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And this in a classic Graham Greene pre-war tale, a combination of multiple efforts of genius to create a quite uniquely British noir experience.
One will be warned that entire books have been written about the film of Brighton Rock (1948) and even about Richard Attenborough’s ran-sackingly riveting portrayal of Pinkie Brown.
This film, set in the picturesque yet perilous seaside town of Brighton, showcases Attenborough’s ability to embody a character both charismatic and terrifying. His careful selection of roles prevented him from being typecast as a mere stone-cold killer, a fate that befell Richard Widmark after his role in Kiss Of Death.
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The narrative unfolds with Attenborough and his cronies orchestrating a protection racket, only to be challenged by a rival gang intent on usurping their territory. Unlike the overt violence typical of American gangster films, the conflict in Brighton Rock is marked by a subtlety befitting its British setting. A prolonged chase through Brighton culminates in a tense encounter in a funhouse tunnel, where Attenborough’s character confronts Alan Wheatley.
The ambiguity of Wheatley’s demise—whether he slipped and fell or was pushed—adds to the film’s suspense.
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Hermione Baddely’s character, who was with Wheatley before his death, raises pertinent questions about the incident, aware of Wheatley’s palpable fear. Complicating matters further is a young, innocent waitress, portrayed by Carol Marsh, whose testimony could dismantle Attenborough’s alibi. Marsh’s character, an almost Trilby-like figure, is manipulated by Attenborough in a manner reminiscent of Svengali, culminating in a coerced marriage to silence her.
The film’s success hinges on Attenborough’s portrayal of a killer who must command both fear and loyalty from his gang. His charisma is essential, as it explains why the older gang members look to him as their leader, despite their underlying fear. This dynamic is crucial to understanding the psychological underpinnings of the group’s interactions.
Carol Marsh’s performance is noteworthy for its depiction of innocence ensnared by malevolence. Her character’s journey from naivety to a state of frightened enthrallment with Attenborough’s Pinkie Brown is both tragic and compelling. The climactic scene on the Brighton pier stands as a testament to the film’s noir credentials, rivaling the most intense moments of American cinema from the same era. This final confrontation, more harrowing than Wheatley’s earlier demise, solidifies Brighton Rock as a timeless piece of film noir.
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Brighton Rock, directed by John Boulting and written by Graham Greene (who also authored the 1938 novel) and Terence Rattigan, is produced by Roy Boulting. The film stars Richard Attenborough, Carol Marsh, William Hartnell, Hermione Baddeley, Harcourt Williams, and Wylie Watson.
Hans May composed the music, and Harry Waxman handled the cinematography. The plot centers on Attenborough’s character, Pinkie Brown, a small-time hoodlum in Brighton whose efforts to cover up a murder lead to escalating chaos for himself and those around him.
The year 1947 was significant for British cinema, marked by the release of several gritty dramas, including They Made Me A Fugitive, It Always Rains On Sunday, Odd Man Out, and Brighton Rock. Although Brighton Rock may appear somewhat dated today, it was the most shocking upon its release. Despite its age, the film retains a powerful and bleak atmosphere that justifies its classic status. Combining elements of seedy seaside noir and a character-driven exploration of Catholic guilt and torment, Brighton Rock overcomes minor technical flaws to deliver a thematically potent and tense narrative.
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| Murder at the funfair in Brighton Rock (1948) |
While many authors see their work lose impact when adapted for the screen, Graham Greene’s works have generally fared well. The key to successfully adapting Greene’s work lies in understanding his characterizations.
The Boulting brothers excel in this regard, particularly with Pinkie Brown, one of Greene’s most complex creations. The plot revolves around Pinkie, exposing the seedy underbelly of Brighton’s everyday life. Casting Attenborough as Pinkie was a brilliant move; his fresh-faced, wide-eyed appearance belies a psychosis that is always on the verge of exploding. His cold-hearted relationship with the love-starved Rose (played by Marsh) is deeply disturbing and central to the story.
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| Carol Marsh in Brighton Rock (1948) |
The film is set against two contrasting sides of Brighton: one sunny and filled with lights, fun-fairs, and candy floss, and the other grimy, with boarding houses, penny cafés, and noisy backstreet pubs. The Boulting brothers cleverly reveal that the sunny side is merely a facade for darker forces, with much of the malevolence unfolding against a backdrop of seaside frivolity.
