Brighton Rock

Great classic

`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 DVD yet. Get it on Region 2.

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.

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

My favourite movie, I watch it over and over and over ~ its a film noir, that does not fail!!!

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.

I had to watch this after reading Lynn Truss’s vastly entertaining novel, “A Shot in the Dark,” which refers to this movie and the book upon which it is based. I’m not usually a fan of movies about punk gangs, but I did enjoy this, especially the performance of Hermione Baddeley playing the sort of female character never allowed in American movies. She’s middle-aged, loud, determined and smart as can be. She’s a force to be reckoned with. Carol Marsh is also good as the naïve and trusting Rose, the opposite of Baddeley’s character. Richard Attenborough shifts his eyes, half closes them and opens them widely, which passes for great acting among some people.

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

Great Black and White with riveting suspense.

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.