Line #5 Film/BruteForce1947


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brute_force_1947.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Getting out of the big house...[[ShirtlessScene shirtless?]]]]
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4	''Brute Force'' (1947) is a FilmNoir starring Creator/BurtLancaster, Creator/HumeCronyn, and Charles Bickford, with Creator/AnnBlyth and Creator/YvonneDeCarlo featured in bit parts.
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6	Joe Collins (Lancaster) is returning to the tough [[TheAlcatraz Westgate Penitentiary]] from solitary confinement. He’s back and he wants out more than ever; his wife is dying of cancer. He tells his cellmates in R-17 -- including Tom Lister (Whit Bissell), Spencer (Creator/JohnHoyt), Robert "Soldier" Becker (Howard Duff), Freshman Stack (Jeff Corey), and Kid Coy (Jack Overman) -- about his plans. However, they have a large hurdle in the form of head guard Captain Munsey (Cronyn). He’s a power-hungry sadist who makes their lives miserable and manipulates prisoners to [[TheStoolPigeon turn against their own friends]]. A main ally, Gallagher (Bickford), is up for parole, so he won't risk going into an escape plan that may not work.
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8	Together, the men must concoct an escape plan without letting Munsey find them out.
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10	Directed by Creator/JulesDassin, who would later become famous for his great [[TheCaper heist]] film, ''Film/{{Rififi}}''. Creator/RichardBrooks, who would go on to direct such films as ''Film/ElmerGantry'' and ''Film/InColdBlood'', wrote the screenplay.
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14	!!Tropes:
15	* TheAlcatraz: Westgate is surrounded by water and has a drawbridge to connect it to a regular bridge. There’s no escaping from there.
16	* TheAlcoholic: The prison doctor, Walters, comes to work drunk.
17	* AnyoneCanDie: The death of Tom is just the beginning. [[spoiler: Everyone dies.]]
18	* BattleAmongstTheFlames: The final fight between Joe and Munsey takes place in the burning watchtower.
19	* BulletproofHumanShield: After learning that the guards know about the GreatEscape, Joe works out who TheStoolPigeon is and ties them to the front of the mine cart to absorb bullets as they charge the machine gun.
20	* {{Chiaroscuro}}: Some nice shots with the prison bar shadows.
21	* CacophonyCoverUp: The cons in the machine start pounding on metal to cover up the sound of TheStoolPigeon Wilson getting attacked by Joe's men.
22	* {{Determinator}}: Joe Collins [[spoiler: even when the Dr. tells him that Munsey knows about the escape, he still goes through with the plan.]]
23	* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: Munsey's death by Joe; he's thrown from the top of the guard's tower by Joe to be finished off by the rest of the prisoners.]]
24	* DrivenToSuicide: Tom. Munsey tells him that his wife, the only person Tom cares about in the world, is divorcing him. [[spoiler: Turns out, Munsey was just lying to get information out of Tom.]]
25	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Nobody gets out of Westgate.]]
26	* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: An escape from prison almost never ends well.
27	* FauxAffablyEvil: Though he tries to pretend otherwise, Munsey is a sadist who is prone to physical and emotional manipulation to keep all the prisoners in line. Explicitly lampshaded by Dr. Walters.
28	* FemmeFatale: Spencer tells the story of a woman he met in an illegal gambling place that stole his money and his car at gunpoint. He still can’t forget her.
29	* FilmNoir
30	* GrayRainOfDepression: The film introduces the prison and Joe this way.
31	* GreatEscape: Joe and Gallagher plan an assault on the guard tower where they can get access to the lever that lowers a bridge that controls access to the prison.
32	* HoistHeroOverHead: At the the end of their brutal fight, Joe lifts the unconscious Munsey over his head before hurling him from the watchtower into the prison yard.
33	* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Munsey uses a led pipe to break Louie and to make him rat on Joe’s escape plan. He also uses classical music to up the ante in terms of fear.
34	* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: How the prisoners treat Wilson’s murder.
35	* MolotovCocktail: How the prisoners attack the guards once Joe and the gang have broken through the drainpipe.
36	* ObstructiveBureaucrat: The warden is forced to treat the prisoners with an iron fist and he has to stop all parole boards, causing Gallagher to go against him.
37	* PoliceBrutality: How Munsey decides he’s going to get information out of Louie.
38	* PrettyInMink: Tom stole a $3,000 worth mink coat for his wife (played by Yvonne De Carlo) but they soon get caught.
39	* PrisonRiot: Happens when the warden resigns and announces that Munsey is going to the new warden.
40	* RagTagBunchOfMisfits: Tom’s a petty crook, Spencer is a conman, Kid Coy, is non-too-bright, Robert took the fall for his lover’s murdering ways, Freshman stole things, and Joe was a thief. Together, they’re going to bust out.
41	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: Inspired by the then recent [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Alcatraz Battle of Alcatraz]].
42	* ShirtlessScene: Lancaster takes off his short for a bit in the beginning, just because.
43	* ShowWithInAShow: The prisoners go see a movie. It’s a real movie from 1947 (they really keep up with new films in this prison!) called ''Film/TheEggAndI'', staring Creator/FredMacMurray and Creator/ClaudetteColbert.
44	* TakingYouWithMe: Joe knows he’s going to die but he wants to make sure Munsey goes down with him and he succeeds right before he succumbs to his injuries.
45	* TheStoolPigeon: They don’t treat stoolies very nicely in Westgate. Wilson squeals and so prisoners manage to corner him into a crushing machine. Later on,[[spoiler: the reason Munsey finds out about the escape plan is because "Freshman" tells him.]]
46	* TitleDrop: The doctor says that Munsey uses "brute force" to exert power over the prisoners.
47	* TrailersAlwaysLie: Posters, in this case. Taglines included "Man Hate! Woman Love!", with images suggesting ''lots'' of {{Fanservice}} from the ladies. Alas...audiences didn't get anything of the sort, as the women are limited to quick appearances in flashbacks, with little if any {{Fanservice}} to speak of.
48	* TroubledBackstoryFlashback: The prisoners in R-17 all have flashbacks about their girlfriends/wives which include how they got into jail:
49	** Spencer recounts that he did insurance fraud and meet Flossy that way.
50	** Robert was a soldier who fell in love with an Italian, who shot her own father that was willing to give them away. Robert took the rap for the murder.
51	** Tom stole a mink coat for his wife by fudging up the books at his job.
52	** Joe was in a mysterious heist where he stops to see his dying wife for the last time.
53	* WardensAreEvil: The beleaguered warden is is a decent man under pressure to improve discipline. However, his chief of security, Capt. Munsey, is a sadist who manipulates prisoners to inform on one another and create trouble so he can inflict punishment.
54	* WrenchWhack: When attacked in the machine shop, Wilson grabs a wrench to defend himself; not that it helps him.

Context Film / BruteForce1947