Brighton Rock (novel)
Plot summary. Charles "Fred" Hale comes to Brighton on assignment to distribute cards anonymously for a newspaper competition (a variant of "Lobby Lud"; in this case, the name of the person to be spotted is "Kolley Kibber" - an allusion to Colley Cibber). The antihero of the novel, Pinkie Brown, is a teenage sociopath and up-and-coming gangster. Hale had betrayed the former leader of the gang Pinkie now controls, by writing an article in the "Daily Messenger" about a slot machine racket for which the gang was responsible. Ida Arnold, a plump, kind-hearted and decent  woman, is drawn into the action by a chance meeting with the terrified Hale after he has been threatened by Pinkie's gang. After being chased through the streets and lanes of Brighton, Hale accidentally meets Ida again on the Palace Pier, but eventually Pinkie murders Hale. Pinkie's subsequent attempts to cover his tracks and remove evidence of Hale's Brighton visit lead to a chain of fresh crimes and to Pinkie's ill-fated marriage to a waitress called Rose, who unknowingly has the power to destroy his alibi. Ida decides to pursue Pinkie relentlessly, because she believes  it is the right thing to do, as well as to protect Rose from the deeply disturbed boy she has married. Although ostensibly an underworld thriller, the book also deals with Roman Catholic doctrine concerning the nature of sin and the basis of morality. Pinkie and Rose are Catholics, as was Greene, and their beliefs are contrasted with Ida's strong but non-religious moral sensibility. Greene alludes significantly to the French Catholic writer Charles Péguy in "Brighton Rock", in relation to ideas about damnation and mercy, and in "The Lawless Roads" he refers to "Péguy challenging God in the  cause of the damned". Adaptations. 1942 play. Eric Linden starred as Pinkie in an original production at the Catholic University of America Theatre in Washington, D.C. written by Walter Kerr and Leo Brady. The show was directed by Kerr and Dr. Josephine McGarry Callan and ran from February 4 to February 10, 1942. The Library of Congress has a theatre program from the production. 1943 play. Richard Attenborough and Dulcie Gray starred in the original theatrical production, which ran for 100 performances at the Garrick Theatre in 1943. (There had been one-week try-outs at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool  and Bristol Hippodrome). Gray's performance as the luckless waitress Rose led to her being offered a contract with Gainsborough Pictures. However, she was passed over for the role of Rose in the 1947 film version of "Brighton Rock", in favour of Carol Marsh. 1947 film. Greene and Terence Rattigan wrote the screenplay for a 1947 film adaptation, produced and directed by John and Roy Boulting, with assistant director Gerald Mitchell. The film starred Richard Attenborough as Pinkie, Carol Marsh as Rose, William Hartnell as Dallow, and Hermione Baddeley as Ida. The climax of the film takes place at the  Palace Pier; this differs from the novel, the end of which takes place in the nearby town of Peacehaven. In the United States, the film was released under the title "Young Scarface". 1997 radio adaptation. Ken Whitmore adapted Greene's story for a 1997 BBC Radio dramatisation, directed by John Yorke and starring Steven Mackintosh (as Pinkie), Maurice Denham and Kenneth Cranham. 2004 musical. Film composer John Barry and lyricist Don Black wrote a musical version based on Greene's novel. The show opened in London's Almeida Theatre on 20 September and ran until 13 October 2004. However, owing  to poor reviews, it failed to get a West End transfer. 2010 film. Rowan Joffé directed a film adaptation which was released in 2010, starring Sam Riley as Pinkie, Andrea Riseborough as Rose and Helen Mirren as Ida Arnold. Location filming for the Pier scenes took place in Eastbourne in October 2009, with Eastbourne Pier standing for Brighton's Palace Pier. Filming of the scenes involving the Regency Café took place in Page Street, Westminster, on 6 December 2009. In a chronological departure from Greene's novel, set in the 1930s, the film is set in the Mods and Rockers  subculture of a divided Brighton in the 1960s. The film was featured at the 54th London Film Festival in October 2010, in the coveted surprise film slot. 2018 play. Bryony Lavery adapted the novel into a play, opening at York Theatre Royal in February 2018 before touring the UK.