A Review

"Brighton Rock" directed by John Boulting, 1947.

Brighton Rock is the story of a self assured hoodlum, Pinky. Pinky is a dark, suppressed man who works the racket business on the patrons of Brighton, with the support of his small gang. This startlingly dark noir thriller opens with the Aforementioned Pinky hunting a journalist, Fred, he follows Fred throughout the beachfront and murders him, making it appear as a suicide, the striking Noir furnishings and imagery used to present Brighton Rock's dark story work incredibly well, inducing fear into what 40s audiences would be accustomed to and allowing a modern viewer to glimpse a by gone age of film making and story telling.

The script is startlingly true to Graham Greenes novel, as he himself collaborated on the script, and the acting good, particularly in the case of  Pinky's feigned lover, sole witness to the murder Pinky had commitied. The innocent waitress who is played by the late Carol Marsh, whom begins the film as an innocent bystander, the world of crime unknown to her, until she becomes an unsure witness and Pinky decides to keep her close, trick her into loving him simply to more easily get her out of the picture. Her performance ranges from a quiet pretty girl of pure innocence, to a maniacal and fanatic lover convinced Pinky loves her and obsessed with the criminal world. Her acting changes her facial expressions, from a noticeably pretty girl she becomes harsh, naive and strange to behold with all the warmth of a hissing stray cat. Her performance narrates Pinkys own downfall from the criminal world.

To conclude, this powerful noir film uses striking performances, an incredibly convincing setting in the innocently twisted Brighton and an incredibly faithful script, Brighton Rock is worth a watch.