''Brighton Rock'' (US: ''Young Scarface''). is a 1948 British gangster

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarde ...

directed by

John Boulting John Edward Boulting (21 December 1913 – 17 June 1985) and Roy Alfred Clarence Boulting (21 December 1913 – 5 November 2001), known collectively as the Boulting brothers, were English filmmakers and identical twins who became known for thei ...

and starring Richard Attenborough as violent gang leader Pinkie Brown (reprising his West End role of three years earlier), Rose Brown (

Carol Marsh Carol Marsh (born Norma Lilian Simpson; 10 May 1926 – 6 March 2010) was an English actress, best known for playing the part of Rose in the 1947 film '' Brighton Rock''. Marsh was born in Southgate in North London and was educated at a convent ...

) as the innocent girl he marries, and Ida Arnold ( Hermione Baddeley) as an amateur sleuth investigating a murder he committed. The film was adapted from the 1938 novel '' Brighton Rock'' by

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

, and was produced by

Roy Boulting John Edward Boulting (21 December 1913 – 17 June 1985) and Roy Alfred Clarence Boulting (21 December 1913 – 5 November 2001), known collectively as the Boulting brothers, were English filmmakers and identical twins who became known for thei ...

through the Boulting brothers' production company Charter Film Productions. The title comes from the old-fashioned candy " a stick of rock": Ida in the film says that like Brighton rock she doesn't change—as the name Brighton stays written the whole way through.

Plot

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

in 1935, a gangster named Kite is found dead, shortly after a newspaper published a story exposing local rackets and gang wars. Kite's old gang, now led by the

psychopathic Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have been ...

teenaged hoodlum Pinkie Brown, learns that the reporter who wrote the story, Fred Hale, will be in town for one day for a promotional stunt (similar to the real-life " Lobby Lud" promotion). Fred will play "Kolley Kibber", leaving cards around town that can be redeemed for a monetary prize, with a larger prize for the first person who publicly identifies Fred as Kolley Kibber. Pinkie and the gang hold Fred responsible for Kite's death. They confront Fred in a local pub, threaten him, and pursue him through the crowded resort town before Pinkie finally murders Fred on an amusement ride. While Fred is attempting to elude the gang, he meets brassy, outgoing Ida Arnold, a middle-aged entertainer currently appearing in a local show. Ida takes a liking to Fred and notes that he appears to be afraid. The police think that Fred's death is a heart attack or suicide, but Ida suspects foul play and begins her own amateur investigation. To establish an alibi for himself, Pinkie sends one of his gang members, Spicer, to distribute Fred's "Kolley Kibber" cards throughout the town, making it look like Fred was going about his business normally. Spicer errs by leaving one card under the tablecloth in a restaurant, creating a risk that the waitress would be able to identify Spicer. Pinkie visits the restaurant and discovers that the sweet, naive young waitress Rose found the card and noticed that Spicer, not Fred, had left it. Pinkie warns Rose not to speak about the person who left the card, and as part of gaining her confidence, asks her out on a date. Pinkie is also being pressured by Colleoni, the older and more powerful leader of a rival gang, and owner of the large Cosmopolitan Hotel. He is also pursued by the police, who want him to leave town to avoid further gang warfare. Deciding that Spicer is a liability, Pinkie sends him to the racetrack in hopes that Colleoni's men will kill him there. However, Pinkie is also attacked by Colleoni's men, receiving a long scar on his right cheek, and runs off thinking Spicer is dead. However he is told later that Spicer lived. Pinkie ends up finishing Spicer off himself by pushing him down a stairwell in front of several witnesses. Rose falls in love with Pinkie, discovering he is also a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, and he decides to marry her so she cannot testify against him. After their wedding, at Rose's request he makes a record of his voice at a fairgrounds booth, on which he says, "What you want me to say is I love you. Well here is the truth. I hate you, you little slut. You make me sick." Rose cherishes the record, wrongly assuming that it contains Pinkie's profession of love, although she does not have a gramophone to play it on and is unaware of its true contents. Ida, who by now suspects Pinkie of killing both Fred and Spicer, poses as Rose's mother to visit her while Pinkie is out and warn her about Pinkie, but Rose is loyal to Pinkie and Ida leaves. Ida's visit makes Pinkie decide he needs to kill Rose too, and he confides to his last remaining gang member, Dallow, his plan to get Rose to enter a suicide pact with him and kill herself first. Pinkie also tries to destroy the voice recording he made to avoid its becoming evidence after Rose's death, but only succeeds in scratching it. Dallow objects, saying Rose's death is unnecessary because Ida is about to leave Brighton, having been unable to find any convincing evidence against Pinkie. Colleoni has also paid off Pinkie and Dallow to leave town, and they go for a final drink with Rose before departing. When Ida enters the bar, the paranoid Pinkie decides to carry out his plan for Rose's death, and takes her for a walk on the pier. Pinkie convinces Rose he will soon be hanged and the two of them should commit suicide in order to always stay together. He gives Rose his gun and tries to get her to shoot herself first. Rose is torn between her love for Pinkie and the Catholic prohibition against suicide, and hesitates. Meanwhile, Dallow and Ida, both wishing to protect the innocent Rose, alert police, who rush onto the pier after Pinkie. Upon seeing the police, Rose throws the gun into the water and Pinkie tries to run away, but falls from the pier to his death. A grief-stricken Rose later plays the damaged record of Pinkie's voice, which sticks on Pinkie's words "I love you" without playing the rest. Rose clings to the belief that Pinkie really did love her.

