Brute Force (1947)

Recommended

USA

Feature Film

Director: Jules Dassin

Writers: Richard Brooks, Robert Patterson

Cinematographer: William Daniels

Composer: Miklós Rózsa

Cast: Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford, Sam Levene, Jeff Corey, John Hoyt, Jack Overman, Roman Bohnen

The inmates of cell R17 at Westgate Penitentiary – ruled over by a benevolent warden and a sadistic head guard – fed-up with their ill-treatment, begin to concoct escape plans, in this excellently acted and constructed film, which takes an unflinching look at prison justice, both guard and inmate administered, expertly painting a portrait of a hellish and desperate life. Iain.Stott