Brighton Rock (1948 film)

Brighton Rock (initially released in the United States as Young Scarface) is a 1948 British gangster film noir directed by John Boulting, produced Roy Boulting, and starring Richard Attenborough, Hermione Baddeley, William Hartnell and Carol Marsh in her film debut. It is based on the 1938 novel by Graham Greene, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Terence Rattigan, and its 1943 stage adaptation by Frank Harvey.

The film follows "Pinkie" Brown (Attenborough), a psychopathic young mob enforcer, who murders a journalist and later desperately tries to cover his tracks. In the process, he tries to manipulate a naive young woman (Marsh) into a romantic relationship. The title comes from the old-fashioned confectionery "a stick of rock": the character Ida (Baddeley) in the film says that like Brighton rock she doesn't change—as the name Brighton stays written the whole way through.

Brighton Rock was released by Pathé Pictures on January 8, 1948. Though a commercial success, it polarized critics on initial release due to its violence and dark themes. Retrospective reviews have been very positive, with the film considered a quintessential British film noir, and the British Film Institute ranking at No. 15 in its 1999 survey of the top 100 British films.