1947 Directed by John Boulting
Centring on the activities of a gang of assorted criminals and, in particular, their leader – a vicious young hoodlum known as "Pinkie" – the film's main thematic concern is the criminal underbelly evident in inter-war Brighton.
"I've sunk so deep I carry the secrets of the sewer."
Unceasingly bleak melodrama about the internal corruption of the hateful male psyche and the folly of an inexperienced lust for power. Careful not to get lost in an almost impenetrable fog of British slang; the ending is kind of a knockout.
I'm entranced by the way the Boulting Brothers wield their camera. (This is the first movie of theirs I've seen.) The sharp pans with which they follow Pinkie and his gang around Brighton, or their preoccupation with certain objects: a telephone, a doll, a crucial phonograph record. I'm also upset by how tightly Catholic guilt, courtesy of writer Graham Greene, is wound around the character of Rose, played with the utmost devotion by first-time actress Carol Marsh. Her performance, coupled with Richard Attenborough's display of mesmerizing sociopathy, makes this essential (and especially powerful) Brit noir. There's this shot of her gazing through the glass of a soundproof booth while Pinkie engraves his voice onto that record for her, and god, it tore my heart right out.
The performances of Richard Attenborough and Hermione Baddeley in this movie are outstanding in the entire history of British cinema. Baddeley plays the most unlikely detective as she tracks the murder of Kolley Kibber (yes that's right, I spelt it wrong) and tries to save the naif Rose from herself and the dread Pinkie Brown. Baddeley's Ida Arnold, a pier end clown by day, the very definition of the old phrase "brass", is the natural mother hen. She also plays the human analogue of the town of Brighton, tough, seedy; grinning on the outside but hard as a stick of rock through the middle. Brighton appears to be an amoral hell on earth, where the law is sneered at. The…
[80]
"I hate you, you little slut." How the hell did that make it into a 1947 film? Devastating not only because Rose is truly in love with this man, but she also believes he's leaving her a sweet, romantic recording of his voice that she can playback and listen to whenever Pinkie's out of town. The story itself is rather weightless, hard to even quantify sizably enough to sound substantial or worthy : the key lies with the characters, vibrant and baroque, gummed up with contagious personality, whether it be immensely sociopathic or blindly devout and blissfully unaware -- the tennis match between Attenborough's uncompromising self-interest and Marsh's magnanimous affection is equal parts gripping and heartbreaking. We kinda know…
The June / July Classic Crime and Noir Project: 1930-1969
I love Brighton.
I've been lucky enough to spend a lot of time down there. Not so much in the last few years since moving back to the Manchester / Stockport area, but before that I would be down there quite a lot with the kids especially. Hell, I even got married there! But I don't hold that against it.
So during that splendid foot chase early on as Pinkie and the gang pursue poor old Kolley Kibber, it was really interesting to see just how little the place has changed. It's a great chase scene but I'm also convinced that the Boutings just wanted to do a quick tour…
After watching the debut episode of Channel 4's excellent Brighton set gangland drama 'The Fear' tonight I was in the mood for some more of that seaside town that Keith Waterhouse declared 'always looks as though it is helping the police with their inquiries' and so I found myself re-watching Brighton Rock.
I say re-watching but to be honest it's been that long since I first saw it (in my teens) that apart from a few obvious well known set pieces that I'm naturally familiar with (I mean who could forget the ghost train or all the face slashing? The crowd turning on Spicer...and Pinkie? Hartnell's cruel spitting in the hallway after roughing up a debtor or Pinkie's vinyl recording…
This works surprisingly well as an adaptation and as a British crime film of the period.
So strange to watch this young Richard Attenborough play a violent psychopath, whose every word is laced with the cold and uncaring threat of violence, and then think about him as jolly John Hammond.
[80]
"I hate you, you little slut." How the hell did that make it into a 1947 film? Devastating not only because Rose is truly in love with this man, but she also believes he's leaving her a sweet, romantic recording of his voice that she can playback and listen to whenever Pinkie's out of town. The story itself is rather weightless, hard to even quantify sizably enough to sound substantial or worthy : the key lies with the characters, vibrant and baroque, gummed up with contagious personality, whether it be immensely sociopathic or blindly devout and blissfully unaware -- the tennis match between Attenborough's uncompromising self-interest and Marsh's magnanimous affection is equal parts gripping and heartbreaking. We kinda know…
Full of atmosphere, great lighting, and a cold, fresh-faced Richard Attenborough playing the lead role of a young tough named Pinkie. He's put in charge of his gang so he can take care of the loose strings of a revenge plot. In the process, he meets a teenage waitress named Rose (Carol Marsh) who falls head over heels in love with him all the while his desire to win at all costs turns him increasingly psychopathic. It's scary how easily manipulated Rose is by him, even when she is emotionally distraught. But she does come across as incredibly naive and timid.
A good early British gangster film. I'd not see a young Attenborough outside of The Great Escape and he was properly menacing. Violent despite it's age. The record he makes for his girl... Ruthless.
Veddy British thriller featuring a slimy Richard Attenborough as Pinky, a punk who murders a former member of the gang and sets about covering his tracks. Carol Marsh’s performance as the 17-year old waitress who falls for Pinky unconditionally is heartbreaking.
Attenborough gives the performance of his career as Pinkie the hood that is beyond paranoid after he bumps off a journalist that was a part in a friend's death. The film is insanely dark and never lets up. That ending though!
Jason Bullok 1,000 films
A list of Edgar Wright's favorite 1000 Movies per his list on Mubi on July 27th, 2016.
twitter.com/edgarwright/status/758339515421433856 mubi.com/lists/edgar-wrights-favorite-movies
gabriel guimarães 925 films
High-rated movies with very few views. Suggestions are welcome.
Jayce Fryman 17,438 films
This list collects every film from the Starting List that became They Shoot Pictures Don't They's 1000 Greatest Films. This…
