Brighton Rock (1947)

Director:

John Boulting

Writers:

Graham Greene (novel)
Graham Greene (screenplay)

Release Date:

December 1947 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | 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
Harcourt Williams	...	Prewitt
Wylie Watson	...	Spicer
Nigel Stock	...	Cubitt
Victoria Winter	...	Judy
Reginald Purdell	...	Frank
George Carney	...	Phil Corkery
Charles Goldner	...	Colleoni
Alan Wheatley	...	Fred Hale
Lina Barrie	...	Molly
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:

Brighton Borough Council refused permission for use of the race course because of the damage association with gang crime would do to the town's image (see the on-screen disclaimer at the start of the film).

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:

Let Bygones Be Bygones

Great Britsh Noir

I just saw this picture courtesy of a local rental store which has a number of Btitish films otherwise not available. Wow!

Absolutely excellent in all departments. Attenborough gives a standout performance as Pinky and is surrounded by a sterling cast working at the same high level. The film is beautifully photographed in a way which gives texture to the story and reality to the characters. This must be one of the top British films of the Forties and can stand beside anything Hollywood was doing at the time (or any time for that matter.)

The script is credited to Graham Greene (based on his Novel) and, the unlikely seeming, Terence Rattigan (Separate Tables, Winslow Boy et al). Without knowing who contributed what to the final screenplay, I can say that it is a beautiful and coherent piece of work that has character development as well as terse and atmospheric dialog that keeps the viewer engrossed and the tension high.

Recommended (especially to fans of film noir)