Brute Force (1947)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Waste of time

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I first saw this on a VHS in the early 90s. Revisited this recently on a DVD. The plot is very simple n straight forward but shot in a very innovative n thrilling manner. It shows one of the most realistic looks at prison life. The plot - The prison is a walled island facility ruled by a sadistic head guard (Hume Cronyn). The warden is weak and inefficient, and the prison doctor a drunk. Inmate (Burt Lancaster) is just back from solitary after being set up by one of Cronyns snitch. We all know what happens to a snitch in a prison... Later v r introduced to all the ladies thru a very innovative flashbacks n how Lancasters wife is reluctant to undergo an operation if he is not present beside her. Of course she ain't aware that he is in prison. As time is ticking n Cronyns dictatorship methods r growing -the mens activities are taken away, parole hearings are suspended and no visitors are allowed. Lancaster along with other inmates plans a breakout.... Lancasters fellow inmates also hav back stories (told in romantic flashbacks). John Hoyts (a very striking personality ) wild night with femme fatale was an entertaining one. It is a very hard-hitting film, very well directed n acted by all. Although Burt Lancaster is the star of the movie, the film is really about all the prisoners - Lancasters fellow inmates n the men that help them try to escape. A very good drama thriller, superbly acted, very well directed n edited. Kudos to the director Jules Dassin for making a hard-hitting n realistic prison drama/thriller.

When Jules Dassin was placed on the Hollywood Blacklist in 1950 during the making of Night and the City, the director was on a roll. Along with Night and the City, which he filmed before being banned from the production studio, bringing his flourishing career to an immediate halt, Dassin also made The Naked City (1948) and Thieves' Highway (1949), now classics of the noir genre, and Brute Force, possibly the weakest of his noir quartet but a thrilling, insightful film nonetheless. Although set entirely inside prison walls - with a few flashback cutaways - Brute Force is pure pulp noir, featuring a towering lead performance from Burt Lancaster and a tour de force by Hume Conyn as the film's main antagonist.Joe Collins (Lancaster) has just done a stint in solitary. Being lead back to his cell by chief of security Captain Munsey (Conyn), Joe maintains his innocence and that the knife he was found with was planted on him. It turns out that Joe is indeed innocent of his alleged crime, and along with his friends from cell R17, knows who the culprit is. Their own brand of justice involves guiding the offender with flame-throwers onto a huge plate press while the guards are distracted by a brawl. With so much violence occurring inside the prison walls, Warden Barnes (Roman Bohnen) is put under pressure to control the inmates through strict discipline and the guards enforcing their authority. This catches the attention of the ambitious Munsey, and the likable Dr. Walter (Art Smith), who although constantly inebriated, can see the bubbling tensions and inevitable explosions of violence that are due to come.The film's title is suitably apt for the attitudes of the two opposing factions. Joe and his crew plan their escape by taking the prison with an arsenal of weapons at their disposal, while Munsey, using the warden's wavering support as an opportunity to rise through the ranks, starts to manipulate the prisoners into becoming informers and gleefully beating upon a prisoner when he refuses to talk. It's about the ugliness of brute force, and disastrous results that come from employing it. Munsey is a small man, but delights in imposing his authority on the weak and the restrained like a bullying victim getting revenge on the big boys who stole his lunch money. It's riveting throughout, but could have done without the flashback scenes, where it is revealed that the gang are all locked up as a result of some femme fatale or other. It builds to a ferocious climax, where the inmates fight the guards, ending on a note as suitably grim as it's portrayal of the durability of the prison system.

Jules Dassin is best remembered for his seminal heist movie Rififi, which he made in Europe following his Hollywood blacklisting. Before this, in the immediate postwar period, this American director made a series of high-quality noir films on the other side of the pond, one of which was this bold prison break drama from 1947.The plot focuses on Joe Collins (Burt Lancaster) and the inmates of intimate cell R17. Sick of their ill treatment by the cruel Captain Munsey (Hume Cronyn), and conscious of the impotence of Chief Barnes (Roman Bohnen) as well as the hopelessness of decent-yet-drunk Doctor Walters (Art Smith), they plan to take matters into their own hands, overthrow the governance, and escape.The film earns its title. This is a brutal, bleak, and violent yarn by the standards of any era. But it was particularly shocking at the time – not least, perhaps, because it sets aside the basic crime-doesn't-pay moral and asks the audience to sympathise wholly with the prisoners and hate the guards. This is achieved by portraying the prisoners as plucky underdogs. No trashy exploitation here, but something closer to the conscientious social outrage of Elia Kazan's On the Waterfront. Lancaster's performance doesn't approach Brando, but the style is similarly smouldering. Repressed rage; the power of the trodden man waiting to be unleashed.The theme of power is personified by Munsey. "Kindness is actually weakness," is his mantra. Hume Cronyn is gloriously slimy in the role. Munsey is the most complex character, embodying the dangerously contained ambitions of the middle manager. Meanwhile, Doc Walters reckons the prison system is inherently flawed; that men emerge more broken than when they arrived. Then there's Overlord Barnes, weary and anxious and without strategy, responding to mass unrest by threatening to withdraw privileges from all, suppressing the inmates' individuality from the distant comfort of his office. The prison is run by this dysfunctional trio. No wonder a breakout is imminent.The good guys are the chums of R17. Some are embellished in flashback. There's the tragic story of the man – reminiscent of poor cuckolded George Peatty in Kubrick's The Killing – who steals three grand to buy his materialistic wife a fur coat. Another wound up in the slammer after taking the rap when his wife shot her father dead to save their marriage. It's all melodramatic; all about trouble with women; all great black 'n' white storytelling with a few shades of grey. As for Joe, his gal needs an operation to fix her crippled legs, but she's not going for the operation until he's out. We get to see the sentimentality behind the main man's stony façade.So, R17 is populated by lovable rogues and victims of circumstance. The rawness of Dassin's picture – its relative naturalism for the time – ensures that the setup isn't hopelessly idealised, but it is certainly romanticized, which is something that's matched by the rich aesthetic. The film looks glorious. The external sets are plausibly looming and stark, recalling the Expressionist roots upon which noir was built. The drama is frequently shot from awkward angles, giving the sense of confined spaces and enhancing the releasing power of the flashbacks. It's memory that sets the men free.Finally, there is genuine tension and excitement in the final breakout sequence. Its violence is earned and its outcome is startling. It's a fittingly intense climax to a film that grips early and tight and doesn't let go. This is persuasive, fierce filmmaking.

In every society, there are certain men who for lack of a Good Attorney, or perhaps, a bad decision on their part, they find themselves at the receiving end of court inflicted judgment. One thing societies forget or may be they don't want to know, is that the men they have imprisoned, will eventually get out. The harshness of their punishment at the hands of the Warden or the Prison Guards is what drives inmates to remember how to treat their next victim when they do get out. In this Robert Patterson story, " Brute Force " our hero is one Joe Collins (Burt Lancaster) who comes to the attention of a most sadistic Captain of the Guards named Munsey (Hume Cronyn) (superior acting) who prides himself in knowing how to rule. His egotistic style pits him against Collins and every other prisoner at the prison. Directed by Jules Dassin, this early Black and White movie is a great example of find casting of superior talent. Men who will make their mark in other superior movies. Men such as Jeff Corey, Jay C. Flippen, Howard Duff and Whit Bissell. Throughout this story, audiences hate to root for the hero, as he is a convict. Nevertheless, when it comes to Burt Lancaster, we cannot help but feel that he may yet succeed. The end result of this memorable film is the making of a Classic and in looking back, few can argue otherwise. Superb Movie. ****