Brother Orchid
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DVD Cover Information Actor: Ann Sothern, Donald Crisp, Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, Ralph Bellamy Director: Lloyd Bacon Brand: Warner Brothers Cinematographer: Tony Gaudio Producer: Hal B. Wallis Producer: Mark Hellinger Writer: Earl Baldwin Writer: Jerry Wald Writer: Richard Connell Writer: Richard Macaulay DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language) Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC, Original recording remastered Picture Format: 1.33:1 Running Time: 88 minutes DVD Release Date: 2008-03-25 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Studio: Warner Home Video |
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Movie Reviews of Brother Orchid
Movie Review: Robinson as a monk
Summary: 3 Stars
Even before "Little Caesar" (1931), Edward G. Robinson made quite a name for himself in early gangster films like "The Hole in the Wall" (1929), "Night Ride" (1930) and "Outside the Law" (1930), and on Broadway he was a hit playing Nick Scarsi, a Capone-like gangster in a play entitled "The Racket". With "Little Caesar" he became Warners' biggest star and Robinson would go on to play in 30 gangster films in a career that included 89 feature films (only Bogart exceeded him with 32 out of 79).
Brother Orchid is a remake, in a way, of the earlier "Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse" (1938). Both films starred Robinson with Bogart as the bad guy, Donald Crisp as the good guy, and Allan Jenkins for comedy relief. Both films involved transformation - "Orchid" has the gangster turn into a monk and "Clitterhouse" has the good doctor turn into a gangster. In a way, both films were a reaction by Robinson to having done too many gangster films, and this was his way of showing his versatility. Robinson was such an important star at Warners that the brothers were happy to accommodate him. Moreover, Warners had many troublesome actors (e.g., Jimmy Cagney, Al Jolson, George Raft, Bette Davis) and Robinson was one of the few big stars who cooperated.
"Orchid" comes at the end of Robinson's gangster era for Warners. The 1940s would see him expand with films like "The Sea Wolf" (1941), "Double Indemnity" (1944), "The Woman in the Window" (1945), "Scarlet Street" (1946) and "House of Strangers" (1949) and later he would do such notable films as "The Ten Commandments" (1956), "Hole in the Head" (1959), "The Cincinnati Kid" (1965), and "Soylent Green" (1973). He did one last gangster film in 1948, "Key Largo", in which Bogart was now the big star and, for a change, Robinson gets killed by Bogie.
For years Bogart played second fiddle to both Robinson ("Bullets or Ballets", "Kid Galahad", "Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse") and Cagney ("The Roaring Twenties", "The Oklahoma Kid", "Angels with Dirty Faces", "Dead End"), but in 1941 Bogart starred in "High Sierra" and "The Maltese Falcon" and from that point onward, Bogart became a big name star, eventually surpassing Cagney and Robinson in 1943 on the tail of his performance in "Casablanca". Here he is still under the radar as the cheap hoodlum.
Donald Crisp appeared in more than 150 films from 1908 through 1963. He won Best Supporting Actor for "How Green was My Valley" (1941) and gave memorable performances in films such as "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1935), "The Charge of the Light Brigade" (1936), "Jezebel" (1938), "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex" (1939), "National Velvet" (1944), and "The Long Gray Line" (1955). Crisp plays the head monk.
Perky Ann Sothern is best remembered for her Emmy nominated TV shows "The Ann Sothern Show" (1958-61) and "Private Secretary" (1953-7). She was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Supporting Actress in "The Best Man" (1964) and for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress in "The Whales of August" (1987). Her career spanned 60 years, making her one of the most durable actresses in history. Sothern is a riot as Robinson's moll.
Ralph Bellamy is best remembered for his role as the greedy stock manipulator from Trading Places (1983). He was nominated for an Emmy 3 times over a 30 year period, from 1953 ("United States Steel Hour") to 1983 ("The Winds of War") and was Oscar nominated for "The Awful Truth" (1937). He starred in the "Ellery Queen" mystery films (1940 -1) and gave us memorable performances in "The Professionals" (1966) and "Rosemary's Baby" (1968). I remember him best as Franklin Roosevelt in "Sunrise at Campobello" (1960). Bellamy plains a good old southern boy who falls in love with Sothern. It's quite an unusual role for Bellamy but he pulls it off successfully.
Allen Jenkins is the quirky comedy foil who lit up so many films of the 30s and 40s and then went on to a successful career in TV. Along with Jimmy Cagney, Pat O'Brien, and Frank McHugh he was part of the original "Irish Mafia" in Hollywood (Ralph Ballamy, who wasn't Irish, was an honorary member). Some of his memorable roles were in "Dead End" (1937), "Destry Rides Again" (1939), "Tortilla Flats" (1942), "Robin and the 7 Hoods" (1964) and "Front Page" (1974). Jenkins does his usual great job, but he's hardly in the film.
Another actor who doesn't get enough work in the film is the great Cecil Kellaway, who is barely in two or three short scenes and says one or two lines. The pudgy and affable Kellaway was nominated twice as Best Supporting Actor - "The Luck of the Irish" (1948) and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967) - and appeared in over 100 films
The film is directed by Lloyd Bacon who directed more than 100 films between 1922 and 1954. He was part of the Warners production team that cranked out a half dozen films a year, most of them B films. Among his notable films were "The Singing Fool" (1928), "Knute Rockne All American" (1940) and "The Fighting Sullivans" (1944).
Although the action is fast paced and there is lots of great dialogue, the film has its problems. As a comedy, it's not that funny. As a gangster movie, it doesn't have much crime or violence. As an inspirational film, it falls a little short. The inability to decide whether or not it's a crime film with a little comedy or a comedy with crime as the background (e.g., "Guys and Dolls") is a crucial flaw.
"Brother Orchid" was the third foray into the comedy/crime genre by Robinson. As early as 1933 in "The Little Giant" Robinson combined comedy with drama in a plot very similar to "Brother Orchid", with Mary Astor playing the Ann Sothern role. He did it again with John Ford in "The Whole Town's Talking" in 1935. Interestingly enough, the script was written by W. R Burnett who wrote "Little Caesar". Of the 3 films, the 1935 film by John Ford is the better film.
Another problem with "Brother Orchid" is that Robinson, as good an actor as he was, gets entirely too much screen time, and some wonderful actors (like Jenkins and Kellaway) get too little time.
If you're a Robinson fan this movie will appeal to you. Fans of Ann Sothern and Ralph Bellamy will also enjoy the great performances they put in. But crime and/or comedy fans will want to go elsewhere.