Impact

Impact is a 1949 American film noir drama film starring Brian Donlevy and Ella Raines. Directed by Arthur Lubin, it was shot entirely in Northern California, including scenes in Sausalito at Larkspur in Marin County, on Nob Hill in San Francisco, and throughout the Bay area. The screenplay was based on a story by film noir writer Jay Dratler. Charles Coburn, Helen Walker, Anna May Wong, Philip Ahn, and William Wright appear in support. Plot Powerhouse millionaire industrialist Walter Williams gets his board of directors to bend to his will without ever breaking a sweat. He has a beautiful young wife, Irene, whom he dotes on, and a seemingly perfect life together in San Francisco. Walt has business in Denver, and Irene accepts his invitation to come along, turning the scenic ride over the mountains via Lake Tahoe into a mini-vacation. At the last moment, she feigns illness, then asks him to instead give a ride to her poor cousin hitchhiking his way home to Evanston, Illinois. The "cousin" is actually her lover, Jim Torrence, masquerading as “Jim Burns”.