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Burt Lancaster,
Burt Lancaster,
Hume Cronyn,
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Jules Dassin,
Jules Dassin
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: Criterion
: Drama, Prison, Film Noir, Vintage Noir, Crime, Criterion Collection
: 98 min.
: English
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Burt Lancaster had one of his first starring roles in this hard-hitting prison drama. Capt. Munsey (Hume Cronyn) is a cruel, corrupt prison guard who has his own less-than-ethical ways of dealing with inmates, enough so that Joe Collins (Lancaster) -- the toughest inmate in the cell block -- has decided to break out. Collins tries to persuade Gallagher (Charles Bickford), the unofficial leader of the inmates and editor of the prison newspaper, to join him, but Gallagher thinks Collins' plan won't work. However, Collins does have the support of his cellmates, most of whom, like himself, wandered into a life of crime thanks to love and good intentions. Tom Lister (Whit Bissell) was an accountant who altered the books so he could buy his wife a mink coat. Soldier (Howard Duff) fell in love with an Italian girl during World War II and took the rap for her when she murdered her father. Collins pulled a bank job to raise money to pay for an operation that could possibly get his girl out of a wheelchair. And Spencer (John Hoyt) made the mistake of getting involved with a female con artist. After Munsey drives Tom to suicide and prevents Gallagher from obtaining parole, Gallagher joins up with Collins and his men in the escape attempt. Director Jules Dassin would next direct the influential noir drama The Naked City; six years later, he would move to Europe after political blacklisting prevented him from continuing to work in the United States. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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| One savage movie
by tboot
April 17, 2007 - 3:54 PM PDT
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3 out of 3 members found this review helpful
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| Prison movies are rarely merry romps, of course, but "Brute Force" is a particularly ferocious slice of post-war angst. It presents us with a very metaphorical Prison; an existential hell-hole from which "nobody ever *really* escapes." The plot focuses on the inmates of cell R17, which includes Burt Lancaster at his most laconic as Joe Collins, who's got an escape plan that'll send the whole prison population pouring out the front gates. Unfortunately, head prison guard Captain Munsey knows about it. Collins knows he knows, but won't call it off. "We're all dead anyway", he snarls. Remember twinkly old Hume Cronyn from "Cocoon"? As the evil head prison guard Captain Munsey, he steals the show. This venal little martinet has clearly studied the Nazi prison camp commandant manual, but replaced the German accent with a pissy delivery more suited to a supercilious DMV employee. He's awfully fond of that dashing uniform and the control it wields as he sashays through his rounds, or tortures inmates with a rubber hose while Wagner thunders from his record player. He's pure, unadulterated, corrupted power. It's a supremely unnerving portrayal, both saucy and sadistic. Watch that lusty smile on his lips when he machine guns a yard full of inmates. You'll forget "Cocoon" in a hurry.
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 7.25) 28 Votes
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