Brother Orchid (1940) ***

Release Date: June 7, 1940

Running Time: 80 minutes

Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Ann Sothern, Humphrey Bogart, Donald Crisp, Ralph Bellamy

Directed By: Lloyd Bacon

Little John Sarto (Edward G. Robinson) has decided he has had enough of the gangster life and has amassed enough money to retire from the rackets. After his men, led by second in command Jack Buck (Humphrey Bogart) kill a man against Sarto’s wishes, he makes the decision to step down, turning the reigns over to Jack and move to Europe to enjoy his fortune. But the years in Europe are not kind to him and after one bad investment after another he finds himself broke and needing to return to America and his old gang. But his old gang isn’t keen to take him back and throw him out upon arrival. Sarto then tracks down Flo (Ann Sothern), his girl whom he kept stringing along with promises of marriage. She has partnered up with southern cattle baron Clarence (Ralph Bellamy) to buy a dance hall and move up in life. Clarence is in love with Flo but she only has eyes for Sarto. 

With Flo back in his life, Sarto starts up a new gang and attempts to muscle in on Jack Buck’s rackets. This leads to a confrontation where Flo is tricked by Jack Buck into leading Sarto into an ambush. Sarto is shot and presumed dead, but he escapes to a nearby convent where he recovers amongst the monks whose only interests in life are the goodwill of others, a concept Sarto finds difficult to comprehend. Eventually, as Sarto spends more time with the monks he starts to see and understand that there can be a greater joy in life than just that that which comes from possessions and power.

Brother Orchid is an odd duck in the filmography of a Edward G. Robinson. In the first half it is mostly a typical gangster film, the type Robinson excelled at during this period. Once Sarto arrives at the “Monastery of the Little Brothers of the Flowers” it takes a dramatic turn away from the tropes of typical films of this ilk. We are treated to scenes of Sarto at first not fully getting what the brotherhood is all about and looking for a way to avoid his work cultivating flowers while taking the credit for accomplishes he doesn’t do. When he is caught in his grifting, he seems penitent, especially in the face of the disappointment he sees from the monks, but is also relieved that not only will he not be in trouble for his trespasses but that Brother Superior (Donald Crisp) attempted the same thing when he newly joined the monastery. The kindness in the face of deceit starts to work on him as he begins to see a new way of life, something he never would have believed in his old life.

But while life at the monastery may seem at a stand still, life on the outside moves on. Flo, believing Sarto is dead, has accepted a marriage proposal from Clarence. Jack Buck has also expanded his rackets to include the flower markets, preventing the monks from selling their flowers to raise funds for the needy. Sarto, upon finding out about the upcoming marriage, finds a way to accompany Brother Superior into the city to sell flowers, then, when discovering that his brothers can no longer sell the flowers, devises a plan to set things right. 

This is when the film shifts tone for a third time. Gone is the more somber and contemplative tones of the middle section. Now it virtually becomes a slapstick comedy as Sarto first steps in the separate Flo and Clarence. Then, taking advantage of a rag-tag bunch of cowboy friends of Clarence who are in town for the wedding, incites them to storm Jack Buck’s hideout and brawl their way into putting Jack behind bars to end the flowers racket. This moment is one step shy of a Three Stooges skit, lacking just the wacky sound effects and sight gags. It takes the comedic elements of the concept and dials it up to eleven.

In the end, while Sarto claims he intends to retake his old life back, the lessons he has learned while part of the brotherhood make him reconsider rejoining the monastery. This final moment brings the tone back down and ties off the character arc with a nice bow. This would have been more effective had it not immediately followed the comedic brawl. It doesn’t completely undermine it but it does lesson the impact.

Edward G. Robinson is in fine form here, both as Little John Sarto the gangster and as the chastened and humbled Brother Orchid. His change of heart is a little rushed thanks to so much time dedicated to the set-up but is also helped immensely by there being doubt in his mind right up to the end over what he will do with his newly acquired perspective on life. Perhaps it is a little too far fetched to think a gang leader could ever find inner peace away from his former life style but even that is helped along by Sarto’s indecision right up until the very end.

While most of the cast is solid all around, the biggest weak link is Clarence. His character is drawn too stereotypically. We know little about him except that he raises cattle and is wealthy. He also is too darn nice of a guy, at no point getting upset even when Sarto steps in intending to break up his and Flo’s upcoming nuptials. He is too earnest and broadly written to be a real character and fits poorly into a otherwise well written script.

Tonally this film is all over the map. The only thing that keeps it from flying off the rails is that these tones do not overlap each other but come in stages. While Sarto, Brother Orchid, is staying with the monks we do not get cutbacks to Jack Buck or Flo and Clarence. We stay with Sarto. This helps keep that tone consistent, at least during that act. It doesn’t keep the tonal shift from being abrupt but at least it’s not whiplash inducing. 

Brother Orchid is not a masterpiece, but it is a good movie with a lot of good points to get across. Some of them are a little heavy handed but never come across as preachy. It offers plenty of things to think about and ponder upon while giving it’s lead perspective and a contrast between a life spent in pursuit of physical desires and that of a life spent in selfless devotion. It’s not your typical gangster film and is all the stronger for it.