Brute Force

(Jules Dassin, US 1947, 98 min., 35mm)

Senior Matinee | 12 Postcards from Prison. In this atmospheric film noir from the director of Rififi and The Naked City, Burt Lancaster plays tough-hearted Joe Collins, a prisoner locked up in a penitentiary under the watch of cruelly sadistic Captain Munsey (Hume Cronyn). Fed-up with Munsey’s fascistic tactics, Collins plans the ultimate escape, putting both his and his fellow prisoners’ lives at stake. Though its portrayal of violence may pale in comparison to films today, Brute Force maintains its position as one of the first honest and revealing portraits of prisoner hardships.