Brighton Rock

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.

Great classic

(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.

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

Wonderful story and characters.

Classic British Noir. Attenborough is Britains answer to Richard Widmark in this. Since he typically played a nice guy later in life, it has tremendous impact.

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.

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.

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