Amanda Bustard

Impact - The force at which two people come together, sometimes for good, sometimes for evil. From the opening title sequence and to the juxtaposition of “sometimes for evil, sometimes for good”, Impact takes you on a tailspin of twists and turns that ends with a feeling of satisfying justice and hope. We witness the evolution our protagonist, Walt Williams, from top of his game business executive to small town mechanic, humbled by love’s disillusion. As a woman in 2022, it’s challenging to watch another woman cast aside, what some may see as nauseatingly adoring, a dedicated husband who sends daily flowers to his wife, hosts a beautiful full body photo of her on his desk, and signs cute cards/messages with his newly attributed nickname, “softy.” He comments about getting cheated out of a “goodbye kiss”, returns home with a monogrammed jeweled broach for her, and compliments her with, “smart woman, my wife.” Even at a distance, he telephones along the route to check in on his supposedly ill wife. Where are these fictionally undamaged and successful men today? Unlike so many films of the time, with lines like, “perhaps I was talking, when I should have been listening,” I do think this was written or influenced under the lens of a woman. Just 20 minutes into the film the action begins to pick up with our newly picked up passenger and antagonist zipping the car around curves on the Pacific Coastal Highway (PCH). At 21 minutes the protagonist, Walter Williams, exits his car due to a flat tire. While witnessing the road edge warns our first villain, “be careful there fella. That’s quite a drop.” In a 1998 article about the perils of the PCH, Sue Mcalllister wrote for the LA Times, “If the Pacific Coast Highway were a person, it would be someone you found exasperating, frustrating and undeniably charismatic. Someone you were excited to see every time she walked in the door, but whose capricious, often hurtful behavior you cursed. Someone whose dangerous tendencies were masked--but just barely--by a dazzling, come-hither grin.” This metaphor of the road to the woman of dangerous alluring mystique parallels our primary antagonist, Helen Walker as Irene Williams. Without giving away much about the plot, this review is about the additional layers of this film which make it a do not miss. In a handful of scenes we get to see Chinese American housekeeper Sun Lin, played by Anna May Wong, interacting with the Lieutenant Inspector, Charles Coburn. Charles Coburn was born in Macon, Georgia to Scottish/Irish parents in 1877. His disarming brogue has a Burl Ives quality that is still discernible even after moving to LA in 1937. Unlike Ives, and a product of his time and location, Mr. Coburn was a member of the White Supremacist Group, White Citizen’s Counsils, a group who strongly opposed racial integration. Meanwhile, Anna May Wong, who spoke English and Cantonese was the first Asian American woman to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. Although only supporting characters in the film, both Coburn and Wong bring justice to Brian Donlevy’s character, Walt Williams. Oddly, although born 28 years apart, both Wong and Coburn would succumb to heart attacks in 1961. I highly recommend this film noir from 1949 and see how relevant and thrilling the story is 73 years later.