A seminal film noir from hardboiled director Jules Dassin "Naked City, Rififi, Night And The City), Brute Force is a raw, often disturbing prison drama starring Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo (Cris Cross) and Hume Cronyn (Shadow Of A Doubt). Caustic and violent, even within the bleak, gritty domain of 1940s noir, the film is a testament to a world in which brutality breeds brutality. Its creators drew on recent WW II experiences to form a powerful analogy between the prison setting and a fascist state. When the tactics of one guard (Cronyn, who sadistically beats prisoners to the strains of Wagner) become unbearable, the inmates stage a vicious riot.
Razor-sharp dialogue by legendary screenwriter and director Richard Brooks (In Cold Blood) transforms the cell block into an existential hell from which there is no escape and a powerhouse cast embraces the harsh subject matter with uncommon ferocity. Lancaster, still in the early stages of his career, demonstrates not only raw talent, but also the intense, sexually-charged presence with which he would command the spotlight in such later films as From Here To Eternity, Elmer Gantry and Atlantic City. The extreme horror of certain scenes -- as when an informer is herded by blowtorches to his execution in a steam press -- is counteracted by Dassin's frequent flashbacks to the prisoners' previous lives with girlfriends and wives. Though ultimately repentant, Brute Force is a remarkable masterpiece.
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