Brute Force (1947)

Calificación de los usuarios:

7.8/10   

Director:

Jules Dassin

Escritores:

Richard Brooks (screenplay)
Robert Patterson (story)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

30 junio 1947 (USA)

Género:

Suspenso | Cine Negro | Drama

Frase comercial:

Mark Hellinger's POWER PACKED PICTURE! (re-release print ad - mostly caps)

Plot:

At a tough penitentiary, prisoner Joe Collins plans to rebel against Captain Munsey, the power-mad chief guard.

Plot Keywords:

Prisoner | Warden | Inmate | Suicide | Prison Riot

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Brute Force is a knockout!

Reparto

Burt Lancaster	...	Joe Collins
Hume Cronyn	...	Capt. Munsey
Charles Bickford	...	Gallagher
Yvonne De Carlo	...	Gina Ferrara
Ann Blyth	...	Ruth
Ella Raines	...	Cora Lister
Anita Colby	...	Flossie
Sam Levene	...	Louie Miller #7033
Jeff Corey	...	'Freshman' Stack
John Hoyt	...	Spencer
Jack Overman	...	Kid Coy
Roman Bohnen	...	Warden A.J. Barnes
Sir Lancelot	...	Calypso
Vince Barnett	...	Muggsy
Jay C. Flippen	...	Hodges (guard)

Duración:

98 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

Inglés

Color:

Negro y Blanco

Relación de Aspecto:

1.37 : 1

Sonido:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Clasificación:

Norway:16 | UK:A (cut) (original rating) | West Germany:16 (nf) | USA:Approved (PCA #12441) | Finland:K-16 | Australia:PG

Compañía:

Mark Hellinger Productions

Trivialidades:

When the Group Theater (1931-1940), the first American acting company to attempt to put the Russian Stanislavski's principles into action, disbanded many of the actors who had participated in its revolutionary realistic productions on Broadway ("Awake and Sing" "Waiting for Lefty") made their way to Hollywood in search of work; among them the character actors Sam Levene ("Miller"), Roman Bohnen ("Warden"), and Art Smith ("Dr. Walters")-- all of whom can be seen in this film. As many of the actors in The Group were members of the Communist Party or leftist organizations, they would soon be blacklisted during the HUAC period along with the director of this film, Jules Dassin. In 1946, a year before the release of this film, Elia Kazan, one of the members of The Group Theater who named names, happened to be in Hollywood and saw a production of one of Tennessee Williams's early plays "Portrait of a Madonna" directed by Hume Cronyn - who plays the sadistic Capt. Munsey in this film. Kazan was so impressed by the work of Cronyn's wife, Jessica Tandy, that he offered her the role of Blanche Dubois in his Broadway production of "Streetcar Named Desire."

Errores:

Continuidad: During a scene in the cell, Jeff Corey's character is washing his hair. His hair alternates between lathered and not lathered.

Citas:

Calypso: [Scene in Dr. Walters office: Dr. Walters is getting ready to go to an important meeting at the Warden's office] Sounds like a very important meeting you're going to this morning, Doc.
[Pours Dr. Walters a small serving of liquor]
Calypso: Is, uh, Captain Munsey gonna' be there?
Dr. Walters: [Nods his head affirmatively] Mm-hmm.
Calypso: [Nods his head knowingly] Mm-hmm.
[Accordingly, he proceeds to pour Dr. Walters a much bigger shot of liquor, then sings some musical verse, Calypso-style]
Calypso: Brandy's the very best drink in the world. If you drink enough your toes get curled.
Dr. Walters: [Chuckling] Calypso, statistics show that if the level of alcohol in the blood exceeds one half of one percent, the blood pressure is affected, a cerebral condition occurs, and then... you're cockeyed.
[Dr. Walters takes a drink of the liquor, nods approvingly, then exhales]
Dr. Walters: And maybe that's the way it should be.
[...]

Conexiones de Película:

Referenced in The Last Castle (2001)

Brute Force is a knockout!

I've read recent reviews of this film that condemn it for being "outdated" or not "relevant". Um, hello? This movie is is fifty-seven years old! As such, we are treated to typical 1940s Hollywood stereotypes and acting methods, not to mention references to the recently completed war. Yet, even within the pitfalls of the studio system, this film shines as a great example of film noir.

Director Jules Dassin is brilliant with light, and sets the example for the French "new wave" of cinema. Lighting Burt Lancaster from the side, or from underneath, makes him and the other actors look almost surreal.

Most of the dialogue is "clipped" and preposterous, but films from this era often suffer from this same problem. Yet "Brute Force" retains its original power simply by virtue of the dynamite performances, the stirring score, and the gritty techniques of Dassin.

I had to smile during the scene where Hume Cronyn's character turns up the Wagner on his hi-fi so the guards outside his door won't hear the inmate he's about to beat scream. This was mimicked during David Lynch's ground-breaking TV series "Twin Peaks" when a character turned up his radio before he beat his wife. Of course beating people isn't funny, but seeing obvious references in cinema is always a kick.

I highly recommend "Brute Force" to anyone who appreciates the art of film, great directing, and fine performances.