Brighton Rock [DVD] [1947]

A brilliant noir film, far superior to the 2010 remake, although it softened elements from the even better novel.

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.

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.

Attenborough is truly scary in this story. Unemotional thug who abhors feelings of any kind. Carol Marsh is absolutely outstanding as the naive waitress.

Enjoy Attenborough.

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.

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.

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