Brute Force

A noir set in a prison. Westgate penitentiary is overcrowded and the conditions are harsh. The real power is held not by the warden but by Captain Munsey, the chief of security. He does not rely on force; he gathers information, sets prisoners against each other, and tortures when he needs to. There are six men in cell R17. Joe is preparing an escape. The plan is not simple: the only way out is the drainage tunnel and you have to get onto the crew working it. The narrative uses flashbacks to explain why each man is inside. Each has a woman waiting outside and each is there for the same reason. What the film is interested in is not crime but the institution. Classical music plays in Munsey's office and he treats interrogation as a technique of management. Burt Lancaster plays Joe and Hume Cronyn plays Munsey. Jules Dassin directed. A few years later he became unable to work in America and left for Europe. The ending was considered exceptionally hard for its period. One of the genre's strong examples for anyone who likes noir and prison stories. For a viewer looking for hope, the film grants no character a way out.