Brighton Rock 1947

Young Scarface

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Movie Info

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.

Genre:

crime, drama
Original Language:

English (United Kingdom)
Director:

John Boulting
Producer:

Roy Boulting
Release Date (Streaming):

Jan 6, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA):

$10.6K
Runtime:

1h 32m
Production Co:

Charter Films Inc.

Cast & Crew

Richard Attenborough
Pinkie Brown

Hermione Baddeley
Ida Arnold

William Hartnell
Dallow

Carol Marsh
Rose Brown

Nigel Stock
Cubitt

Wylie Watson
Spicer

Show all Cast & Crew

News & Interviews for Brighton Rock

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Critic Reviews for Brighton Rock

All Critics (20) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (19) | Rotten (1)

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.

June 24, 2013 | Full Review…

David Thomson
The New Republic
The film is too often compromised by a muddled Catholic moralism

November 18, 2011 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Keith Uhlich
Time Out
Quote not available.

November 17, 2011 | Rating: 4/5

Ben Kenigsberg
Time Out
A seedy noir, equal parts concealed-camera atmosphere and tense set pieces.

June 16, 2009 | Full Review…

Vadim Rizov
Village Voice
This tends to prove that Britain can turn out a gangster picture as brutal as any Hollywood had devised.

November 20, 2008 | Full Review…

Variety Staff
Variety
Director John Boulting brings the fabled Greeneland, that vile landscape ripened on sin and betrayal at the black heart of all his novels, to sensuous life.

December 30, 2006 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
...cinematographer Harry Waxman captures the desperate grittiness of a resort town during the Great Depression.

May 5, 2020 | Rating: 8/10 | Full Review…

Sarah Boslaugh
PopMatters
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.

January 23, 2018 | Full Review…

MFB Critics
Monthly Film Bulletin
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.

January 9, 2018 | Full Review…

Jeremy Carr
MUBI
Brighton Rock is a splendid bit of picture-making.

October 3, 2017 | Full Review…

CA Lejeune
Observer (UK)
Although the movie depicts Brighton's masses at play in the sun, its true world is that of film noir.

August 15, 2017 | Full Review…

Graham Fuller
Artforum
Brighton Rock is a classic example of filmmaking that remains hugely accessible despite its age...

February 28, 2011 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Shaun Munro
What Culture

View All Critic Reviews (20)

Audience Reviews for Brighton Rock

Jan 09, 2010

Not as good as I thought it would be

Brody M Super Reviewer
Sep 05, 2009

good old fashioned gangster reel with an english mob and some italians vying for territory. richard attenborough is the dogs meat n' two veg as pinky

Sanity Assassin ! Super Reviewer
Sep 01, 2009

"Brighton Rock" starts with gangster Pinkie Brown(Richard Attenborough) hearing that Fred Hale(Alan Wheatley), a reporter responsible for outing a member of his gang and therefore getting him killed, is back in town. Pinkie and his guys corner him in a bar which leads to a chase through Brighton, eventually leading to the pier where Fred attaches himself to Ida(Hermione Baddeley), a boozy chanteuse, for safety. But in the time he loses her, Pinkie finds him and finishes the job. Even though the police do not suspect foul play, Pinkie cannot rest easily, making the acquaintance of Rose(Carol Marsh), a young waitress, to perfect the alibi. "Brighton Rock" is an atmospheric thriller that is helped by a superb performance from Richard Attenborough as a gangster struggling to hold onto his turf between the wars. As the opening statement says, this was a period of high crime in Brighton that existed until the police stepped in. And as one policeman tells Pinkie, he does not care that the criminals kill each other but will intervene when innocent bystanders are threatened. As one, Rose is rather naive but she is only seventeen, about the same age of Pinkie, and has little knowledge of the way the world works. In contrast, Ida is older and wiser and cannot be easily fooled, running her own investigation. So, in the end, crime goes down once the citizens take control of the city, making Brighton a safer, if more boring city.

Walter M Super Reviewer
Aug 08, 2009

Well-done Brit gangster flick in the style of Little Caesar and Public Enemy. Richard Attenborough is creepy as hell as the cold-blooded sociopath Pinky who lets a smitten waitress in on that he killed someone and then marries her so she can't rat on him. Attenborough will chill your spine with his performance -- brilliant move on his part to have his character NEVER blink -- and Hermione Baddeley is fun as the woman who was last with the man who is said to have committed suicide but she believes Pinky hit. This is my first Brit gangster film, and I'll have to seek out more them.

Cindy I Super Reviewer