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Limb & Spinal Minor 
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TITLE |
Act
of Violence (1949) |
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A man (Ryan)
who walks with a limp goes into a house and |
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takes a gun
from a drawer. He then boards a Greyhound bus |
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and gets off
in a small town just as a Veterans Parade for |
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What follows
is his pursuit of his 'victim' (Heflin) from home to |
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fishing spot
and back to home. And no luck there because |
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the guy has
scarpered to a conference in L.A..... |
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Ryan is a
man with an obsession. He tells his victim's wife |
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(Leigh) that
during the war her husband was a stoolie in a |
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P.O.W.....
camp who got his colleagues killed and was |
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responsible
for his limp. |
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In L.A... at
the conference Heflin sees Ryan coming for him |
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and runs
off, ending in a bar where the only person besides |
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the barman
is a young woman. She picks him up and takes |
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him home and
later to a club where she arranges for him to |
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meet some of
her friends. He's being set-up for a deal where |
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for a good
price these people will get rid of his pursuer. |
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But after
the hit is arranged Heflin is in despair and tries to kill
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himself,
unfortunately the train he thinks will hit him takes |
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another
track. Remorseful he goes to warn Ryan about the |
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paid
assassin and takes the bullet meant for Ryan and dies |
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Ryan's
character's disability looks here to be an obvious |
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complement
to his bitterness common in films of this era. |
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But there's
more to it. Ryan is a loner. We see his bare bed |
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sitter. He
presumably has no job. Whereas Heflin is a |
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successful
builder, has a happy marriage, enjoys fishing trips |
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and
generally has an uncomplicated, comfortable life. Into |
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that life
comes Ryan, almost like the devil, leaving Heflin dead, his wife a
widow, the community less a good citizen. Is this justified
payment for one act of treachery during the war? Heflin does
explain that he told the Germans about an escape attempt
because he feared all the escapees would be shot. |
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The Germans
promised Heflin they would be well treated but then went back on their
word. One evil spawns another evil. But Ryan's 'crippled leg' and his
obsession suggest that he is not the good avenger representing his
fallen comrades, more a flawed character within himself. |
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Notes
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