A Very Big House - - Brute Force (1947, USA) - - 3 May 2014

Recommended.  It’s amazing how many really unique films noir were made after WWII. This may be the real selling point of the genre. In the case of Brute Force, we have several people at the beginning of some spectacular careers, principally Burt Lancaster (Elmer Gantry, Field Of Dreams) in his second feature. As convict Joe Collins, Lancaster uses all of the violent acrobatics that would be his signature. Standing opposed is Hume Cronyn (Shadow Of A Doubt, Cocoon) as an elegantly sadistic prison guard. Brute Force takes the controversial stand that prison never rehabilitates and only makes people worse . . . a bold idea in 1947. The movie was photographed by the genius of black and white cinematography, William H. Daniels (The Naked City), who filmed Greta Garbo twenty-one times. The script was written by Richard Brooks, later to direct Lancaster in Elmer Gantry and The Professionals. Jules Dasson (Never On Sunday) directed.