☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Brighton
Rock (1947) – J. Boulting
Sir Richard Attenborough (RIP this year)
provides a psychotic turn as an (impossibly) young gang leader in the seaside
town of Brighton. First, he hunts and
kills a newspaper reporter who told too much in the press (leading to a gang
member's death). Then, in trying to create an alibi, he more or less dominates
a young waitress by pretending he is in love with her to make sure she doesn't
talk. Moody and with a good sense of
place -- but also suspenseful (like a good detective story) when Hermione
Baddeley's character gets on Pinkie's (Dickie's) trail and starts collecting
evidence to turn over to the police. The
ending -- some call it a "trick ending" -- is a surprise and I think
I like it (everything pushes you to expect something different, which of course
must eventually happen anyway). Graham
Greene wrote the original novel and the screenplay here; Catholicism does play a role. A very good Brit noir.
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