Brute Force: Screws and Proles
By April 16, 2007
Here we are in the dark territories again, the republic of bitternesses and bile known as noir, squaring our jaws against an amoral universe and roaming the rain Read more »
SYNOPSIS: As hard-hitting as its title, Brute Force was the first of Jules Dassin’s forays into the crime genre, a prison melodrama that takes a critical look at American society as well. Burt Lancaster is the timeworn Joe Collins, who, along with his fellow inmates, lives under the heavy thumb of the sadistic, power-tripping guard Captain Munsey (a riveting Hume Cronyn). Only Collins’s dreams of escape keep him going, but how can he possibly bust out of Munsey’s chains? Matter-of-fact and ferocious, Brute Force builds to an explosive climax that shows the lengths men will go to when fighting for their freedom.
| Joe Collins | Burt Lancaster |
| Capt. Munsey | Hume Cronyn |
| Gallagher | Charles Bickford |
| Gina Ferrara | Yvonne de Carlo |
| Ruth | Ann Blyth |
| Cora Lister | Ella Raines |
| Flossie | Anita Colby |
| Robert ‘Soldier’ Becker | Howard Duff |
| Director | Jules Dassin |
| Producer | Mark Hellinger |
| Music | Miklós Rózsa |
| Cinematography | William Daniels |
| Screenplay | Richard Brooks |
| Story | Robert Patterson |
| Art direction | Bernard Herzbrun and John F. DeCuir |
| Editing | Edward Curtiss |
By April 16, 2007
Here we are in the dark territories again, the republic of bitternesses and bile known as noir, squaring our jaws against an amoral universe and roaming the rain Read more »