Brute Force (1947)

Director:

Jules Dassin

Writers:

Richard Brooks (screenplay)
Robert Patterson (story)

Release Date:

30 June 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

Tagline:

Mark Hellinger's POWER PACKED PICTURE! (re-release print ad - mostly caps)

Plot:

At a tough penitentiary, prisoner Joe Collins plans to rebel against Captain Munsey, the power-mad chief guard.

Plot Keywords:

Prisoner | Warden | Inmate | Suicide | Prison Riot

Cast

Burt Lancaster	...	Joe Collins
Hume Cronyn	...	Capt. Munsey
Charles Bickford	...	Gallagher
Yvonne De Carlo	...	Gina Ferrara
Ann Blyth	...	Ruth
Ella Raines	...	Cora Lister
Anita Colby	...	Flossie
Sam Levene	...	Louie Miller #7033
Jeff Corey	...	'Freshman' Stack
John Hoyt	...	Spencer
Jack Overman	...	Kid Coy
Roman Bohnen	...	Warden A.J. Barnes
Sir Lancelot	...	Calypso
Vince Barnett	...	Muggsy
Jay C. Flippen	...	Hodges (guard)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Norway:16 | UK:A (cut) (original rating) | West Germany:16 (nf) | USA:Approved (PCA #12441) | Finland:K-16 | Australia:PG

Company:

Mark Hellinger Productions

Trivia:

Film debut of Howard Duff.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the fight in the guard tower between Munsey and Collins, guard Tom seems to have been killed, but the stunt actor Tom Steele who plays him is very clearly doubling Hume Cronyn.

Quotes:

Cora Lister: [Flashback scene: Tom Lister is in his prison cell, recalling how he had given his wife Cora an exquisite fur coat] Tom... oh, Tom! It's the most beautiful thing in the whole world!
Tom Lister: It belongs on you.
Cora Lister: [Putting the coat on and admiring herself dreamily in the mirror] It makes me feel so... I don't know... like I was "somebody." Oh, Tom...
Cora Lister: [Suddenly coming to her senses] Where'd you get it? Where'd the money come from? Where'd you get it!
Tom Lister: Cora, I stole the money. I juggled the books and took three thousand dollars.
Cora Lister: You? You STOLE? Why?
Tom Lister: Darling, the way we were going, you wanting things - things you ought to have - and me strapped all the time... we were heading for a split-up. Don't you see? I just had to do it.
Cora Lister: All my life, the one thing I've really wanted is a fur coat. I CAN'T give it up. I WON'T, Tom!
Tom Lister: No, darling...
Cora Lister: But what if something should happen?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Nobody Can Ever Escape From the Prison

In the Westgate Penitentiary, the Warden A. J. Barden (Roman Bohnen) is a weak man, and the institution is actually ruled by the ambitious and sadistic Captain Munsey (Hume Cronyon), who uses violence, fear and treachery to control the prisoners. After the suicide of Tom Lister (Whit Bissell), one of the inmates of cell R17, provoked by Captain Munsey, the prisoners loses their privileges and rest of the group of cell R-17 leaded by Joe Collins (Burt Lancaster) is sent to hard and insalubrious work in the drain pipe. Joe uses a successful strategy of war trying to escape, attacking the tower of the penitentiary from the outside with his men, and from inside with the team leaded by the leader Gallagher (Charles Bickford). However, the plan fails, ending in a bloodshed.

Sixty years after the original release date, "Brute Force" is still a great movie of prison. The story is very well constructed, with flashbacks showing the connection of three inmates with his women. The violence is not explicitly disclosed like in the present days, but the cruelty of Captain Munsey can be understood even by the most naive viewer. The direction of Jules Dassin is outstanding with many memorable scenes. Yvonne De Carlo has a minor participation, but a strong role. The moralist message in the end, when Dr. Walters (Alt Smith) tells that nobody can escape from penitentiaries, does not spoil this great movie. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Brutalidade" ("Brutality")