Act Of Violence lives up to its no-fooling-around title with a grim, exciting melodrama. Van Heflin is Frank Enley, a World War II veteran who has survived and been decorated with honors, while nearly all his comrades died in a Nazi prison camp. The one survivor, a crippled, revenge-crazed Robert Ryan, sets out to make Enley pay for the confession that sent his buddies to their deaths. To save his wife (Janet Leigh) from danger, Enley flees, meeting up with a kind-hearted hooker (Mary Astor) and ultimately hiring a hitman to kill his pursuer. The chase builds to a tense climax that does nothing to relieve the dark atmosphere of the rest of the film. With taut performances by Ryan and Heflin emphasizing its classic moral dilemmas, Act Of Violence remains a gripping thriller.