Brute Force

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Alec B 11/07/2024 Its often hinting at the greatness seen in Dassin's later stuff but this still moves quickly and the finale is great. I like Hume Cronyn's performances as the villain as him playing against type sort of becomes part of the character's unique psychopathy. See more Steve D 03/31/2024 Lancaster is really good but you have seen it all before. See more nick s 11/20/2023 Great sets, excellent acting and dialogue. The movie had a gritty, down to earth feel, and the suspense meant that it never got dull. The antagonists had as much depth as the heroes. A bit of philosophy to boot. Brute Force seems ahead of its time. See more santafe j 04/18/2022 An excellent star-studded cast giving top notch performances in a terrific prison drama. I stumbled upon this at TCM and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is from 1947 and would be very entertaining if it were in theaters today. See more stu b 04/03/2022 Burt Lancaster stars as Joe Collins, an inmate at Westgate Penitentiary who dreams--like every other Joe in the joint--of breaking out. Standing in the way of his newly-hatched plan are a cruel and sadistic captain of the guards, a two-faced inmate who is all too willing to curry favor by blowing the whistle on the whole thing, and--of course--good old fashioned bad timing and even worse luck. All of it happens under the increasingly befuddled eye of the grossly ineffectual Warden Barnes, who ceded his authority to Captain Munsey a long time ago. Lancaster leads a fine cast of Hollywood character actors, most of them near the start of their long careers (the film was released in 1947), including (as Collins' cellmates) Jeff Corey, Howard Duff, John Hoyt, and Whit Bissell. Hume Cronyn is all barely bottled-up rage and underplayed evil as Munsey, Charles Bickford is terrific as the cynical old prison vet Gallager, and Art Smith is quietly spectacular as the alcoholic, seen-it-all prison doc. Also with Yvonne De Carlo and Ann Blyth, seen briefly in flashback, as two of the women our anti-heroes left behind. Directed with flair. in black-and-white, by Jules Dassin. Taut and suspenseful, and a golden oldie that's very much worth seeing. See more paul d @PaulusLoZebra 10/30/2021 Jules Dassin's Brute Force is a bleak, relentless and intricate tale told with outstanding cinematography and dialogue. Burt Lancaster is mesmerizing. The film also made me wonder what criteria the censors used in 1947, because this seems to be more raw than most films before or after it. Brute Force is violent, shows prisoners systematically as the good guys and underdogs, and the prison hierarchy as evil. The film throws in strong political messages as well, just two years after WW2, with an excellent Hume Cronyn becoming a sadistic and violent autocrat that recalled the tyrants that had so recently been defeated. See more Read all reviews

Brute Force

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