Brute Force (1947)

Prison Melodrama Done Right

Long before *The Green Mile* and *Prison Break*, the French director Jules Dassin made *Brute Force*, a melodrama about men's lives in a prison system intent less on social rehabilitation and more on draconian punishment. The film's liberal-humanist approval of rehabilitation is movingly captured by the inmates' flashbacks to their lives before prison: men struggling to do good for their girlfriends, wives, and families. These men are pit against Hume Cronyn's unforgettable Captain Munsey, a power-hungry social Darwinist and Westgate Penitentiary's shrewd enforcer of the institutional code. In the conflict between the inmates and Munsey, Dassin crafts an affecting narrative about heroism, survival, and postwar American masculinity.

The Criterion transfer is crisp and clear. William Daniels's black-and-white cinematography is particularly resonant in the shadowy nighttime scenes that take place behind the prison's walls. This edition of the movie also features a few illuminating extras, including commentary by noir specialists Alain Silver and James Ursini as well as an interview with Paul Mason on *Brute Force*'s importance in the history of film representations of prison life.

While parts of the movie can be melodramatically overwrought (e.g., during the flashback sequences), *Brute Force* is a landmark of film noir and prison cinema, and is well worth watching in this powerful Criterion edition. January 1, 2009

a fine movie

This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

Brute Force is about a group of people attempting to escape from a prison. The prison has a particularly sadistic guard who beats the prisoners savagely. The film also has a prison riot in it which is somewhat intense.

The special features are audio commentary by Alain Silver and James Ursini, an interview with Paul Mason, author of a book on the depiction of prison life in popular culture, a trailer and a photo gallery.

This was an exciting film and is sure to please. July 19, 2007

Brute Force

Made just prior to "Naked City," Dassin's gritty prison melodrama puts a twist on the archetypal bust-out scheme by revisiting, in flashback, the pre-penitentiary lives of Collins--ably played by an intense young Lancaster--and his crew, colorfully brought to life by character actors Whit Bissell, Howard Duff, and John Hoyt. In a fine performance, Charles Bickford appears as the prison's gruff de facto leader and newspaper editor who throws in his lot with Collins. The other ace in Dassin's deck is Cronyn, playing a corrupt, savage prison guard bent on bringing "discipline" to his inmates, while nursing a megalomaniacal ambition to replace the wimpy Warden. Aside from the ominous noir visuals, Dassin explores issues endemic to prison life and wraps them up in an ugly finale meant to evoke a Nazi bloodbath. June 21, 2007

Brute Force

Excellent movie! Unlike today's movies with lots of special effects and very little story developement with dialogue, this movie is the opposite.
A must-see for all Burt Lancaster fans. May 12, 2007

WE ARE ALL TRAPPED!

"BRUTE FORCE", ever since I first saw it on TV forty years ago,has been one of my favorite films.Directed with great vigor by Julues Dassin,it tells the story of "the men on the inside",and "the women on the outside.Burt Lancaster,Jeff Corey,Howard Duff,and John Hoyt,are some of the men "on the inside",Ann Blyth,Ella Raines,Anita Colby,and Yvonne DeCarlo are the woman on" the outside".Hume Cronyn gives a masterfull performance as the sadistic,fascist Caption of the guards.All the male characters, which also includes Charles Bickford,Sam Levine,and Roman Bohnen (as Warden Barnes) are oustanding,the women less so.This is not an easy DVD to get,so I wish someone maybe Universal,the original releasing company,would come out with a full-length commetary,with a special emphasis ,on the political repercussions that were felt by many members of the cast and crew of this and other left-leaning films.The films message is definitily anti-capitalist.The film rates 5 Stars,the DVD,with no special features rates a 3 and half Star rating. April 8, 2006

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