Act Of Violence

Year: 1948

Grade: B+

Country: USA

Director: Zinnemann

Review

great noir. robert surtees’ (ben hur, the sting, the graduate) cinematography is stunning as always. heflin and ryan are great as well, but the women are uncharacteristically good as well. leigh and astor play the wife and girlfriend of heflin and ryan respectively. they’re given solid roles in this film and that’s somewhat of a rarity in this genre. it’s a gritty film with some raw themes. i love the locations in the bars, alleyways, and on the railroad tracks. it’s a very different kind of coming home from the war film than love laughs at andy hardy. i would guess it was a bit of catharsis for zinneman. at any rate, very good film overall.