The iconic pier serves as a witness to both the good and bad aspects of Brighton’s inhabitants. Waxman’s oppressive cinematography, combined with J. Boulting’s claustrophobic direction, envelops the protagonists in restrictive settings that mirror their moods. The film’s atmosphere suggests an inevitable tragic end, with the tension building incrementally—a treat for film noir enthusiasts.
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The film has and they sometimes say 'boasts' for this, but LLM talk aside, the film does indeed have and boast and is performed by a strong cast, with Hartnell standing out as Pinkie’s gang member, Dallow, and Baddeley as Pinkie’s brash adversary, Ida Arnold. Each character adds to Attenborough’s malevolent presence. The film features several memorable scenes, from the thrilling chase at the beginning to the eerie brutality of the ghost train sequence and the cynical, cruel finale. Although the ending is toned down from the novel, it remains impactful, as does the entire film.
Even after many years and decades of years, and years of course of decades, Brighton Rock retains its potency, standing shoulder to shoulder with the finest American noir films of its time. The film’s enduring appeal lies in its masterful blend of suspense, character study, and atmospheric tension, all brought to life by Attenborough’s unforgettable performance.
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| Limey male menace in Brighton Rock (1948) |
In the summer of 1947, Graham Greene’s life was marked by intense complexity. His past included a brief stint with the Communist Party and a longer association with MI6. Bill West’s intricate study, The Quest for Graham Greene, details how potential scandals loomed over his life and work.
During this period, Greene visited the set of Brighton Rock with his lover, Dorothy Glover, whom he introduced by her pen name, Dorothy Craigie. Although their long-standing affair was largely private, one crew member recognized them, and the gossip soon reached Catherine Walston. Walston, a wealthy married American, had asked Greene to be her sponsor when she joined the Church of Rome the previous year, and they had been close ever since.
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The scandal involving Greene—a married Roman Catholic writer with both a live-in lover and a mistress who was also his goddaughter—overshadowed the various antics of actors and filmmakers in the so-called sin city.
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Journalist Fred Hale, posing as the Daily Messenger’s publicist ‘Kolly Kibber’, is chased through Brighton by Johnnie, Cubitt, and Dallow. Fred is eventually “taken for a ride” by Pinkie on the crowded Palace Pier, where the police later report his death as a coronary. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Pinkie openly courts Rose, a potential witness, negotiates with crime boss Colleoni, and kills his friend Spicer within two weeks.
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| Charles Goldner in Brighton Rock (1948) |
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| Richard Attenborough in Brighton Rock (1948) |
Brighton, with its Pierrot parties, pleasure boats, and summer races, becomes the stage for a battle between information and understanding. Pinkie cynically plans a double suicide with his new bride Rose. Pursued by amateur detective Ida Arnold, Pinkie’s brief criminal life ends in darkness at Palace Pier. His final question to Dallow is, “Why?” All that remains of Pinkie is his voice on a sabotaged disc and possibly his soul.
Brighton Rock showcases technology with its photography, sound recordings, cars, telephones, newspapers, and fairground rides from Coney Island, though Pinkie’s handgun feels out of place. Brighton made police history in 1933 with wireless radios, hinted at in the film when a detective waits for Brown and a police car arrives, suggesting a taxi service facilitated by early mobile communication.
Brighton racecourse had a protection racket where bookies hired thugs to assault punters collecting winnings. Roger Mead’s crime statistics show that the murder rate in Greene’s story, spanning two to three weeks, is 50% of the entire 1930s decade.
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Graham Greene eventually agreed with critics that Attenborough was a ‘perfect Pinkie’ despite initial doubts. Greene valued a poetic cinema where dialogue, camera angles, silences, and postures enhanced the film’s depth. The real Brighton also starred in the film, which, despite using sets, achieved a rare liveliness.
Unlike Ealing’s stiff 1945 film Pink String and Sealing Wax, Brighton Rock naged and screamed and mooded up to life an antebellum Brighton, akin to a funhouse of distorted reality meant to both scare and entertain. The audience, like funfair visitors, became willing accomplices, engaging with the entertainment or watching in the cinema.
