Overlooked Classics: Brother Orchid (1940)

 

Brother Orchid is definitely one of the more oddball Warner Brothers gangster films of the 1930’s and 40’s. This film starts as a rather normal Warner Brothers gangster movie, but then takes a turn for the strange and never quite comes back from that. However this is exactly what makes this film so enjoyable to watch. 

Edward G. Robinson stars in this movie however he was originally very hesitant about playing the part. He felt he was being too typecast as a movie gangster and he knew he could play other roles just as well. One movie Robinson especially wanted to be in was Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939, which he would star in). This was heavily because he was Jewish and felt that movie would be a great service to his people. Robinson agreed to be in Brother Orchid only after the studio also offered him the lead role in The Sea Wolf (1941). Playing a bit part in this movie was a then fairly unknown but promising up-comer named Humphry Bogart. This is the fourth movie that both appeared in and they wouldn’t appear together again until Key Largo (1948). Like the previous movies they costarred in, Bogie played an evil gangster with absolutely no redeeming qualities, while Robinson played a more fully fleshed out character, we are allowed to like and relate to.  This movie was directed by Lloyd Bacon, one of my favorite studio directors. A studio director was a director, who did as the studio told him and directed whatever type of film he was given. Out of these directors Lloyd Bacon’s movies were possibly the most consistently great. His other films include 42nd Street (1933), Action in the North Atlantic (1943), Marked Woman (1937), The Good Humor Man (1950), Footlight Parade (1933), and many more pure classics. 

The wacky premise of this movie truly gets underway when gangster, Johnny Sarto (Edward G. Robinson) is set up to be murdered. After surviving this attempt on his life Sarto is taken in by kindly monks and nursed back to health. At first he tries to use this situation to his own advantage but as he spends more time there he grows a greater respect for the monks and considers this his new home. However he learns the new boss of his gang Buck (Humphry Bogart) is stopping the monks from selling flowers, and of course you know this means war.

Beyond just its odd and intriguing premise, this is just a very fun movie. Like almost all of Lloyd Bacon’s movies this film moves at a fast pace, and crams as much fun as it can into its run time. The humor is excellent, the characters are quite well written and most of all there is not a dull moment in the film. Despite his reluctance to be in this film, Robinson sure appears to be having a lot of fun making this movie. His performance is just as full of energy as Bacon’s direction. Honestly, I don’t see how any classic movie fan, cannot have fun watching this movie, I sure do.