Brother Orchid (1940)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Lloyd Bacon

Writers:

Richard Connell (story)
Earl Baldwin (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

8 June 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

We'd like youse to meet Brother Orchid!

Plot:

When retired racket boss John Sarto tries to reclaim his place and former friends try to kill him, he finds solace in a monastery and reinvents himself as a pious monk.

Plot Keywords:

Monastery | Monk | Zinnia | Cattleman | Haircut

Cast

Edward G. Robinson	...	Little John T. 'Johnny' Sarto
Ann Sothern	...	Florence 'Flo' Addams
Humphrey Bogart	...	Jack Buck
Donald Crisp	...	Brother Superior
Ralph Bellamy	...	Clarence P. Fletcher
Allen Jenkins	...	Willie 'The Knife' Corson
Charles D. Brown	...	Brother Wren
Cecil Kellaway	...	Brother Goodwin
Morgan Conway	...	Philadelphia Powell
Richard Lane	...	Mugsy O'Day
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Red Martin
John Ridgely	...	Texas Pearson
Joseph Crehan	...	Brother MacEwen
Wilfred Lucas	...	Brother MacDonald
Tom Tyler	...	Curley Matthews
Dick Wessel	...	Buffalo Burns (as Dick Wessell)
Granville Bates	...	Pattonsville superintendent
Paul Phillips	...	French Frank
Don Rowan	...	Al Muller
Nanette Vallon	...	Fifi (Flo's maid)
Tim Ryan	...	Turkey Malone
Joe Caits	...	Handsome Harry Edwards (as Joe Caites)
Pat Gleason	...	Dopey Perkins
Tommy Baker	...	Joseph
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles De Ravenne	...	Stableboy (scenes deleted)
John Qualen	...	Mr. Pigeon (scenes deleted)
Jimmy Aye	...	Gangster (uncredited)
Sidney Bracey	...	Steward bringing briefcase (uncredited)
Harlan Briggs	...	Thomas A. Bailey, Acme Paving (uncredited)
Louise Carter	...	Scrub Woman at End (uncredited)
Charles Coleman	...	English diamond salesman (uncredited)
G. Pat Collins	...	Tim O'Hara (uncredited)
Gino Corrado	...	Artist (uncredited)
Jean Del Val	...	Frenchman (uncredited)
Frank Faylen	...	Parkway Biltmore Desk Clerk (uncredited)
James Flavin	...	Parking Attendant at Fat Dutchy's (uncredited)
Mary Gordon	...	Mrs. Sweeney, Flo's Landlady (uncredited)
Creighton Hale	...	Reporter #3 (uncredited)
George Haywood	...	Reporter #1 (uncredited)
Max Hoffman Jr.	...	Policeman #2 (uncredited)
William Hopper	...	2nd Reporter on Return Ship (uncredited)
Armand Kaliz	...	Frenchman (uncredited)
Jack Kenny	...	Acquaintance (uncredited)
Sam McDaniel	...	Janitor triping Fire Alarms (uncredited)
Edward McWade	...	Aged brother (uncredited)
Frank Moran	...	Louie the Lug (uncredited)
Leonard Mudie	...	English diamond salesman (uncredited)
Louis Natheaux	...	Gangster (uncredited)
Terry Nibert	...	Girl (uncredited)
Edgar Norton	...	Meadows (London butler) (uncredited)
Frank Orth	...	Waiter at Fat Dutchy's (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	1st Policeman at Buck's Hideout (uncredited)
Paul Porcasi	...	Warehouse manager (uncredited)
Georges Renavent	...	Cable Office clerk (uncredited)
George Sorel	...	Casino attendant (uncredited)
Claude Wisberg	...	Albert ('Al'; bellboy with dogs) (uncredited)

Directed by
Lloyd Bacon

Writing credits
Richard Connell		(story)
Earl Baldwin		(writer)
Jerry Wald		uncredited &
Richard Macaulay		uncredited

Produced by
Mark Hellinger	....	associate producer
Hal B. Wallis	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Heinz Roemheld

Cinematography by
Tony Gaudio

Film Editing by
William Holmes

Art Direction by
Max Parker

Costume Design by
Howard Shoup		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Jack L. Warner	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard Maybery	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
C.A. Riggs	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Byron Haskin	....	special effects
Willard Van Enger	....	special effects
Edwin B. DuPar	....	special effects (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Robert Burks	....	montage (uncredited)
Don Siegel	....	montage (uncredited)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Ray Heindorf	....	orchestral arrangements
Max Steiner	....	composer: additional music cues (uncredited)

Other crew
Hugh Cummings	....	dialogue director

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #6203)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Of the five films that Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart made together, this is the only one in which neither is killed.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: When Edward G. Robinson returns to Ann Sothern's former rooming house and the landlady tell him she's moved, the boom mic is visible in the door's glass panel.

Quotes:

Little Johnny Sarto: [riding with Flo in Clarence's back seat] What's that whistlin' I hear?
Flo Addams: That's Clarence makin' birdcalls. He's awful good.
Clarence P. Fletcher: [makes a hooting sound]
Flo Addams: Want him to impersonate a robin?
Little Johnny Sarto: What'll he do? Eat a worm?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Bullets Over Hollywood (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Largo al factotum

A Walk on the Gentle Side

Edward G. Robinson shines in this unusual picture about Johnny Sarto, a mob boss who's greatest desire is to live in "real class"--a goal shared by so many self-made men. After making his fortune in the rackets, he departs for Europe, to live high on the hog and enjoy the first-class life. But, at every turn, it eludes him.

Out of money, he returns to his native land, to find his #2 man (Humphrey Bogart) has usurped his position, and is willing to kill to keep it. Wounded and on the lam, he winds up at a monastery, where he is nursed back to health.

Amongst the servants of God, he is tutored in the gentle arts of sharing and self-sacrifice. In one touching moment, the brothers are elated that the sales of their flowers will earn them a little extra money to buy a watermelon for dessert. A moment later, when the same money is spent to buy shoes for a local child, Sarto asks about the expected watermelon. "Watermelon?" Brother Superior (Donald Crisp) says in shock, "I never developed a taste for it!" Sarto (Robinson) slowly smiles, "I get it...".

Lured back to his old life by a newspaper headline detailing his fiancee (Ann Sothern)'s betrothal to a Texas cowboy (Ralph Bellamy) Robinson sets matters straight, and shows much of the same self-sacrifice he has learned in his 'retirement'. In one touching scene, he gives all of his money to cleaning woman and walks away without a cent to his name.

It's easy--and incorrect--to see this as a 'gangster movie' when the real purpose is to show the value of good works. While set in a film-noir world, Brother Orchid is an enchanting lesson about how the simple things in life are the best. As Robinson remarks in the final scene, "I always thought class came with having the right clothes or the right car. But this--this is the REAL class!"