“Those gates only open three times: when you come in, when you’ve served your time, or when you’re dead.”
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Synopsis:
A group of prisoners — led by Burt Lancaster — rebel against a sadistic prison captain (Hume Cronyn) who is hell-bent on making their lives miserable.
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Genres:
Review:
Prison breaks have been a cinematic mainstay for literally decades, and this relatively early outing by French director Jules Dassin is regarded by many as one of the best. However, other than featuring Burt Lancaster in a star-making role (he’s hunky but overly stoic), and Hume Cronyn in an atypically sadistic performance, it doesn’t really offer anything new or special to what has now become an over-used trope. In order to successfully convince audiences to root for Lancaster and his cellmates, the prisoners are presented as sympathetic and/or wrongly accused, while Cronyn himself is a power-tripping Hitler-stand-in — clearly meant to appeal to post-war audiences, but coming across today as merely a convenient stereotype. The primary redeeming feature of the film — which isn’t awful, simply unremarkable — is William Daniels’ atmospheric cinematography; indeed, Brute Force is unusual in its positing of “noir as prison drama”.
Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
- The powerful early scene in which a stoolie (James O’Rear) is crushed to death in a prison workroom
- William Daniels’ noirish cinematography
Must See?
No. Listed as a film with Historical Importance in the back of Peary’s book.
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Posted on December 12th, 2007 by admin
Filed under: Original Reviews
Agreed; ultimately not a must.
There is a considerable number of prison films - when one considers the limited scope of them (escape, corruption/reform, general discontent of inmates), it’s apparent how the musts among them can really be narrowed down. (That is, unless the setting intrigues you.)
As compensation for the genre’s limits, the story here is opened up by including the backstory (via flashbacks) of four of the prisoners. At least that gets viewers out of the prison - which is not always easy to do in such films. But, again, these details don’t work toward making ‘Brute Force’ a standout.
If anything makes the film particularly noteworthy, it’s Cronyn’s turn as Capt. Munsey - which easily reads as gay. (I somehow see him as a Roy Cohn kind of guy.) While it’s hard to decipher the original intent of storywriter Robert Patterson, it’s not difficult to note the line of screenwriter Richard Brooks’ interest in marginally gay men: ‘Crossfire’ (Brooks’ original novel ‘The Brick Foxhole’ hinged on homosexuality), ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’, ‘In Cold Blood’, ‘Looking for Mr. Goodbar’.)