Directed by Jules Dassin • 1947 • United States
Starring Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford
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.
Record in 2007, this commentary features Alain Silver and James Ursini, coauthors of “The Film Noir Reader” and “The Noir Style.”
Paul Mason is a criminologist specializing in media representations of prison. He is the editor of “Captured by the Media: Prison Discourse in Popular Culture.” He also directs the Prison Media Monitoring Unit and is a founding member of the group No More Prisons. In this 2007 program, he discuss...
What do actors do when they act? Few aspects of film craft are as widely discussed—and as little understood.