Themes

Like the book and like other Greene film adaptations such as ''

The Third Man ''The Third Man'' is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Set in postwar Vienna, the film centres on American Holly Martins (Cotte ...

'', the film deals with Roman Catholic doctrines concerning the nature of

sin In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...

and the basis of morality; damnation, forgiveness and mercy. Rose, and Pinkie (ostensibly), are Catholics, as was Greene; their beliefs are contrasted with Ida's strong but non-religious moral sensibility.

Cast

* Richard Attenborough as Pinkie Brown * Hermione Baddeley as Ida Arnold *

as Rose Brown *

William Hartnell William Henry Hartnell (8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his portrayal of the first incarnation of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' from 1963 to 1966. In film, Hartnell notably appeared in '' Brig ...

as Dallow *

Harcourt Williams Ernest George Harcourt Williams (30 March 1880 – 13 December 1957) was an English actor and director. After early experience in touring companies he established himself as a character actor and director in the West End. From 1929 to 1934 he ...

as Prewitt *

Wylie Watson Wylie Watson (6 February 1889 – 3 May 1966) (born John Wylie Robertson) was a British actor. Among his best-known roles were those of "Mr Memory", an amazing man who commits "50 new facts to his memory every day" in Alfred Hitchcock's film '' ...

as Spicer * Nigel Stock as Cubitt *

Alan Wheatley Alan Wheatley (19 April 1907 – 30 August 1991) was an English actor. He was a well known stage actor in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, appeared in forty films between 1931 and 1965 and was a frequent broadcaster on radio from the 1930s to the ...

as Fred Hale * Virginia Winter as Judy * Reginald Purdell as Frank * George Carney as Phil Corkery *

Charles Goldner Charles Goldner was an Austrian-born actor who appeared in a number of British films during the 1940s and 1950s. Born in Vienna, Austria, on 7 December 1900, he made his screen debut in the 1940 film '' Room for Two'' and went on to appear in '' ...

as Colleoni * Lina Barrie as Molly * Joan Sterndale-Bennett as Delia * Harry Ross as Bill Brewer *

Campbell Copelin Campbell Copelin (1901–1988) was an English actor, who moved to Australia in the 1920s and worked extensively in film, theatre, radio and television. He had a notable association with J.C. Williamson Ltd and frequently collaborated with F. W. T ...

as Police Inspector *

Marianne Stone Marianne Stone (23 August 1922 – 21 December 2009) was an English character actress. She performed in films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s, typically playing working class parts such as barmaids, secretaries and landladies. Stone appe ...

as Lazy Waitress * Norman Watson as Racecourse Evangelist *

Ronald Shiner Ronald Alfred Shiner (8 June 1903 – 29 June 1966) was a British stand-up comedian and comedy actor whose career encompassed film, West End theatre and music hall. Career Early life and career When he was seventeen, Shiner joined the Royal Nort ...

as the Look-Out (uncredited) *

Constance Smith Constance Smith (7 February 1929 – 30 June 2003) was an Irish film actress, and contract player of 20th Century Fox in the 1950s. Early life Smith was born into a family as the first of 11 children.''The Oakland Tribune'', 18 March 1962, Oak ...

as singer (uncredited)

Production

Greene and Terence Rattigan wrote the screenplay for the 1948 film adaptation, produced and directed by John and Roy Boulting, with assistant director Gerald Mitchell. The ironic ending of the film, in which Rose's damaged gramophone record of Pinkie's voice sticks and repeats the words "I love you", was changed against Greene's wishes from his original story, in which Rose is about to hear the entire recording and will realise that Pinkie hated her. This is described by Greene as "The greatest horror of all". The filmmakers believed censors were likely to object to the more tragic original ending. Instructed to lose weight for the film, Richard Attenborough trained with

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. Th ...

