Review of Brighton Rock (1948) by Jason C — 23 Apr 2012

Produced and directed by John and Roy Boulting, and written for the screen by Graham Greene and Terence Rattigan, (adapted from Greene's novel), this is a dark, noishish thriller showing a dark side to an otherwise well loved holiday resort.

It has a brilliant lead role who was only young then, but showed more maturity than any of his closest contemporaries. Pinkie Brown (Richard Attenborough) is a 17 year old gangster with his own gang which consist of Dallow (William Hartnell), Cubitt (Nigel Stock) and Spicer (Wylie Watson), they're looking for a big break, and is trying to hold his own against Brighton's other gangster rival Colleoni (Charles Goldner).

Pinkie's gang have had their eye on Fred Hale (Alan Wheatley), a journalist who has been investigating his gang's activities. After Pinkie takes him out on a ghost train ride, the police find his body, and write it off as a heart attack.

However, Pinkie discovers that music hall entertainer Ida Arnold (Hermione Baddeley), knew he was in danger, and begins her own investigations, which lead her to cafe waitress Rose Brown (Carol Marsh), whom Pinkie has started courting.

It's a suspenseful thriller, which is a British film noir, with Attenborough giving an unnerving and hard-edged performance, but it's a good time piece of a Britain now lost in the past. It's topped off with some clever direction and good camerawork by Harry Waxman.