User reviews

Richard Conte stars in "The Brothers Rico," a 1957 noir with James Darren, Larry Gates, Kathryn Grant, and Dianne Foster.

Conte is Eddie Rico, a former mob accountant, now in the laundry business in Florida and quite successful. The first few scenes are filled with sexual innuendo and show a loving, romantic couple who hope to adopt a baby soon. Then Eddie gets a call from his old boss, Kubik (Gates) who wants to see him on an urgent matter. Considering his boss as "Uncle Sid," he goes to New York against his wife's (Foster) wishes.

Eddie is approached by his brother Gino - he claims the mob wants him to go to St. Louis, and he's sure they plan to rub him out as he was part of a hit and the others who were involved are dead. Eddie advises him to go to St. Louis, that Sid wants him to lay low and would never hurt him. Kubik is grateful to their mother (Argentina Brunetti) who once stopped a bullet meant for him, so Eddie knows he will protect his brothers.

When Eddie meets with Kubik, he learns that his brother Johnny is married and no one has heard from him. However, his wife's (Grant) brother has been talking to the DA about a mob witness. Eddie assures Sid it can't be Johnny. Kubik wants Eddie to find his brother and talk to him. Eddie does, not realizing that they just want to find Eddie and kill him. He realizes his mistake too late.

This was a very good, edge of your seat noir, low on violence though suspenseful. It was on Empire's list of 500 greatest movies, so I wanted to check it out.

Richard Conte does a great job as Eddie, who trusts the wrong people. This was his kind of role, playing the tough son of an immigrant, mixed up with the wrong people, but with a good heart. James Darren, now 67, hasn't changed much except in recent years he's let his hair go gray.

One more point. Someone mentioned that the casting was ridiculous because there was a 26-year difference between Conte and Darren. Back in the '20s and '30s especially, women had children that died at birth or were stillborn - my grandmother had nine children and three lived. There is quiet a gap between the oldest and youngest in that family. That was not unusual.

Everyone is very good in this film, and as a point of interest, the woman playing Argentina Brunetti's mother was, in fact, her real-life mother. Recommended.

The Brothers Rico (1957)

With Richard Conte's role of a lifetime, and a harrowing mobster scene that presages the Godfather in its casual viciousness, this is one heck of a movie. It sometimes lacks good old fashioned drama with the lighting and the camera-work, and some people might find Conte a bit reserved for the leading man under the gun, but the writing is really solid, the story well constructed, and the movie as a whole feels believable and tragic.

At the core is a situation is Conte as Eddie Rico, formerly an accountant in a ruthless mob, now running a legit business in Florida and about to adopt a kid with his charming and playful wife. But right in scene one he gets a call from an old mob crony. They need his help. Or they say they do, at least, and a thug shows up to "work" at the business. Eddie's two brothers are still in the mob, and have been part of a hit, and there is an investigation closing in on them all unless Eddie can help get his brothers out of harms way. He takes this to mean out of the country, but it becomes clear to everyone else, and eventually to Eddie, that they mean to kill at least one of the two brothers.

So with the clock ticking over an adoption ready that very day, and with Conte flying all over the country in a desperate bid to sort this out, we see a growing menace in thug after thug, place after place, from Florida to New York, where Mama and grandmother live, to a ranch in Southern California where one brother is hiding with his pregnant wife. What makes it hold to together especially is how sympathetic the brothers are as characters, and how evil the main mob man is even though he insists he loves the Ricos, and loves their mother like his own mother, and he wants only the best.

In fact, the one long speech from this thug, played by Lamont Johnson, is a precursor to Brando's role in "The Godfather," with a chilling mixture of honorable love and threatening obligation and accountability. Eddie is at first taken by the honorable part, the love part, and events have to show him the brutal truth.

And who is director Phil Karlson? An underrated master of these kinds of gritty, and not quite film noirish, crime and mob films in the 1950s ("Kansas City Confidential" and "The Phenix City Story"). I say not quite noir only in the sense that his films lack the over-the-top dialog and punchy lines of classic noir, and the filming is not as theatrical with angles, shadows, and dark night scenes. And if you like me prefer those noirish noirs, you have to step back and say wow, this is something really convincing and powerful, too. Some of Karlson's films are, in fact, film noirs at the core, but late noirs, no longer dealing with the loner finding his footing in an alien America, but still with a man against the world, as Eddie Rico is here. And the cinematographer here is Burnett Guffey, who would later shoot "Birdman from Alcatraz" and the legendary "Bonnie and Clyde."

This is a seriously interesting film. Flawed, yes, sometimes obvious and clichéd, yes, but at its best it's penetrating.

Former gangland auditor is persuaded to locate missing brother before mob is compelled to kill him.

For a crime drama, that lengthy opening scene is a surprise. It's marital bliss all the way as Eddie (Conte) and wife Alice (Foster) cuddle up, providing a ton of promotional material for the censored 1950's. But more importantly, all the lovey-dovey defines Eddie's truly reformed character, plus Alice as a wife you'd want to come back to.

