Enley (Heflin). Parkson blames Enley for his disability and comes to town to kill him. Frank has been running from Joe for a while, as his wife (Leigh) mentions that they have moved to several different places. At this point Frank is an absolute pillar of the community in every way. But he&apos;s carrying a dark secret, and Joe knows it.

Excellent acting is the strength here, with Heflin giving a fantastic performance of man who slowly disintegrates, and Ryan in a familiar role as a killer. Except, of course, there&apos;s more to the story than that. Mary Astor has a small but showy part. Janet Leigh is very young here, playing Frank&apos;s adoring wife. Taylor Holmes, in the small role of a sleazeball, does a fantastic job.

Someone on this board made an excellent point. There were complaints that there should have been flashbacks showing what actually happened in the past. The point was made that a) It was a B movie and as such, flashbacks would have added too much time; and b) Because we were a nation of radio listeners back then, audiences had no trouble imagining what happened when they heard the story. I found this fascinating because it&apos;s so true and had not occurred to me. For years, we used our imaginations much more than we do today.

Trailer

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNWE0ZDFiOTktMzRhNC00MDRhLWI3ZTQtYThiNDQyNzIwOTUzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXRyYW5zY29kZS13b3JrZmxvdw@@._V1_.jpg

"Act of Violence" from 1948, directed by Fred Zinnemann, is a strong noir starring Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, and Mary Astor.

Ryan is Joe Parkson, a man disabled in World War II who wants revenge against his old commanding officer, Frank Enley (Heflin). Parkson blames Enley for his disability and comes to town to kill him. Frank has been running from Joe for a while, as his wife (Leigh) mentions that they have moved to several different places. At this point Frank is an absolute pillar of the community in every way. But he's carrying a dark secret, and Joe knows it.

Excellent acting is the strength here, with Heflin giving a fantastic performance of man who slowly disintegrates, and Ryan in a familiar role as a killer. Except, of course, there's more to the story than that. Mary Astor has a small but showy part. Janet Leigh is very young here, playing Frank's adoring wife. Taylor Holmes, in the small role of a sleazeball, does a fantastic job.

Someone on this board made an excellent point. There were complaints that there should have been flashbacks showing what actually happened in the past. The point was made that a) It was a B movie and as such, flashbacks would have added too much time; and b) Because we were a nation of radio listeners back then, audiences had no trouble imagining what happened when they heard the story. I found this fascinating because it's so true and had not occurred to me. For years, we used our imaginations much more than we do today.

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

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Act of Violence

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