Brighton Rock review (Blu-ray) ★★★

Digitally restored and re-released, presumably to try and piggy-back on the modicum of interest raised by the recent remake of Brighton Rock, the original adaptation of Greene's novel makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray, and frankly it has never looked better.

Although Rowan Joffe's version (which transplants Greene's tale of post-war racecourse gangs into a 1960s Brighton of Mods and Rockers) graced the UK box office for barely a week, the Boulting brothers' 1947 film has long been regarded a classic of British cinema, primarily thanks to Attenborough's iconic turn as Pinkie, the sociopathic teenage gang leader, whose unerring Catholicism doesn't prevent him being a particularly vicious little bastard.

The role brought Attenborough the plaudits that would propel him throughout the rest of his career, and it is easy to see why. In every scene he projects an unwaveringly malevolent screen presence – despite youthful looks and a dapper dress sense, Attenborough’s cold, almost monotone drawl and dead-eyed facial expression convince us that this is a young man who carries the threat of violence with him at every waking hour. Unfortunately, so comprehensively nefarious and reprehensible is Attenborough's Pinkie, the major plot point on which Brighton Rock revolves seems less than convincing.

After taking a visiting journalist for a long walk off a short pier at the film's opening, Pinkie spends much of the rest of it trying to suppress all evidence of his foul deed. The main part of this effort involves the seduction of and eventual marriage to Rose (Carol Marsh), a naïve young waitress who could implicate him in the murder.
But with Marsh playing Rose as an overbearingly simple-minded sop, the screenplay (surprisingly written by Greene himself) does nothing to make a modern audience believe that this innocent young thing would want to spend a moment alone with Pinkie, let alone marry him. Precisely because Pinkie is so utterly unlovable, Greene needed to do more to explain why Rose would be so besotted with him that she is prepared to commit the ultimate sin come the film's climax. Without laying that groundwork, the dénouement never rises above the level of melodrama.

That aside, there is still much to recommend here. Beyond Attenborough's performance, Harry Waxman’s cinematography and Hans May’s original score mark the Boulting's film as identifiably British Noir, with a thoroughly seedy turn from future first Dr. Who William Hartnell and Harcourt William's guilt-ridden, Faust-quoting crook of a lawyer its other main strengths. All of which are rendered on a delightfully restored print, making this Blu-ray undoubtedly the best version of Brighton Rock ever released.