A central conflict in Jules Dassin’s Brute Force lies in the humane treatment of prisoners versus the use of brutality to keep them in line. Embodying the first notion is a trustee named Gallagher, (Charles Bickford), who works with warden Barnes (Roman Bohnen) to help keep the peace between prisoner and guards. Representing the second is Captain Munsey (Hume Crony), the chief guard who has designs on Barnes’ job.
Caught in the middle are the prisoners, but they’re no angels either, and perhaps the least angelic of all is Joe Collins (Burt Lancaster), who does not hesitate to have a prisoner killed who has betrayed him. And so the “brute force” of the title applies on multiple levels, both conceptually and concretely within characters in the drama. Munsey is a power-hungry martinet, who sets prisoner against prisoner, and does not hesitate to torture them to obtain what he wants. The warden is a milquetoast past his prime, who is in danger of losing his job if he cannot quell the violence. And Collins wants out — bad — so his girlfriend will get the cancer treatment to save her life.
Hume Cronyn
Brute Force is an uncompromising film from a director at the height of his powers. Released in 1947, it’s a grim exercise from film noir’s darkest time. Though not classic noir in plot, it surely is in style and tone. Dassin ’s compositions use the linear repetition of the cell-blocks to great effect, slicing the frame into contrasting areas that separate human beings from their freedom. The great cinematographer William Daniels creates beautifully atmospheric , high-contrast images; the shadows cast by the prison bars play across the inmates’ faces, reinforcing the reality of their lives.
Lancaster, never a great actor, is fine as the brooding brute who engineers a breakout attempt, Bickford inhabits the gruff-but-crusty trustee effectively, and Art Smith is effective as the prison doctor who befriends Collins. But Cronyn owns the movie with his dazzling turn as Munsey. His performance is never overt, always understated, but undeniably corrupt throughout. He oozes oily false sincerity from every pore; it’s only in the last act that he reveals the true depths of his evil.
Burt Lancaster (right) and the boys
Brute Force has been called the greatest prison film, but for me that’s hard to judge. I’m not an aficionado of the genre and tend not to seek them out, leaving me with a small sample size from which to judge. But the film packs an undeniable . If I have any major criticism it is that the characters are largely cliches; they tend to be typical prison-movie types, and are not developed any further. But stock characters are a feature of many a genre piece, and here they are very well done.
In the end, Brute Force is very much a product of that time right after World War II when the world was reeling from the revelations of Nazi atrocities, when we had just discovered the depths to which our fellow human beings can go. It is tremendously entertaining, it is unrelenting in its dark view of humanity and unrelieved in its nihilistic view. The final line of the picture, spoken by the doctor staring out through the bars, expresses this succinctly: “Nobody escapes, nobody really escapes.” The words apply equally to everyone in this shadowy world.
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There’s some amazing stuff in Brute Force, but one thing that bugs me is that it stacks the deck so egregiously. There seems to be a “point” to the film, a “message” about prison life (even America as some sort of prison, if you look hard enough), and to strengthen their case, the filmmakers make all the prisoners good guys: either they’re innocent, or they’re just decent guys who made one silly mistake. It’s so transparent.
But Cronyn is fantastic, and the last half hour or so of the film is tremendous. I just think the morality of the film is a little skewed.
I think you’re right, bill … in the film it’s prison that turns them rotten, they weren’t that way before. I’m not sure Dassin or Richard Brooks, who collaborated on the screenplay, were ever known for their subtlety.
Ahh!….Rick, I am so sad to say, that I haven’t watch Dassin’s 1947 film “Brute Force” yet!….to be honest with you, I am not much of a “fan” of prison films. (Whether the film is considered a film noir or not considered a film noir!) But, what a well written and nice review of the 1947 film “Brute Force” by you, Rick.
I know Rick, I know, you are not familiar with author Spencer Selby or his book Dark City:The Film Noir, but here goes what he had to say in his book about the 1947 film Brute Force…. “Flashbacks reveal the pasts of five inmates as they are driven to the point of desperation resulting in a violent prison break. Brute Force is still the ultimate noir prison film and one of the high points of the cycle.”
Rick said, “Brute Force has been called the greatest prison film, but for me that’s hard to judge. I’m not an aficionado of the genre and tend not to seek them out, leaving me with a small sample size from which to judge. But the film packs an undeniable.” For a “non-noir” man Rick, ahh!…it appears that you and Mr. Selby, are on the same page when it comes to the film Brute Force and it significance in the Film noir world.
Tks,
dcd
dcd
Thanks for your kind comments, as usual. Like you, I’m no prison movie fan, but I enjoyed “Brute Force.”
Rick-
This picture is kind of a biggie for me. I love Dassin because of films like THEIVE’S HIGHWAY, RIFIFI and NIGHT AND THE CITY.
And I love prison films like BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, GRAND ILLUSION and LE TROU.
BRUTE FORCE is putting these two things together to make, what I think to be a great and memorable film. There’s just something about movies dealing with this subject that get me thinking. When you put yourself in the position of these prisoners, in their confined synthetic environment, how would it change you? I for one, wouldn’t be able to breathe.
If you have not see LE TROU, do so. I have a strong feeling you’ll love it.
Thanks for the recommendation, Joe. I’ll put “Le Trou” on my Netflix list.
Interesting, when I think prison film, I don’t think “Bridge” or “Grand Illusion,” but I suppose they are. I think of them more as war films.