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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Richard Connell (story)
Earl Baldwin (writer)
more
Release Date:
8 June 1940 (USA) more
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. full summary | add synopsis
User Comments:
A Versatile Robinson, An Irrelevant Bogart more (14 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| 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 |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
88 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Certification:
Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #6203)
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Of the five films that Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart made together, this is the only one in which neither is killed. more
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. more
Quotes:
Little Johnny Sarto:
[proposing to go to Willie at a mental institution in Jersey] Oh, I'll get him all right. This is Little John Sarto. How long will it take us to drive over to where Willie's at?
Flo Addams:
Forty minutes the way you drive.
Little Johnny Sarto:
Oh, good, I'll tell him we'll pick him up.
Flo Addams:
Well, maybe he won't wanna leave. He told me on a postcard he's in a grand hideout and having a swell time with his mental disorder.
Little Johnny Sarto:
If he ever told you that on a postcard, maybe they ought to keep him in there.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Bullets Over Hollywood (2005) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
Funeral March more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (14 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Brother Orchid (1940)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| Drama-comedy has a certain charm | suel41452 |
| 'Ya See' or 'See' | andywho2002 |
| DVD Release-- March 25, 2008 | dnscal |
Recommendations
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| Woman in Distress | Bonnie and Clyde | Paradise Express | The Boss of Big Town | King of Chinatown |
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Related Links
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| IMDb Comedy section | IMDb USA section | Add this title to MyMovies |








Worth renting or catching on late night TV, "Brother Orchid" is a 1940 hybrid, a film that uneasily coasts between comedy and drama. With both Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart capturing theater marquees with both violent crime and some serious drama roles this film is sort of a detour but it's a good one.
Robinson plays a gangster chief who quits the mob to undertake a long and financially ruinous Grand Tour of Europe. Returning to the U.S. he is astounded to discover that he can't pick up the reins he once held firmly and that his former underboss, Bogart, wants him out of the way - permanently. Bogart's talent is not very much on display in this movie.
Robinson winds up hiding in a friary populated by gentle souls and, of course, his condition is gentled under their patient ministration.
Ann Sothern is terrific as his "fiancee," a gang moll waiting long and patiently for the march to the altar. Ralph Bellamy is amusing as a Western rancher who exudes a patience and understanding more often associated with saints than cowboys.
For those who enjoy the pre-World War II Hollywood crime films this one is just different enough from the formula, and very violent, ones.