Brighton Rock [DVD] [1947]

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.

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

(Young Scarface is the American Title for Brighton Rock) `Brighton Rock is essentially a tale of a teenage gangster, Pinkie Brown, and his attempts to silence a potential witness, Rose, to a crime. John Boulting (Thunder Rock, 1942; Im All Right Jack, 1959) directed it in 1947 and was producer by his twin brother Roy. The screenplay was adapted from the Graham Greene novel of the same name by Terence Rattigan. There are significant differences at the ending of the film in relation to the novel (the book is more brutal) but I think that it takes nothing away from the film or the book. Due to BBFC rules at the time some changes had to made to the intended ending (the record scene) of the film because they wanted it to have a happy ending, which I think in retrospect made it better. The only feature really missing is the strength of character development one could only expect from a novel. However saying all that, the adaptation is excellent. `Brighton Rock featured two brilliant performances from Richard Attenborough (In Which We Serve, 1942; A Matter Of Life And Death, 1946) as Pinkie and Carol Marsh as Rose. Richards performance is a career highlight for him, which could be regarded as the emergence of the `angry young man in British cinema, but it was Carols performance that I really loved. Her performance of innocence is something we so rarely see in modern cinema that it is remarkably refreshing to watch. One thing worth pointing out though is that Rose in the novel was not quite as pretty and we see more of her family life and the possible reason for her attachment to Pinkie. Carol Marsh never made many other significant films that I feel its a bit of a shame because I think weve missed something there. I place her performance alongside Dorothy Malones bit part in `The Big Sleep (1946) who we also never saw enough of sadly. Cinematography on `Brighton Rock was by Gilbert Taylor who would later work on films such as `Repulsion (Polanski, 1965) `Dr Strangelove (Kubrick, 1964) and the much loved `Star Wars (Lucas, 1977). Other films adapted from Graham Greene novels worth watching are `This Gun For Hire (Tuttle, 1942) which has a similar theme and the excellent `The Third Man (Reed, 1949). I loved this film and I loved the novel and I recommend both to you. `Brighton Rock is ranked No.15 in the BFI Top 100 British Films. I cant believe this is not available on Region 1 yet. Get it on region 2 from Amazon.co.uk. Well worth it.

really loved this classic film..I am a fan of british classics and film in general. Rare richard attenborough film. thanks, jean salatino

I’d heard about it, but never seen it and it’s such a great film and the copy was so clear. Thank you!

Great movie, dark and twisted. Would recommend to anyone wanting to experience a classic story, very well done. Great use of shadows to convey the darkness of the storyline.

Great Black and White with riveting suspense.

The film seems wooden and dated, with little of the tension or mounting dread of Graham Greenes book and absolutely none of Greenes speculations on the nature of Gods mercy. It is noteworthy only for Richard Attenboroughs youthful performance as the sinister villain Pinkie Brown.

Complex, disturbing noir character study/thriller about a 17 year old baby-faced gang leader named `Pinky, played by the director-to-be Richard Attenborough in an astonishing performance. Based on a Graham Greene novel, and co-written by Green and Terrence Rattigan (The Browning Version, The Winslow Boy), Pinky is a tremendously complex character, a sociopath to be sure, but one with a heart still beating somewhere deep down inside. Tortured by his Catholic upbringing, and repressed sexually, he vents his teen angst in violence that becomes increasingly uncontrollable, while finding his heart touched in spite of himself by a girl he marries ostensibly just to keep her from giving evidence against him. This is a tough picture, no Hollywood softened edges here. And arguably one of the better gangster films ever made.

Stumbled on to this movie and can not believe I have not seen it before. A true classic. I cant get enough of these. The writing, characters, sets, costume, the plot is gripping and has depth.