Film Noir translates to English as Black Film. It’s a French term that basically means a film about black (i.e. dark) subjects but has other elements that separate it from just a genericly dark film. As with any genre of movie, there is a lot of gradient in that black with many films considered film noir that are really just a light shade of grey. Brighton Rock is not one of those films. Brighton Rock is so dark that it becomes disturbing to watch at times, especially when it is focused on Sir Richard Attenborough, who was just a couple of years into playing named characters at this time. Those who only know him from his later work, like Jurassic Park or Miracle on 34th Street (1994), see him as an altruistic, good-natured grandfather figure. He is anything but that in Brighton Rock.
The setting is Brighton, England, 1935, and a gangster named Kite is found dead shortly after a newspaper published an exposé on the local rackets and gang wars. His old gang, now led by the psychopathic teenage killer Pinkie Brown (Attenborough), learns that the reporter behind the exposé, Fred Hale (Alan Wheatley), is in town for a promotion, handing out cards incognito to the locals that may be worth some prize money, especially if he is recognized while doing so. They track him down and then kill him on an amusement park ride. But before that happens, Fred makes the acquaintance of the outgoing, brassy Ida Arnold (Hermione Baddeley), who, after Fred dies, suspects foul play despite the police believing otherwise.
To set up an alibi for himself, Pinkie has one of his men pose as Fred and continue to hand out cards for a while. But this leads to a mistake when that man, Spicer (Wylie Watson), leaves one in a restaurant where he may be identified by the naive young waitress, Rose (Carol Marsh). Pinkie goes to visit her, intent on persuading her not to talk and she, trusting him, agrees. Thus begins a relationship between the two, a relationship that Rose believes is true love and Pinkie sees as nothing more than an opportunity to keep her quiet.
There is no humanity whatsoever in Pinkie. Because of that, it is hard to accept that he wouldn’t simply dispense with Rose rather than leading her on to keep her quiet. On top of that, later on when he decides she really is a liability he cannot afford, he tries to manipulate her into committing suicide, telling her they will die together and be with each other in the afterlife, despite knowing that she is a devout Catholic and believes suicide is a mortal sin. This attempt is cold and manipulative and her response is believable, though for a time she does appear to be seriously considering going along with it.
The film plays with our emotions, too, especially with the introduction of a vinyl recording Pinkie makes for her, telling her how he really feels about her. He says “You asked me to make a record of me voice. Well, here it is. What you want me to say is, ‘I love you.’ Here’s the truth. I hate you, you little slut. You make me sick.” Rose never hears that recording in full. Later, after he tries to break the record but only succeeds in damaging it, she tries to finally play it and it skips and repeats just the part where he says “I love you.” Perhaps she would have been better off hearing the whole thing.
This is a depressing film to watch. But it is also interesting on an psychological level. We are seeing emotional manipulation and psychological abuse on a level rarely seen on film at this time. Attenborough is scary good in the part, to the point that it is haunting watching his scenes with Carol Marsh. This film was remade in 2010. While that version has its own strengths, it doesn’t compare to the original. Brighton Rock is a fantastic, though hard to watch, film that encompasses all that the term Film Noir stands for. Even more important, though, it will stick with you long after watching it. It may not be pleasant, but it is powerful. 1948 - 92 minutes
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