Act of Violence

1948
Approved
1h 22m

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

6.1K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer2:28

Film Noir Drama Thriller

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

Director
- Fred Zinnemann
Writers
- Robert L. Richards
- Collier Young
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

6.1K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

901

8,265

Director
- Fred Zinnemann
Writers
- Robert L. Richards
- Collier Young
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination total

Bellboy
(uncredited)

Rudolph Anders

German
(voice)
(uncredited)

William Bailey

Convention Party Drunk
(uncredited)

Margaret Bert

Bystander
(uncredited)

Barbara Billingsley

Voice
(voice)
(uncredited)

Douglas Carter

Heavy Jowled Man
(uncredited)

Bill Cartledge

Newsboy
(uncredited)

Fred Datig Jr.

Bystander
(uncredited)

Director
- Fred Zinnemann
Writers
- Robert L. Richards
- Collier Young
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The Angel's Flight funicular railway cars still run in Los Angeles. The neighborhood in the area has changed quite a bit over the years, though it is still part of downtown Los Angeles.

Goofs
At the beginning, the bus drops Joe off in Santa Lisa, and a policeman stops him from crossing the street because a parade is coming. The bus would not drop off passengers in the middle of a parade route. Not only that, but the bus headed directly into the oncoming parade.

Quotes
Joe Parkson: 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.

Connections
Featured in Pulp Cinema (2001)

Soundtracks
Happy Days Are Here Again
(uncredited)
Music by Milton Ager
Played at the hotel during the convention

User reviews91

Review

Featured review

7/10

very good

"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.