One of the best prison movies ever made.Jules Dassin's direction is so strong ,so precise,so mind-boggling it packs a real wallop.Hume Cronyn gives a subdued but extremely scary portrayal of a sadistic brute.Always in a suave voice,always saying "I want to help you",there's only one way for him:the hard one.Burt Lancaster is equally efficient as a tough inmate .But the whole cast cannot be too highly praised.

The cast and credits read :"the women from outside" .There are four flashbacks which really fit into the movie.All of them last barely two or three minutes but they could provide material for four other movies. The first one (Flossie's ) verges on farce ,it is the comic relief of a desperate movie and we need it!Then the "fur coat" segment which is some kind of Cinderella turned film noir.The third one,perhaps the less interesting (everything is relative!),features Yvonne De Carlo as an Italian girl during the war the former soldier was in love with .And finally Burt Lancaster's story, he tries to find money to pay his girlfriend's operation.

These flashbacks are not gratuitous:all that is left to those men is memories .Besides,the last line tells us something like that:"nobody will escape!nobody!" More than ten years before ,Dassin had shown what French director Jacques Becker would do in his famous prison movie "le trou" (1960) : the prison as a metaphor of the human condition.

There are lots of scenes which will leave you on the edge of your seat.My favorite scene: the informer's death while Lancaster is securing his alibi with the doc.But the final is awesome too,something apocalyptic.

Unlike most prison films, "Brute Force" is exceptional because it features some wonderful psychological portraits--not just the typical stereotypical hoods. In fact, the biggest villain in the movie is not even one of the inmates but the captain of the guards (Hume Cronyn). Cronyn manages to create a thoroughly despicable yet restrained character who you hate but who also is rather complex and gritty. He manipulates and pushes the prisoners to such lengths that you can't help to start to root for them instead of the sociopathic guards! This is an interesting twist and Cronyn can be credited for exceptional acting.

It also helps that the film has so many excellent actors. The star is a young Burt Lancaster, but she's ably assisted by the likes of character actors such as Charles Bickford, Whit Bissel and John Hoyt--as well as some flashbacks involving actresses Yvonne De Carlo, Ann Blyth and the ill-fated Ella Raines. While most of these are not household names, all were very accomplished supporting character actors--and made the film classier and more interesting.

The theme of the film is Cronyn versus all the prisoners. He spends much of his time playing mind games with the men--pushing them until they break. His efforts, however, are pretty subtle--he is not an obvious sadist but delights in pushing the men over the edge--either pushing them to kill themselves, become an informer or attempt to break out of prison. One example is how he delights in pushing embezzler Bissell about his wife--telling him that she is going to divorce him. Nice guy, huh? Eventually, though, he pushes too hard. So hard that his machinations make the men snap--then, even the brilliant but sick Cronyn has lost control.

Exceptional acting, script and direction (with a stronger than typical film noir style to it) make this exciting throughout.

The 1940s is one of my favourite decades for film, with some of my favourite films coming from it. Have really liked to loved what has been seen so far of Jules Dassin's work (including my latest viewing of his films 'Night and the City', which blew me away),which admittedly is not enough as of yet. It was interesting to see Burt Lancaster in an early role, and the whole cast is filled with talent for that matter. There are some classic prison-based films out there.

Of all the prison-based films around, 'Brute Force' to me is up there with the best of them. Not quite masterpiece level, but it is truly great as an overall whole and a vast majority of its elements are masterful. As will be said later on in the review, was really struck by how daring and ahead of the time in such an unforgiving way 'Brute Force' was and did not expect that at all. Am not always a fan of uncompromising violence, but it has always been wholly dependent on how it's done and whether it adds anything (variably done on film on both counts),but here it really adds to the realism and made Munsey scarier than he already is.

'Brute Force' is let down only by the flashbacks, especially in the one with Ann Blyth, did find that the film slipped in momentum and they were on the cloyingly sentimental side. They are hardly unimportant though, as one learns about the inmates' personal lives that way, and they don't feature as much as the action in the prison.

However, 'Brute Force' is a great looking film. Love it when settings are like characters of their own, that's the case with the prison setting here. Enhanced by the genius use of shadowy lighting and by the suitably austere photography. Dassin also plays a part in the film's success, he is successful at keeping the story at a controlled, yet never in my mind mannered or tedious, way and really lets the drama speak. Miklos Rosza's score is haunting too.

Script is thought-provoking and tight, while the story is compelling and the daringly uncomprising violence (very few if any films at this time were this tough) adds rather than distracts. The portrayal of prison life doesn't come over as over-the-top or unrealistic, and in a way there is still relevance. It is hard not to be truly shocked by the death of the informer in such a brutal way, while the climax is spectacular.

Lancaster is more than comfortable in the lead role and would go as far to call it excellent for a role so early on in his career. All the cast are very good, helped by the well-rounded and interesting character writing. It is Hume Cronyn's terrifying Munsey, one of the most monstrous prison wardens on films whether subtle or deliberately obvious, that sticks in the mind the most.

In conclusion, great film. 9/10