Brute Force with Ann Blyth and Burt Lancaster

Brute Force (1946), a powerful prison drama starring Burt Lancaster as the inmate planning a daring escape to reach his love, Ann Blyth, in time airs today on Turner Classic Movies, 3 p.m. ET.  From my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:

Ann is at first asleep, then he wakes her, and in their tender scene shows us that Lancaster is tired of running, that this will be his last job, and then he will come back to her for good.  He tells her that when he met her, he was a guy who “found the first important thing in his life.”  She doesn’t know what racket he’s in, but she senses he is troubled.  She wants to help him, wishes she weren’t sick so that she could help him.

“There are all kinds of sick people, Ruth.  Maybe we could help each other.”  The scene is gentle, affectionate, somewhat sad.  Ann’s character is not a gun moll; she’s a sweet, decent girl who trusts him.  This is important because it bolsters the visual image we already have of Burt Lancaster in the film as more a wounded animal than a psychopath.  

eBook edition

print edition

audiobook edition

Brute Force - Ann Blyth and Burt Lancaster

Ann Blyth and Burt Lancaster in a publicity photo for Brute Force (1947).  They were cast together for the only time, but producer Mark Hellinger apparently voiced plans to create a new movie romantic team.  From my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:

Producer Mark Hellinger may have had yet another reason for putting Ann Blyth and Burt Lancaster together.  He had hired her for Swell Guy (1947), and him for The Killers (1946).  They were two of Universal’s most talented up and coming stars, and he may have wanted to turn them into a team.  According to syndicated gossip columnist Dorothy Manners who wrote this in May 1946:

Mark Hellinger, always good for a bright idea, said to me, “Where are those swell romantic teams that used to make the fans goggle-eyed over their love scenes…It’s time the love team is revived on screen,” and Mark is the boy who is going to do it with his two young stars, Ann Blyth and Burt Lancaster…he wants to make three or four with Ann and Burt....

Their romantic team never did materialize.  Both went on to other films, and Mark Hellinger, who might have made a pet project of bringing them together again on screen, tragically died about six months after Brute Force was released.   


Brute Force will be shown on Turner Classic Movies this coming Monday, December 4th, at 6:15 p.m. ET.

Brute Force (1947) on TCM...

Ann Blyth and Burt Lancaster on set in Brute Force (1947).  He plays a criminal on the run in this flashback scene, stopping briefly to check on his love.  He will attempt to break out of prison for her sake in the movie's climactic scene.  It's coming up on Turner Classic Movies this Sunday the 23rd, at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Read more about the movie here at my Another Old Movie Blog.

*****************************

The audio book for Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. is now for sale on Audible.com, and on Amazon and iTunes.

Also in paperback and eBook from Amazon.

Also in paperback from CreateSpace, and from my Etsy shop: LynchTwinsPublishing.

Brute Force on TCM

You have a chance to see Brute Force (1947) tonight on TCM, 10:15 p.m. ET.  This impressive prison drama stars Burt Lancaster and a very strong supportive cast, including Ann Blyth as his girl on the outside.  For more on the movie, have a look at this previous post on my Another Old Movie Blog.

There was some talk at the time of making Ann Blyth and Burt Lancaster a movie romantic team and featuring them together in more films, but that never came to be.  But you can enjoy their chemistry in this one.

*****************************

The audio book for Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. is now for sale on Audible.com, and on Amazon and iTunes.

Also in paperback and eBook from Amazon.

Brute Force - today on TCM

Brute Force (1946) is a powerful prison film.  Burt Lancaster plays the leader of his fellow inmates planning a jailbreak.  Ann is the girl he left behind, whose illness requiring immediate and expensive medical treatment is the reason he needs to get free.  She has changed his life.  He will try to save hers. 

It is an unblinking look at a corrupt prison, and is cynical about the prospect of anything ever changing.  There are no happy endings here, but the movie is lyrical in its poetic cinematography.

Turner Classic Movies is showing Brute Force today at 3:45 p.m. Eastern.  I discuss the movie here at my Another Old Movie Blog as well.

****************

The audio book for Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. is now for sale on Audible.com, and on Amazon and iTunes.

Also in paperback and eBook from Amazon.