Act of Violence, a classic film noir starring Van Heflin and Robert Ryan, was released on Blu-ray in June through the Warner Archive Collection. The 82-minute black-and-white film is presented in a 1.37:1 aspect ratio with side mattes and a DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono audio track.

Act of Violence focuses on a pair World War II veterans that had very different experiences during the war. Frank Enley (Van Heflin) came home a war hero after surviving a Nazi POW camp and he’s managed to build a nice life with wife Edith (Janet Leigh) and their child. What Edith doesn’t know is that the only reason they moved to Santa Lisa, Cal. is so that Fran can escape from the WWII fallout.

On the other side of the coin is Joe Parkson (Robert Ryan). Parkson’s war experience left him permanently injured. His girlfriend, Ann Sturges (Phyllis Thaxter), knows everything about him. She has zero luck in preventing Joe from tracking down Frank. Frank isn’t home when Joe confronts Edith with the truth. No, he’s at attending a trade convention at a Los Angeles hotel. Maybe it’s for the best, maybe it isn’t. But perhaps karma is coming for him as the truth starts coming to the surface.

If you believe Joe, Frank sold out his fellow POW inmates to the Nazis. While they made an attempt to escape, he alerted the Nazis to their plans, thinking that nothing bad would happen to them. The only reason Joe survived is because he played dead. Everyone else died and you couldn’t blame him for wanting revenge. Frank was only looking out for himself and again, if you believe Joe, Frank is no war hero. Frank’s survival came at the expense of his fellow soldiers. Even if he’s dealing with survivor’s guilt, he’s still a traitor for ultimately being the reason why his fellow soldiers are dead.

Act of Violence is a very different film from Fred Zinneman’s High Noon. Of course, the Western–released just a few years later–worked as a metaphor for either the Red Scare or the Holocaust. But in this film, we’re dealing with the ethics of war and soldiers coming back in post-war America. Are they dealing with PTSD or something else? In watching the film, there is no denying that both Frank and Joe had very different experiences. At the same time, something must be said about Zinneman experiencing survivor’s guilt, too, as his parents were murdered in the Holocaust.

What catches me off guard is the way the film ends. It’s an ending that I certainly didn’t expect but at the same time, this is a film noir so a crime being committed is more or less mandatory per the rules of the genre. It’s just not the crime that I expected would happen. But hey, that’s what happens when films take twists and turns.

There’s a universe where Mark Hellinger produces the film and Gregory Peck stars opposite Humphrey Bogart. Can you imagine Act of Violence with those two actors? Nothing against Van Heflin or Robert Ryan but I feel that Peck and Bogart would have brought even bigger star power to the film. But before them, it was set to be a low-budget indie starring Howard Duff. When the film was released, Ryan was about a year removed from his Oscar nomination for Crossfire. Heflin himself had won an Oscar in the early 40s for his performance in Johnny Eager. And yet, none of this was enough to prevent Act of Violence from taking a loss at the box office.

Act of Violence shines a light on veterans and how the war impacted them in post-war America.

Bonus Features

• Feature commentary by film historian Dr. Drew Casper
• Featurette: Act of Violence: Dealing with the Devil
• Original Theatrical Trailer

DIRECTOR: Fred Zinneman
SCREENWRITER: Robert L. Richards
CAST: Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, with Janet Leigh, Mary Astor, Phyllis Thaxter, Berry Kroeger, Taylor Holmes, Harry Antrum, Connie Gilchrist, Will Wright

MGM released Act of Violence in theaters on January 22, 1949. Grade: 3.5/5

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