Brother Orchid
Directed by Lloyd Bacon
Written by Earl Baldwin based on a story by Richard Connell
1940/USA
Warner Bros.
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Little Johnny Sarto: Brother Superior, I’m gonna blab a little. Then I’m gonna blow.[/box]
My favorite part of this OK Edward G. Robinson vehicle was seeing Ann Southern as a featured player. The rest of the supporting cast isn’t too shabby either.
Johnny Sarto (Robinson) decides to retire from his racket and go to Europe to get some “class”. He bequeaths his gang and operation to underling Jack Buck (Humphrey Bogart) and says goodbye to ditzy girlfriend Flo (Southern). When he returns five years later, having got neither class nor respect overseas, Flo has taken up with super square rancher Clarence Fletcher (Ralph Bellamy). He tries to get his business back but Buck isn’t having any of that and soon plans to rub him out.
Johnny is shot and escapes to a monastery – “The Little Brothers of the Flower”. Brother Superior (Donald Crisp) asks no questions and Johnny, now known as Brother Orchid, becomes the star novice. But when he reads that Flo is marrying Clarence, he takes off to the city to confront her and coincidentally finds himself battling Buck once again over the protection racket in the flower market. With Allan Jenkins as Johnny’s sidekick and Cecil Kellaway as a monk.
The depth of talent available to the studios during the classic era never ceases to amaze me. You could build a whole movie around one or two of these actors and here they are all together and giving it their all. While nothing to write home about, I enjoyed this a lot.
Trailer
