Brute Force (Jules Dassin, 1947)

Sometimes you stumble upon a great film just spinning through the dial at 10 PM on a Saturday night. Such was the case when I stumbled upon Jules Dassin's prison breakout flick "Brute Force." The ensemble in cell R117 were pretty amazing. While Burt Lancaster was a key player, there was plenty of room to breathed for the rest of the cast. Hume Cronyn plays the sadistic, if not Hitler-esque, jailer who runs the place more like a Nazi prisoner of war camp than U.S. prison. The men in cell R117 are in lock-up for...robberies and gambling. But on the inside murder is not our of the question as a means of revenge. The payback scene in this film is particularly dark and grusome (a man attacked by acetylene torches and then smashed by heavy machinery). It is also interesting how the pin-up girl (acctually just this very hauntingly beautiful face) spawns the fantasies of these men which we see as visual side-bars giving us insights into their past situations, their crimes and the true nature of their hearts. The final scene revolves around an escape plan that is bound to fail...and yet the prisoners ultimately succeed in achieving what was necessary. Certainly for some escape from this hell on earth IS
finally achieved through death. If you should watch this film, I'd recommend that you not approach this as a jail-break film. I think it is a film that reflects back on the horrors of war, of "brute force," and it's impact on the psyche of men.