Review of Brighton Rock (1948) by Matt T — 24 May 2010

Pinkie Brown is a young hoodlum whose boss has recently been killed. He and his gang take revenge on a journalist who was to blame. Murder is committed, but a witness ties Pinkie to the crime. The law states that a wife cannot testify against her husband, so he marries the witness, a young naive waitress to keep her quiet. But other troubles are just around the corner...

A baby faced Richard Attenborough plays Pinkie. He is excellent in the role of a man who believes he is damned to hell and has the low morals to go with it. His relationship with his new wife is creepy.

Brighton itself is the star of the show, seen to be seedy, glamorous and grotesque all at once. A special mention must go to the fashion. The clothes on the male characters in their dandified spiv suits, trilbys and pencil thin moustaches all looking cool. A look that inspired the mods in the 1960s (except for the tache).

The ending, without giving anything away, is one of my all time favourites and differs from the original novel by Graham Greene.

A British film noir gangster classic.