The 17-year-old Pinkie trying his luck against the suave gang boss Colleoni, pushing against law and order in his confrontations with the local police, trying to control his 'turf', all feature in the life of much urban youth. The emphases may have changed over time but the central tenets of 'boy meets girl', 'good versus evil', 'will he-won't he' are perennials. Why do you think the story of Pinkie and his Brighton gang still has such appeal? The new film is a remake of a Forties classic, part of which was filmed on Brighton seafront.

At the end of the opening credits there was a message on the screen to the effect that all of the events of the film took place a long time ago and Brighton was not like that now.

The local authority of the time, Brighton Corporation, was horrified at the picture painted of the resort, both in the book and later in the 1947 film, starring the University's former Chancellor, Lord Attenborough. Considering Greene's later work takes in Mexico, Sierra Leone and Vietnam, Brighton does well to play in the top flight of dangerous spots.ĭid the representation of Brighton cause controversy at the time? The town is a great 'character' in its own right, too. Why did Greene set his novel in Brighton?īrighton has long been a bolt-hole for London-based writers and the reputation of the resort (even before Brighton Rock) ensures there is always good material, with plenty of lowlife, rich and poor alike. Further out of town there are sections set at the Race Hill, in Saltdean and Peacehaven and possibly at Patcham. How much is Brighton featured in Brighton Rock?Īlmost the whole of the story is concerned with locations in central Brighton, with forays out into the inner suburbs at Lewes Road Viaduct (now long gone, it was sited near Sainsbury's) and Brighton railway yards (also long gone, near another Sainsbury's!). He also works within the School of Global Studies, leading local field trips for geography students. He teaches Landscape Studies in the Centre for Community Engagement (CCE), covering Conservation and Agriculture, Physical and Human Landscapes and Industrial Archaeology. Geoffrey is currently undertaking doctoral research into the changes that occurred in the inter-war suburban areas around Brighton, specifically in Patcham. With the film set to open in cinemas across the UK this week (Friday 4 February), University of Sussex historian Geoffrey Mead, who leads guided history walks across the city, revisits the 1930s Brighton that inspired Greene's darkly thrilling tale of gangs, urban squalor and damnation in a seaside town. The latest film adaptation of Graham Greene's classic novel Brighton Rock sets the story in the 1960s Brighton of Mods and Rockers, while the seafront scenes were actually filmed in nearby Eastbourne.

Brighton Rock by Graham Greene