Blu-ray Review - Brute Force (1947)

Genre:
Crime, Film Noir
Distributor:
Arrow Academy
BD Release Date:
15th September 2014 (UK)
Rating: 12
Director:
Jules Dassin
Cast:
Burt Lancaster, Hume Croyn, Charles Bickford
buy:Brute Force [Dual Format DVD & Blu-ray]
Jules Dassin remains one of the quintessential directors of noir in the 1940s and 1950s. However, he is probably best known for his French noir film Rififi. That is partly why he is often mistaken for being French when in reality he was from Middletown, Connecticut, USA. He left for France after he was blacklisted during the McCarthy era.

Dassin’s Hollywood career was mostly full of wartime dramas and light comedies (a genre he would return to later in his career) until he was hired to direct Brute Force. It isn’t not your typical noir, however, it’s prison noir, which is a sub-genre in itself.

Brute Force starred a young Burt Lancaster as Joe Collins, who plans to rebel against the power-hungry and sadistic Captain Munsey (Hume Cronyn). Collins starts planning his escape and is most fascinating during the escape, as each inmate in Cell R17 tells their backstory about why they ended up being incarcerated. In pure noir fashion, it includes a woman.

The film has shown its age but its overall message that a prison system reflects society itself is still very valid. It does hammer this message home unsubtly, but it’s an important one.

The realist cinematography comes from William H. Daniels, who worked on numerous classic films including The Naked City, arguably Dassin’s masterpiece. Lancaster brings his usual physicality to the role as always; he was a circus performer before he was cast in his first film, The Killers. Brute Force was only his second screen appearance but you can already tell you are witnessing a master thespian.

Arrow has done the film justice as usual. The film includes a new High Definition transfer, a new interview with Kate Buford, who wrote a biography on Lancaster, along with the theatrical trailer and a lengthy booklet on the film. Noir fans will be more than satisfied with this release.

★★★★

Ian Schultz