Brute Force is a surprisingly tough look at life in a prison, given the time when it was made. Burt Lancaster stars as an inmate who plans his escape to be with his critically ill girlfriend, Ann Blyth. He enlists the help of his cellmates and an older, experienced inmate, Charles Bickford. Standing in their way is a brutal, ambitious guard played very well by Hume Cronyn. There are a number of great scenes in the movie, including Cronyn's beating of an inmate to the sound of classical music, and the death in a giant press of an inmate that informed. The performances are good, the film moves at an excellent pace, and the ending surprised me somewhat, again given the time that it was made. Brute Force is a very good movie.