• Brighton Rock

8/1/24 (Thurs)

John Boulton’s 1948 British film is clearly modeled on American gangster flicks; I almost expected the lead to break into a Cagney-like “You dirty rat.” A local gang of hoodlums in the beach town hunt down a reporter whose exposé brought their activities to light, killing him on a haunted house ride. One of the gang members is spotted by a waitress, Rose, as he is attempting a cover-up. That unnerves the gang leader Pinkie (what’s with the pink and rose?), who becomes intimate with Rose in an attempt to eliminate the potential threat. The waitress, not even aware of what she has witnessed, unwisely falls in love with him.

They have neglected another witness, however. A loud and often drunk entertainer named Ida who met the reporter just before his death is convinced that there has been foul play. She gets no help from the police, who have determined that the man died of a heart attack – despite the fact that he never reemerged from the haunted house. She decides to solve the mystery on her own.

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