Act of Violence

Slightly above-average noir. It's not a complete game changer, but the premise is a tad more creative than most of its peers, and Zinnemann competently draws some tension from that. Genre cinema is always about the little details, and Act of Violence is another good example.

After the war, veteran Enley returns home to live a quiet life in a small town. Things are finally going his way, until private Parkson turns up in Enley's town. He wants to confront Enley, who has been carrying a secret with him. Enley isn't just going to let Parkson overthrow his comfortable life though.

The black and white cinematography is decent, performances are sufficient, and the runtime is relatively short, which makes that the pacing is on point. It's certainly not a tense of thrilling film, but Enley's secret is properly exploited and the cat-and-mouse game between the two is nice enough to follow.