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Brighton Rock

Play trailer Poster for Brighton Rock 1948 1h 32m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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95% Tomatometer 21 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
In 1940s Brighton, England, the vicious criminal Pinkie Brown (Richard Attenborough) is the leader of his small-time gang. After Brown murders a rival, he finds an alibi through a waitress, Rose (Carol Marsh), whom he promises to marry in return for her corroboration. Despite the police ruling it a suicide, Ida Arnold (Hermione Baddeley), a woman who was with Brown's victim before the murder, continues with her own investigation. Meanwhile, Brown is rapidly losing his grip on the situation.
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Brighton Rock

Critics Reviews

View All (21) Critics Reviews
Wendy Ide Times (UK) Richard Attenborough, aged only 24, creates one of the most chilling antiheroes in British cinema: baby-faced psychopath Pinkie Brown takes an unsettling satisfaction in his capacity for cruelty and ruthlessness. Jul 6, 2023 Full Review David Thomson The New Republic Anyone interested after seeing this film [the 2011 version] should go straight to the 1947 original and the uncanny way in which the steadily decent and amiable Attenborough was so scary. Jun 24, 2013 Full Review Keith Uhlich Time Out The film is too often compromised by a muddled Catholic moralism Rated: 3/5 Nov 18, 2011 Full Review Sarah Boslaugh PopMatters ...cinematographer Harry Waxman captures the desperate grittiness of a resort town during the Great Depression. Rated: 8/10 May 5, 2020 Full Review MFB Critics Monthly Film Bulletin Brighton Rock is disappointing and difficult to follow. Those who have not read the book will be completely at sea, and those who have will be irritated at the tricks played with a superb story. Jan 23, 2018 Full Review Jeremy Carr MUBI Based on Graham Greene's 1938 novel of the same name, and directed by John Boulting...this superb picture discloses with penetrating clarity an emotional street life teeming beneath the veneer of amusement park gaiety. Jan 9, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member This was one of the least engaging film noir movies I've watched. The plot was unremarkable, and the characters uninteresting. Even good acting will not help a plot that is flat, and basic. The pace was also very slow, and the build-up led to a contrived and predictable end for the protagonist. Some actions were very pointless, and did not contribute to the movie in any way. And letting the wife continue in her delusion at the very end was ruthless. So a young wholesome, and beautiful girl's destiny is to throw her life away in a convent endlessly pining over a thug that never loved her, and was going to kill her in the end..okay.. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Joan P R Despite its age and the twisted Graham Greene form of Catholicism, this is a compelling story of the clash between stupid innocence and moral degradation, with some great acting. Worth seeing. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/17/21 Full Review paul d After seeing this very good film (Brighton Rock aka Young Scarface), I would like to read the Graham Greene novel on which it was based, to see the details of character development, morality and immorality behind these tense and disquieting 90 minutes. The film shows us the seedy underworld of a British seaside resort city, with a deep look at the damaged, rough and ruthless people who inhabit it, as well as a glimpse of the authorities who don't rule this underworld so much as tolerate it, and a fearless citizen with character who pursues truth and justice. A modern morality play with a great cast and an outstanding, psychotic Richard Attenborough. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member True to the novel and actually better than it because greene was a poor writer. Yeah, I said it. Why is it called Young Scarface? Clearly this is Brighton Rock. Richard Attenborough is better than his brother. The whole film is overwrought but entertaining. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review William L Derided for its violence in the UK at the time of release, today Brighton Rock would hardly raise the blood pressure in a kindergarten on gore alone. Where it shines is its vibrant depiction of postwar England and in Attenborough's performance; nonchalantly violent and unsettling. Toss in some creative camerawork to heighten the thrills and you've got one of the definitive British crime films. (4/5) Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/12/20 Full Review Audience Member One of the few cases in which movie is better than the book, and that is difficult talking about Graham Greene. A great cast contributes to it. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Brighton Rock

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Movie Info

Synopsis In 1940s Brighton, England, the vicious criminal Pinkie Brown (Richard Attenborough) is the leader of his small-time gang. After Brown murders a rival, he finds an alibi through a waitress, Rose (Carol Marsh), whom he promises to marry in return for her corroboration. Despite the police ruling it a suicide, Ida Arnold (Hermione Baddeley), a woman who was with Brown's victim before the murder, continues with her own investigation. Meanwhile, Brown is rapidly losing his grip on the situation.
Director
John Boulting
Producer
Roy Boulting
Screenwriter
Graham Greene
Production Co
Charter Films Inc.
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
British English
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Jun 19, 2009
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 11, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA)
$10.6K
Runtime
1h 32m
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