Brighton Rock (1947)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

John Boulting

Writers:

Graham Greene (novel)
Graham Greene (screenplay)

Release Date:

December 1947 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

Plot:

Pinkie Brown (Richard Attenborough) is a small town hoodlum who's gang run a protection racket based at Brighton race course...

Plot Keywords:

Gang | Murder | Teenage Boy | Psychopath | British Noir

Cast

Richard Attenborough	...	Pinkie Brown
Carol Marsh	...	Rose Brown
Hermione Baddeley	...	Ida Arnold
William Hartnell	...	Dallow, henchman
Harcourt Williams	...	Prewitt - Pinkie's lawyer
Wylie Watson	...	Spicer, henchman
Nigel Stock	...	Cubitt - henchman
Victoria Winter	...	Judy, gang moll
Reginald Purdell	...	Frank, blind gang member
George Carney	...	Phil Corkery
Charles Goldner	...	Colleoni
Alan Wheatley	...	Fred Hale, alias Kolly Kibber
Lina Barrie	...	Molly, giggly girl in beach chair
Joan Sterndale-Bennett	...	Delia
Harry Ross	...	Bill Brewer

Also Known As:

Young Scarface (USA)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Norway:16 (1948) | Sweden:(Banned) (1947-1957) | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1991) | UK:PG (re-rating) (1994) | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Brighton Pavilion, Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK

Company:

Charter Film Productions

Trivia:

"You are Colly Kibber and I claim the Daily Messenger prize" this was actually paraphrasing The News Chronicle who had a promotional character called Lobby Ludd who toured seaside towns giving away £5 notes when being successfully challenged.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Ida and her friend observe Pinkie and Rose from the hotel lobby balcony, their voices are heard speaking to one another while their mouths are closed.

Quotes:

Rose: People change.
Ida: I've never changed. It's like those sticks of rock. Bite one all the way down, you'll still read Brighton. That's human nature.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Empire of the Censors (1995) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Overture from 'The Hebrides' (Fingal's Cave)

Classy adaptation of a great novel.

Very strong thriller from the Boulting brothers with a cracking performance from Dickie Attenborough as the starey-eyed Pinkie, and William Hartnell looking young(ish) and spry as his friend, henchman and conscience Dallow. Lacking some of the book's depth and darkness, but staying surprisingly faithful to many important plot points, the pace is electric and the players all excellent. The sticky squalor and roughness of the town and the time are vividly realised, and Pinkie is about as bad as they come. One of the great British thrillers, and for those familiar with the book, check out the sweet, ingenious ending.