After Richard Widmark gave a new post-war edge to Hollywood psychotic villains, giggling as he pushed a wheelchair-bound grannie down a flight of tenement stairs in KISS OF DEATH/’47, Britain found an urban sociopath to call its own in Richard Attenborough’s ‘Pinkie,’ vicious young head of a failing protection racket working the back alleys of Brighton. Lashing out under pressure, he’ll kill to protect his shrinking territory. Even marry a friendless waitress to keep her from testifying against him. But does he love or despise her? Graham Greene, adapting his own novel (with Terence Rattigan), doesn’t always clarify some underlying action, but the pace, threat of violence and scummy seaside atmosphere (those amusement piers!) are wonderfully captured by the Brothers Boulting (producer Roy; director John) with Harry Waxman’s lensing serving up heightened realism with ‘stolen’ location shots of fun-seeking crowds. Attenborough’s star-making turn got all the attention at the time, but Carol Marsh does amazingly well as the innocent lovestruck girl (a nearly impossible part) and Hermione Baddeley is a vulgarian for the ages as a performer in a third-rate beach-side tent show making a nuisance of herself. Greene apparently had misgivings about his own ‘tweaked’ ending, but who else could have come up with such a ridiculous Catholic miracle to tie things up?
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: Rowan Joffe’s 2010 remake, updated to the early ‘60s, doesn’t come off in spite of a good supporting cast. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2012/09/brighton-rock-2010.html
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