Brighton Rock

(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.

Poorly written. Attenborough good. But not a credible story.

Although the movie was true to the novel (It should be because Graham Greene co-wrote the screenplay), the film version was limited to filming standards and audiences in 1947. However the movie made the plot clearer and compressed the story into a few days, while the books timeline was longer and included additional elements that added to the story. The acting and filmography were well done for the times and focused on the plotline and a more ambiguous ending. The drama is consistent with many of the darker-toned movies of the post-World-War II era. Richard Attenboroughs performance made the film believable, but it appears that Carol Marsh, who played Rose, felt traumatized by the production efforts for undisclosed reasons. If you are a Graham Greene follower or a fan of Film Noir movies, then this is a good bet. The filming seems to reflect well the 1930s context of the authors novel setting. In todays world, the movie is a bit too dated, unless you have memories of or interest in the time period.

Excellent performances by Attenborough and Baddeley with a good supporting cast. Just as dark as the book, but in an abbreviated format.

Brighton Rock, (1947) is a classic 92-minute black and white film noir adaptation of outstanding British author Graham Greenes classic, early career, downbeat novel of the same name,

This great and sturdy plot has been remade recently but, of course, the original is better. All well done. I was going to stay away because it seemed so old and English but its so ahead of its time. And of course the denouement is one of the best ever.

Enjoy Attenborough.

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.

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.

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.