Act Of Violence 1949

An unusually disturbing noir from a director better known for more mainstream fare like High Noon and From Here to Eternity, Act of Violence focuses on a WWII veteran haunted by his past. A film that was close to the director's heart, he said that it represented "the first time that I felt confident that I knew what I was doing and why I was doing it." Van Heflin stars as Frank Enley, a contractor living a peaceful life in a small California town, when Joe Parkson, a man who served in the army with him, arrives in the area, intent on killing him. He follows Frank to a lake where he's fishing but is unable to kill him. When a lakeside bartender tells Frank that a man with a limp is looking for him, Frank is frightened, realizing why he has come. He tells his wife, Edith (Janet Leigh), that Joe is a man who spent time with in a Nazi POW camp, who is now mentally ill, and that he intends to avoid him. When Frank goes to Los Angeles for a business convention, Joe arrives at his house and tells his wife that her husband is responsible for his injury and for the deaths of a number of men. Fearing for her husband's life, Edith heads for L.A. with Joe not far behind.
Van Heflin - Frank R. Enley
Robert Ryan - Joe Parkson
Janet Leigh - Edith Enley
Phyllis Thaxter - Ann Sturges
Mary Astor - Pat
Taylor Holmes - Gavery
Berry Kroeger - Johnny
Harry Antrim - Fred Finney
Connie Gilchrist - Martha Finney
Will Wright - Pop
John Albright - Bellboy
Rudolph Anders - German Voice [Voice]
William Norton Bailey - Ad Lib Drunk
Margaret Bert - Bystander
Barbara Billingsley
Douglas Carter - Heavy Jowled Man
Bill Cartledge - Newsboy
Fred Datig Jr. - Bystander
Rex Downing - Teenage Boy
Jim Drum - Policeman
Phil Dunham - Ad Lib Drunk
Dick Elliott - Pompous Man
Mary Jo Ellis - Bystander
Everett Glass - Night Clerk
Cameron Grant - Man
Don Haggerty - Policeman
Mahlon Hamilton - Wino
Tom Hanlon - Radio Voice [Voice]
Larry Holt - Georgie Enley
Nicholas Joy - Mr. Gavery
Paul Kruger - Policeman
Ann Lawrence - Bystander
Nolan Leary - [Voice]
Wilbur Mack - Ad Lib Drunk
Mickey Martin - Teenage Boy
Howard Mitchell - Bartender
Ralph Montgomery - Man
Roger Moore - Wino----------------no not him!
David Newell - Bystander
George Ovey - Bystander
Garry Owen - Attendent
Ralph Peters - Tim the Bartender
William "Bill" Phillips - Veterans
Andre Pola - German Voice [Voice]
Fred Santley - Drunk
Frank Scannell - Bell Captain
Irene Seidner - Old Woman
Dick Simmons - Veterans
Phil Tead - Clerk
Harry Tenbrook - Man
Roland Varno - German Voice [Voice]