MovieChat Forums > Brighton Rock (1951) Discussion > Pinky Brown - Greatest Screen Villain?

Pinky Brown - Greatest Screen Villain?



Is Pinky Brown the greatest screen villain of all time, it is almost certainly Richard Attenborough's best perforamnce.

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* Contains Spoilers *

The polls that have the likes of "Darth Vadar" and "Hannibel Lecter" as the greatest screen villains are laughable. Those character and cartoon characters compared to Pinky. His evil callousness in the way he takes advantage of innocence of Rose, particularly being prepared to manipulate her into killing herself is extraodinary. Harry Lime was good but Pinky's far more disturbing.

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I just saw the film for the first time last night and it was superb. The portrayal of Pinky by Richard Attenborough was top notch. Pinky Brown is without
a doubt one of the most evil villains ever put to celluloid.

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yes definalty also the way he has his hair smoothed back he just looks like a villain.

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Pinky is definitely one of the darker characters I have seen in a film. Especially a film of such vintage. He definitely has a potent quality on screen Attenborough. I think he can spread himself into any role and thats what makes him so likable. This is his best role. He seems to play pathetic angst ridden type of characters in his earlier career, and doddering, or kind hearted type of characters in his more recent films. But this is the one role that sticks in your mind and stays there.

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I hate to keep getting stuck on the book, but I thought the Pinkie from the novel was a bit of a coward, a spiteful child who was old enough to kill and thought that made him a man.. and he hated anything that represented anything different from him, or similar to him, he hated himself and didn't want to get older but resented anything that made him seem inexperienced..

in a way he was like some twisted peter pan.. hmm...

also, is there any possibility he was a demented closet-case? The movie doesn't show it, but kissing girls disgusted him.. well, as did most things, I guess. I reckon there's not enough to go so far, but still, something.

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The reason he was disgusted by sex was because he had to listen to his parents to do it routinely every Saturday. I don't think it concludes to him being gay.

I get a different feeling to yours of Pinkie from the novel. Towards the end of it I feel sympathy for him. There are brief moments of sanity and 'niceness'. For example, he pushes a blind person away and after Dallow tells him they were blind he "was shocked by his own action", it goes on, "it was as if he were being driven to far down a road he only wanted to travel a certain distance." I feel he is, as Prewitt the lawyer is of circumstance, a victim of his poverty-stricken upbringing. I would say that, in the film, the repeating record represents his redemption...and I believe he deserves it.

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very interesting. makes me want to re-read, all these years later, and give that one some thought...

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he has his moments.



A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.

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He's certainly up there with the very best.

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i think he probly is one of the greatest screen villans of all time.The good thing about this film is that it was before excesive gore was needed to portray evil.
it depends on richards acting ability to actually sense the evil u are facing.
this portrayal puts richard ateenbourgh among the ranks of one of the greatest british actors of all time

Aslan is on the move


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Eh, don't know if I'd go that far. Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) in Night of the Hunter gets my vote for greatest screen villain of all time, and Frank from Blue Velvet and Frank from Once Upon a Time in the West rank pretty high too. Pinkie Brown, not so much, although I agree that Attenborough's performance is fantastic.

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true have been alot of good villans but pinky certainly is in top ten villans


Aslan is on the move


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No, I'm not so sure. I think Dickie did far better in his portrayal of Christie, in `10 Rillington Place'. Christie was a real person who murdered out of straightforward lust. It is said that he engaged in necrophilic activity with the corpses afterwards. He certainly killed more people than Pinkie.

On the other hand; Pinkie Brown was fictional. He murdered only when he saw a survival imperative. Also, he was just 17 years old. His history, outlined in the book, is a classic case of childhood neglect leading to delinquency, and finally realising itself in criminal behaviour when the mob leader - Kite - effectively adopts him as a son/protege. Kite is the only person to have shown him any kindness and Pinkie has developed a dog-like loyalty for him. When Kite is killed, Pinkie is pushed over the homicidal edge. Nobody in the mob is as crafty as him and despite his youth, he begins to take charge. Now, after growing-up the underdog, he has the power to do almost anything he likes. He becomes power-crazed and tyrannical. That's nothing special; you can find kids like that today on just about any inner-city block. No father-figure, an indifferent young mother, they find support, protection and identity in a gang. And we see the consequences on the news every day.

Pinkie Brown is a tragic figure, not a wicked one.

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