Brighton Rock’s political undertones contrast sharply with Hitler’s 1933 Nuremberg rally. Pinkie Brown shares traits with young Hitler: Roman Catholicism, a boyhood desire for priesthood, abstinence from smoking, drinking, and sex, vengefulness, and a need for scapegoats.
By 1936, Greene’s debut Babbling April was forgotten, while Mein Kampf sold a million copies annually. The British Board of Film Censors objected to a murderer quoting scripture, forcing Greene to omit certain phrases.
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| Hermione Baddeley in Brighton Rock (1948) |
By 1947, the story’s prophetic elements were outdated. The coincidence of Hitler’s brief marriage and suicide is bizarre. Greene admired Dostoevsky but lacked his prison experience. He sought to match Dostoevsky’s empathy for murderers, portraying Pinkie as both evil and a victim of moral and spiritual numbness. This is the origin of the film noir psychopath, with its roots in the earliest modern literature.
Film Reviews of 1948 do state as quoted:
“Brighton Rock at the Warner Theatre, has been described as “false” and “nasty” I say it is a masterly production of an exciting story.”
W. A. WILCOX SUNDAY DISPATCH JANUARY 11TH.
“the film is notable for the performances of Hermione Baddeley, who is downright magnificent as the “suicide blonde” (ie dyed by her own hand) and William Hartnell, surely one of the best actors on the screen as a gangster”
JACK DAVIES SUNDAY EXPRESS JANUARY 11TH.
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| William Hartnell in Brighton Rock (1948) |
“The film is splendidly directed for maximum thrills and character drawing and ideally cast with Richard Attenborough as the gangster, Hermione Baddeley as the soubrette, William Hartnell, Harcourt Willams, Wylie Watson and everyone else giving magnificent performances, to say nothing of a sensitive newcomer Carol Marsh as the unhappy heroine.”
EVENING NEWS JANUARY 8TH.
“this well made, excellently acted film, with the imprint of Boulting sincerity, is not just one more story of the underworld. It is a serious analysis of spivery.”
JOAN LESTER REYNOLDS NEWS JANUARY 11TH.
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The use of ‘overflow’ studio space at MGM (British) Studios Ltd. (formerly Amalgamated Studios) was unexceptional but notable as the Cosmo sets were the first ever built there. Soon actor Ronald Reagan would visit “Elstree, the British Hollywood” as co-star of The Hasty Heart. But not before the Atlee government imposed a drastic 75% Ad Valorem Tax on film imports. America responded in August 1947 with an embargo on British films which lasted seven months. A.P.B.C., eager to exhibit in Warner Brothers’ 3,000 US cinemas, had not required actors to produce an authentic Brighton accent.
Roy Boulting made a friend’s home in Ovingdean his headquarters for producing a shooting script in close association with Graham Greene. Essential cast and crew arrived in Brighton late in June to begin their 8 week shoot during the hottest summer on record. The Grand Hotel was production headquarters and home to the major stars. Carol Marsh, twelfth in the films credit’s, stayed at The Metropole and being under contract to Rank was responsible for her own expenses. Christopher Law, Rachard Attenborough’s stunt double, and other crew billeted in Sillwood Lodge in Hove.
Earlier that month, 18 year old blonde beauty queen Jill Knowles won the title Miss Brighton plus a bit part in the film — another very successful publicity stunt anticipating the crews arrival in town. Jill’s fondest memories are reserved for Hermione Baddeley. Universally called “Totie”, she mothered the ‘special’ film extras in her luxurious suite in the Grand. Jill recalls the excitement of the crowds needed for race scenes and the drama when Alderman S.C.Thompson ordered the film unit off Brighton racecourse. They had overstayed their three day licence. An appeal to Brighton Council ensured that filming continued.
Personal appearances were in demand all over town both night and day. Jill Knowles Silverside, as she is now known, remembers the glamour of the Brighton Rock dance competition at Sherry’s Dance Hall on West Street attended by Brighton’s mayor Percy Friend-James and the lady mayoress. Starlet Carol Marsh, in evening dress, announced the winners and star “Dickie” Attenborough presented the awards. The cast had managed a special visit to Sussex County Hospital to sign autographs for the nurses as well.
From The Brighton Rock Picture Book, THE MAKING OF THE BOOULTING BROTHERS FILM 1946-48 , Maire McQueeney (Dining Table Publications)
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| Hermione Baddeley in Brighton Rock (1948) |
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