Synopsis
Timeworn Joe Collins and his fellow inmates live under the heavy thumb of the sadistic, power-tripping guard Captain Munsey. Only Collins' dreams of escape keep him going, but how can he possibly bust out of Munsey's chains?
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Cast
- Burt LancasterJoe Collins
- Hume CronynCapt. Munsey
- Charles BickfordGallagher
- Yvonne De CarloGina Ferrara
- Ann BlythRuth
- Ella RainesCora Lister
- Anita ColbyFlossie
- Sam LeveneLouie Miller #7033
- Jeff Corey'Freshman' Stack
- John HoytSpencer
Recommendations
- 100
TV Guide Magazine
Rozsa's pounding score and a savage climax make Brute Force first rate all the way. - 88
Chicago Tribune
A socially conscious prison picture (written by Richard Brooks) that sometimes deliriously suggests a Brooklynesque mating of Jean Genet and Warner Bros. [20 Apr 2007, p.C8] - 83
The A.V. Club
Brilliantly photographed by William H. Daniels, Brute Force is both a humanistic personal drama and a bravura piece of genre filmmaking. - 83
IndieWire
As it successfully delves into the baser instincts of men from all sides, imprisoned either by their thirst for power or their unwillingness to give up, few films can compare. - 80
The New York Times
Jules Dassin's steel-springed direction keeps the whole thing approriately taut. - 80
The Guardian
Brute Force was the first important assignment of leftwing director Jules Dassin. - 80
Time Out
Despite a loss of temperature through the flashbacks which let in some female interest, this is one of Dassin's best films - 75
Chicago Reader
Jules Dassin wasn't a bad director before he went to Europe and caught a bad case of Art (He Who Must Die), and this 1947 prison picture, done in the gritty late-40s documentary style, is one of his best efforts.
