Brute force / Universal International ; Mark Hellinger Productions, inc. presents ; screenplay by Richard Brooks ; produced by Mark Hellinger ; directed by Jules Dassin.
Publisher:
Criterion Collection,
Copyright Date:
2020
Description:
1 videodisc (98 min.) : sound, black and white ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 booklet (36 pages : illustrations ; 17 cm)
Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford, Yvonne de Carlo, Ann Blyth, Ella Raines, Anita Colby, Howard Duff. Full screen 1.37:1. Originally released as a motion picture in 1947. From a story by Robert Patterson. 4K digital restoration. Features: audio commentary from 2007 featuring film-noir specialists Alain Silver and James Ursini; interview from 2007 with Paul Mason, editor of "Captured by the media : prison discourse in popular culture"; program from 2017 on Brute force's array of acting styles featuring film scholar David Bordwell; trailer; stills gallery. Booklet has an essay by film critic Michael Atkinson, a 1947 profile of producer Mark Hellinger, and rare correspondence between Hellinger and production code administrator Joseph Breen over the film's content.
Summary:
Joe Collins, who, along with his fellow inmates, lives under the heavy thumb of the sadistic, power-tripping guard Captain Munsey. 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, it builds to an explosive climax that shows the lengths men will go to when fighting for their freedom and asks the question of who society's real brutes are.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.