Brute Force
Universal Pictures | Release Date: August 1, 1947 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
80
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
Rozsa's pounding score and a savage climax make Brute Force first rate all the way. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
A socially conscious prison picture (written by Richard Brooks) that sometimes deliriously suggests a Brooklynesque mating of Jean Genet and Warner Bros. [20 Apr 2007, p.C8]
88
USA TodayMike Clark
Burt Lancaster's second movie also gave Hume Cronyn his most memorable screen role. [31 Jan 1996, p.5D]
88
The Seattle TimesMark Rahner
An outstanding noir with young Burt Lancaster as an inmate plotting escape, and Hume Cronyn as the cruel, scheming bastard of a head guard. [15 Apr 2007, p.K4]
83
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Brilliantly photographed by William H. Daniels, Brute Force is both a humanistic personal drama and a bravura piece of genre filmmaking. Read full review
83
IndieWireStaff (Not Credited)
As it successfully delves into the baser instincts of men from all sides, imprisoned either by their thirst for power or their unwillingness to give up, few films can compare. Read full review
80
The New York TimesBosley Crowther
Jules Dassin's steel-springed direction keeps the whole thing approriately taut. Read full review
80
The GuardianPhilip French
Brute Force was the first important assignment of leftwing director Jules Dassin. Read full review
80
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
Despite a loss of temperature through the flashbacks which let in some female interest, this is one of Dassin's best films Read full review
80
Orlando SentinelCrosby Day
A vivid and harrowingly exciting melodrama. [05 Oct 1997]
75
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
Jules Dassin wasn't a bad director before he went to Europe and caught a bad case of Art (He Who Must Die), and this 1947 prison picture, done in the gritty late-40s documentary style, is one of his best efforts. Read full review
70
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
A closeup on prison life and prison methods, Brute Force is a showmanly mixture of gangster melodramatics, sociological exposition, and sex [from a story by Robert Patterson]. Read full review
70
The New YorkerPauline Kael
The title is accurate: this is a crudely powerful prison picture.
70
Los Angeles TimesSusan King
A gritty, powerfully acted drama set in an overcrowded maximum-security prison. [04 Feb 1999, p.F48]
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