Brute Force is a 1947 American noir crime tragedy film directed by Jules Dassin, from a screenplay by Richard Brooks with cinematography by William H. Daniels. It stars Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford and Yvonne De Carlo. This was among several noir films made by Dassin during the postwar period, together with Thieves' Highway, Night and the City and The Naked City.