Tonight's Movie: Act of Violence (1948) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

The outstanding ACT OF VIOLENCE (1948) has been released on a beautiful Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection.

I first saw this film in 2018 at the Noir City Film Festival. Revisiting it at home half a dozen years later, I found myself just as impressed as I was on my initial big screen viewing.

ACT OF VIOLENCE is very well written, with a compact screenplay by Robert L. Richards based on a story by Collier Young. The movie runs a crisp 82 minutes and is all the better for the short running time. Virtually every scene packs a punch.

Everything else about the film fires on all cylinders, with the entire cast superb under the direction of Fred Zinnemann.

World War II veteran Frank Enley (Van Heflin) lives in the California suburb of Santa Lisa. He has a charming young wife (Janet Leigh), a baby boy (Larry and Leslie Holt), a lovely home, and a thriving construction business.

Everything turns on its head when a limping stranger, Joe Parkson (Robert Ryan), comes calling one day while Frank is out of town. Edith tells the stranger that Frank has gone fishing. Joe follows Frank to the lake, with murder clearly on his mind...he's carrying a gun. But why?

We eventually learn that Joe isn't necessarily the bad guy in this story; he wants revenge for something very bad Frank did in a POW camp.

The film is powerfully acted by its top cast. As one would expect, Heflin and Ryan are each outstanding, as is the great Mary Astor as a floozie who becomes involved in Frank's problems.

That said, as I noted in 2018 the standout among those experienced actors is the 21-year-old Leigh as the innocent young wife whose ideal world comes crashing down around her. I really feel that in many ways ACT OF VIOLENCE is Leigh's film, as we watch the tragedy unfold through her eyes. She's incredibly moving, particularly during her final scenes as she tries to assure her husband that she loves him despite his imperfections.

I went into considerable detail about the movie in my 2018 review, and I'd like to invite readers to click over to read it for additional thoughts on this very fine film.

The Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray print is a new 1080 HD master of a 4K scan of "best preservation elements." It beautifully shows off the haunting black and white cinematography of Robert Surtees. The shots of the dark streets of Los Angeles, including the Angels' Flight Railway, are quite memorable.

Disc extras consist of the trailer; the featurette "Act of Violence: Dealing With the Devil," which was part of the original 2007 DVD release; a 2007 commentary track by longtime University of Southern California cinema professor Drew Casper; and the cartoons GOGGLE FISHING BEAR (1949) and THE SHELL SHOCKED EGG (1948).

Highly recommended.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

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