Plot summary
Fred Hale comes to Brighton in June 1935 for one day only, playing Kolley Kibber in a publicity stunt: he hands out cards around the town that can be exchanged for cash, and a larger prize goes to whoever names him publicly. The gang once led by the gangster Kite, now under the teenaged Pinkie Brown, blames Hale's newspaper story for Kite's death. The gang confronts him in a pub, threatens him and chases him through the crowded streets. He meets Ida Arnold, a middle-aged entertainer in a local show, who takes a liking to him and can see that he is afraid.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Brighton Rock (1948)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
SPOILER
The film's ending, in which Rose's damaged record of Pinkie's voice sticks on the words "I love you", was changed against Graham Greene's wishes from his novel, where Rose hears the whole recording and learns Pinkie hated her. Greene called this "the greatest horror of all", and the filmmakers feared censors would object to his darker ending.- The Boultings admitted they had not actually seen the play, casting Richard Attenborough as Pinkie on the strength of his performance in In Which We Serve (1942). Instructed to lose weight for the film, Attenborough trained with Chelsea F.C.
- The Colleoni gang was modeled on the Sabini racetrack gang of the 1930s, who fought public battles with straight razors for control of crime at racecourses in southern England, including one at Brighton. A former Sabini member, Carl Ramon, served as technical adviser and taught Richard Attenborough how to behave as Pinkie.
- Newcomer Carol Marsh was cast as Rose after answering a newspaper advertisement for a 16 or 17-year-old girl, "frail, innocent, naive, and tolerably but not excessively pretty."
- Fred's flight through Brighton was shot with hidden cameras, filming residents and tourists going about their regular activities, unaware that a movie was being made.
- Brighton's borough council opposed the location shooting because of the film's depiction of the city's criminal underworld, leading the filmmakers to use guerrilla-style techniques.