Much of the filming was done on location in Brighton, although some locations were recreated in the studio. The scenes where Fred is pursued through Brighton were shot with hidden cameras, capturing footage of Brighton residents and tourists engaged in their regular activities, unaware that a movie was being made. The

climax Climax may refer to: Language arts * Climax (narrative), the point of highest tension in a narrative work * Climax (rhetoric), a figure of speech that lists items in order of importance Biology * Climax community, a biological community tha ...

of the film takes place at the

Palace Pier The Brighton Palace Pier, commonly known as Brighton Pier or the Palace Pier, is a Grade II* listed pleasure pier in Brighton, England, located in the city centre opposite the Old Steine. Established in 1899, it was the third pier to be const ...

, which differs from the novel, the end of which takes place in the nearby town of Peacehaven. The Colleoni gang was modelled after the

Sabini The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divid ...

racetrack gang of the 1930s, which fought public battles with straight razors in its competition to control crime at racecourses in southern England, including one at Brighton. A former Sabini gang member named Carl Ramon served as technical adviser, including teaching Attenborough how to behave as Pinkie. Ramon also appeared in a non-speaking role as a barman. Carol Marsh was cast as Rose after responding to a newspaper advertisement for a 16 or 17-year-old girl, "frail, innocent, naive, and tolerably but not excessively pretty." Although the film was her most significant role, in 1997 she said that she "had never seen the film and couldn't bear to."

Release and reception

First screened to the trade and cinema distributors on 25 November 1947, the film held its World Premiere in Brighton on 8 January 1948, followed by a Gala Premiere at the Leicester Square Warner Cinema London on 9 January 1948. At the time of its release, ''Brighton Rock'' caused a critical uproar in Britain due to its depictions of crime and violence, with the '' Daily Mirror'' critic denouncing the razor-slashing scenes as "horrific" and concluding, "This film must not be shown." It was banned in New South Wales. Some reviewers, as well as author Greene, also objected to the final scene as sentimental and contrary to the original book's darker ending. Nevertheless, ''Brighton Rock'' was described in the trade papers as being a "notable box office attraction" in British cinemas in 1948. It was less successful in the United States (where it was released as ''Young Scarface'') and critics did not consider its violence excessive. Over time, ''Brighton Rock'' has maintained a good reputation, with the ''Encyclopedia of Film Noir'' calling it "superb". In the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

's 1999 survey of the top 100 British films, it ranked at #15. It currently scores 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

New adaptation

A new adaptation of the novel, written and directed by

Rowan Joffé Rowan Marc Joffé (born 1973) is a British screenwriter and director. He is the son of director Roland Joffé and actress Jane Lapotaire, and half-brother of actress Nathalie Lunghi. Joffé began writing plays in university and was eventually a ...

, was released in the United Kingdom on 4 February 2010. Joffé changed the setting from the 1930s to the 1960s, during the mods and rockers era.

Revival

The original film had a run at Film Forum in New York City 19–26 June 2009, and '' The New York Times'' previewed the revival, saying "both reene'sCatholicism and his movie-friendliness are in full cry in John Boulting's terrific 1947 gangster picture.""The Screen’s Seduction of Graham Greene"
by Terrence Rafferty, ''The New York Times'', 12 June 2009 (6/14/09 on p. AR13 of the NY ed.). Retrieved 6/14/09.

References

External links

''Brighton Rock''
at the British Film Institute's Film and TV Database * * * *
Review of film
at ''Variety'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Brighton Rock 1948 films 1940s crime thriller films 1948 crime drama films British crime thriller films British crime drama films British black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Film noir British gangster films Films based on British novels Films based on works by Graham Greene Films set in Brighton and Hove Films directed by John Boulting Films with screenplays by Graham Greene Films with screenplays by Terence Rattigan Films set in 1935 1940s British films