Brighton Rock

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This article refers to the book by Graham Greene. For the confectionery, see Rock (confectionery). For the song by Queen, see Brighton Rock (song)

Brighton Rock (film)
DVD release of Brighton Rock (1947)
Directed by	John Boulting
Produced by	Roy Boulting
Written by	Graham Greene (also novel) Terence Rattigan
Starring	Richard Attenborough Carol Marsh Hermione Baddeley
Release date(s)	1947
Running time	92 min
Language	English
IMDb profile

Brighton Rock is a novel by Graham Greene, published in 1938 later made into a 1947 film. The novel is a murder thriller set in 1930s Brighton.

[edit] Novel

Fred Hale comes to Brighton on assignment to anonymously distribute cards for a newspaper competition (this is a variant of "Lobby Lud" in which the name of the person to be spotted is "Kolley Kibber"). The antihero of the novel, Pinkie Brown, is a teenage sociopath and up-and-coming gangster. Hale had betrayed the former leader of the gang Pinkie now controls. Ida Arnold, a kind-hearted and decent woman, is drawn into the action by a chance meeting with the terrified Hale, who is murdered by Pinkie in obscure circumstances shortly afterwards. Pinkie's attempts to cover his tracks lead to a chain of fresh crimes and to an ill-fated marriage to Rose, a waitress who unknowingly has the power to destroy his alibi. Ida proceeds to relentlessly pursue Pinkie, in part to protect Rose from the remorseless, deeply disturbed boy she has married.

Although ostensibly an underworld thriller, the book is also a powerful exploration of the nature of sin and the basis of morality (Pinkie and Rose are Roman Catholics, as was Greene, and their beliefs are contrasted with Ida's strong but non-religious moral sensibility).

[edit] Film

Greene and Terence Rattigan wrote the screenplay for a 1947 film adaptation, produced and directed by John and Roy Boulting, with the assistant director Gerald Mitchell and starring Richard Attenborough as Pinkie, Carol Marsh as Rose, William Hartnell as Dallow, and Hermione Baddeley as Ida. The climax of the film takes place at the West Pier, which differs from the novel, the end of which takes place in the nearby town of Peacehaven. The film is considered one of the most successful British films noir. In the United States, the film was released under the title Young Scarface.