Brighton Rock [DVD] [1947]

Wonderful story and characters.

Amazing brutal, surprising, rivetting.

Excellent example of the noire genre. Close to the original book, although the book captures much more of each characters inner conflict. Still, this abbreviated film form is more accessible for those too busy or lazy to read the book.

You will also be very tempted to fall for the very cute hard-boiled psychopath, and sometimes thats ok. However, that warm-hearted streak of hope may be better spent on rescuing a puppy or a new pair of shoes. A somewhat hilarious intensity will mount...will he, wont he? The world may never know. Neither will she! Awesome.

This is a terrific film, and you cant get it on disk in the US. Read about it on allmovie.com.

This years Film Noir Festival at the American Film Institute has an international focus, exploding the long-held belief that noir stories and styles are a specifically American phenomenon. With this goal, the festival presented this 1947 British gangster film, Brighton Rock, which the British Film Institute lists as no. 15 of the 100 best British films. Besides seeing this film on a large screen in a beautiful theater, I had the opportunity to hear a succinct introduction to the movie by the scholar of noir film, Foster Hirsch. Brighton Rock was the first film setting of a novel by Graham Greene. Greene also wrote the screenplay in collaboration with Terrence Rattigan. John Boulting directed the film, but the primary attraction is the acting by a young Richard Attenborough, 24 years old at the time of this film. Attenborough plays a lean, snarling and psychotic Pinky Brown who leads a small gang of older men in the British resort village of Brighton. Attenborough acts with a sharp coldness and a hard stare in his eyes throughout. His hands nervously twitch around a rope which could be used for a whip or a garrotte. At 17, Pinkie is already a cool hardened cynical killer with a puritan streak -- no drinks, tobacco, or drugs and little interest in sex. The convoluted plot of the film turns on a gang war between Pinkies small group and a much larger and more powerful Brighton gang for control of the races and slot machines. Pinkie rashly is attempting to muscle in. In the course of the conflict a newspaper reporter is killed and Pinkie must kill further to cover his tracks. Among his victims is an innocent young witness, a waitress named Rose, played by Carol Marsh who also gives a beautiful performance of a naïve, gullible, lonely woman who falls in love with a hard, cruel man. Pinkie marries Carol to prevent her from giving testimony against him. A third well played role in the film is given by Hermione Bradley who portrays a busy-body middle-aged woman who pursues Pinky for his crimes even while the police are ready to give up. The film has a strong noir sense with its sharply etched black-and-white cinematography. The film is set both in the amusement park area on the beach as well as in the alleys and backstreets which included old rooming houses and pubs and an aggressive criminal element. With the book and script by Greene, the film also includes a strong positive emphasis on Catholicism and on redemption, particularly in an ironic scene at the movies close. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to see Brighton Rock onscreen and to have the benefit as well of an informed commentary. Fans of noir or of gangster films or British films will enjoy this movie. Robin Friedman

This is a well-made crime drama, not the top rank (like Double Indemnity or The Third Man), but quite good and rather subtle. It has the merit of considerable fidelity to the book and was scrpted by the author Graham Greene.

THIS FILM, BLACK & WHITE NOT COLOR IS SLOW, AND QUIETLY TERRIFYING. AT FIRST WATCH, I WAS A BIT BORED. 2ND VIEWING, I SAT BACK AND JUST LET IT RUN. WOW! VERY, VERY INTENSE. GREAT BRITISH ACTING. REALLY WORTH THE PURCHASE AND 2ND VIEWING. GIVE THE FILM TIME TO DEVELOP AND GROW. THE CRASS CHARACTERS ARE EXACTLY AS THEY SEEM ONLY ITS A SLOW SIMMERING PLOT VERY RELEVANT TO EVEN, TODAY.

Richard Attenborough is sensational as a psychotic gangster. Bright Rocks still rocks after almost 70 years.

Fans of what is now called film noir should definitely check out this adaptation of an early Graham Greene novel. Greene really had a knack for establishing atmosphere while advancing the plot. (Example: an annoying singer in a pub - not even on camera at first - quickly becomes a major character.) Great location photography is well matched by studio sets to show an genuinely squalid environment. Young Richard Attenborough is convincing as a teen-age sociopath.