Brother Orchid
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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.
Movie Review: Uneasy combination of comedy and drama but good package
Summary: 3 Stars
"Brother Orchid" is a 1940 Warner Brother's release starring the great Edward G. Robinson. The first half of the film is a rollicking comedy, not unlike predecessors, "The Little Giant" and "A Slight Case of Murder", with Robinson as a gangster who leaves his mob and travels overseas in a bid for "class". It has the merit of the terrific Ann Sothern as his dizzy girlfriend. Sothern works miracles creating a 3 dimensional and delightful character from cardboard. There are many more excellent supporting players including Allen Jenkins as a henchman and Ralph Bellamy typecast as a hick. The film then switches to Robinson hiding from rival gangster Humphrey Bogart in a monk's seminary. The problem, however, is that the switch to the seminary, trying for cute, is simply dreary and completely unconvincing. Robinson does not look comfortable and Donald Crisp, as Brother Superior, head of the seminary, is at his most sanctimonious and irritating. There are a lot of amusing ideas which lead nowhere. Robinson ends the film in the monastory, giving up his past colourful life and makes a short speech about the goodness of man. This was probably a nod to the war whch was then currently raging but is less than convincing.
The print of the film is very good. This was a quality Hal Wallis production with excellent lighting and camera work. The DVD has some good extras. There is a dull commentary shared between biographers of Robinson and Bogart. Eric Lax, in particular, is the master of statistics and rattles off how many films each supporting player made etc which becomes very tedious. Warner's Night at the Movies is included. The cartoon is amusing with take offs of many characters of the period including Eddie Cantor, Jack Benny and Bing Crosby. The musical short has some entertaining swing from a long forgotten band and there is a trailer for the film and another more entertaining 1940 release, "It all Came True" which starred the tantalising Anne Sheridan.
The package is comprehensive like all these Warner's DVDs and best value if purchased as part of the Warner's Gangsters Collection Volume 3.
Movie Review: Light-weight fun but poorly paced
Summary: 3 Stars
After spending five years in Europe, trying to become "cultured", gangster John Sarto (Edward G. Robinson) returns home to discover that his crime syndicate has been taken over by Jack Buck (Humphrey Bogart) and that his girlfriend has become "friends" with, Clarence P. Fletcher (Ralph Bellamy), an alfalfa farmer who seems keen on marrying her. Realizing just how much Sarto knows about him, Buck decides to get rid of Sarto permanently, but Sarto manages to escape and hides out in a monastery of "Florician" monks as the titular Brother Orchid.
"Brother Orchid" has managed to hold up reasonably well over time. This is a light hearted film and although not hilariously funny, the jokes still bring a smile to my face in the more cynical 21st century. The biggest problem with this film is its pacing. It just takes too long for Sarto to get to the monastery (about 45 minutes into a 90 minute film) and too little time is spent there once he arrives (not to mention the fact that none of the monks are remotely three-dimensional in their characters). I feel that the writers missed many opportunities when writing this film, many of which were later explored in the similarly-themed "Sister Act". Given the pacing problems, I think that many younger viewers would probably lose interest in this film before Sarto even reaches the monastery. Nevertheless, my father, who saw this film for the first time as a child, thoroughly enjoyed rewatching it.
Overall, "Brother Orchid" is an entertaining movie, and I did like Belamy's character very much, but it's not a cinema classic. Both Robinson and Bogart have made many films that are more deserving of your time than this one.
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