For a Karlson crime drama, however, the violence is oddly played down by a director who knew how to make the audience shudder. Instead, paranoia mounts as Eddie sees suspicious characters wherever he goes in search of brother Johnny (Darren). When Johnny is finally confronted by the mob, Karlson oddly passes over the potential of a centerpiece violent scene. I suspect that's because of censorship concerns given Johnny's youth and the emotional buildup preceding it. Also, note how abruptly the final shootout is handled, as if they're suddenly running out of film.

That early scene between Eddie and Kubik (Gates) is a minor masterpiece of treachery that carries through the rest of the film. As the oily family friend, Gates is simply superb. Excellent too is Harry Bellaver's smooth-talking local chieftain, who keeps appealing to Eddie's sense of survival.

As a whole, however, the movie is more a collection of good scenes rather than overall impact. Maybe because there's a curious lack of intensity to heighten the dramatic narrative. Whatever the reason, it's a good crime drama without being first-rate.

An entertaining film noir as the genre was nearing its end. Here we had a look at the gangster-mob life from a different perspective. Richard Conte plays Eddie Rico who worked for his uncle Kubik. The film begins with an ominous phone call as Eddie is told he needs to take in a mob member who is hiding from the justice. Eddie complies although he wishes to not get involved. He is currently trying to adopt a child with his wife.

Eddie is called out by Kubik to find their missing brother Johnny. When Eddie runs into his brothers Gino and Johnny, he tells them to trust the mob and follow their instructions. Eddie believes that fidelity is still a virtue among the mob bosses. He is committed to the cause and will do anything to make sure his brothers continue to survive. As a noir, it moves from Florida to New York to Phoenix and California, becoming one of the few national noirs (there is none I can think of right now).

The film is shot in a minimalist fashion. Most of the sound is diegetic based on the scenes on screen. On several occasions, melodramatic music plays which actually tones down the suspense, but clearly it is a tool used by the director to deprive the viewer of expected non-diegetic music. Richard Conte and his wife are very playful in the early scenes and risqué for the period as they engage playfully in the bathroom. As a mob movie with an Italian background, it continues the early gangster movies but takes the angle of the people down the line who are at the mercy of those at the top.

The Brothers Rico is worthwhile as an entertaining movie if you enjoy film-noir and tracing the developments of gangster films.

Phil Karlson may not be one of the 'great' American directors but he was a very fine genre director, specializing in tough, gritty gangster thrillers of which "The Brothers Rico" is just one. Richard Conte is the retired mob accountant who finds himself drawn back to his criminal past when one of his former associates asks him for a favour on the same day his brother confesses to carrying out a hit and Larry Gates is excellent as the mob boss who drags him back in. Others in a decent cast include Dianne Foster as Conte's wife, James Darren as the younger brother whose actions set the plot in motion, Kathryn Grant as Darren's wife and later director Lamont Johnson as one of the few 'good' guys.

The source material was a story by none other than Georges Simenon though you probably would never guess it. This is a good, old-fashioned mob movie, the kind that would sit nicely on a double-bill with either Siegel's "The Killers" or Boorman's "Point Blank". Conte spends most of the movie chasing after Darren while Gates' heavies close in and until the end action is kept to a minimum. You could say this is an American gangster film reflected through a European art-house lens. With a better actor than Conte in the lead it might have been a classic but even with Conte it still exerts a grip while the excellent black and white cinematography was the work of the great Burnett Guffey.

The Brothers Rico is directed by Phil Karlson and adapted to screenplay by Lewis Meltzer, Ben Perry and Dalton Trumbo from a story written by Georges Simenon. It stars Richard Conte, Dianne Foster, Kathryn Crosby, Larry Gates and James Darren. Music is scored by George Duning and cinematography by Burnett Guffey.

Retired from the mob and happy in his new found family life, Eddie Rico (Conte) is pulled back into the underworld when word comes that his two brothers, who are still working for the syndicate, are wanted men.

Coming at the end of the film noir cycle, The Brothers Rico sits somewhere in between noir and pure crime drama. Conte's character is a classic noir protagonist, a man who is unable to shake of his past and gets drawn into the dark underworld by family ties. Waiting there for him is a surprise, and not a good one at that. The script is very well written, which in Karlson's hands paints a sinister mob underworld operating right under the noses of everyday folk. There's much talking and very little action for most of the running time, but the dialogue is strong, always imbuing the narrative with a sense of menace, background characters are always a threat and violence implied looms over proceedings.

However, in spite of it being well written and acted with great skill by Conte, Gates and the support cast, it's a dull visual experience and crowned off by a ridiculous "aint life grand epilogue". Top cinematographer Burnett Guffey is wasted here, the film is very minimalist in production, with the film often feeling like an episode of some TV cop show. There's a brief glimpse in the last five minutes of what Guffey could do, but that's it. Conte's character provides the ticket to the noir universe, but ultimately this represents the changing of the guard, a winding down of true film noir. From a viewpoint of the film being a crime drama that provides an observation of a crime syndicate as a real presence, Karlson's movie scores a more than safe 7/10. As a film noir, though, it barely registers and noir fans should expect a flat 5/10 movie. Rounded out I make it 6/10.

Phil Karlson's (Walking Tall/Ben) 1957 crime thriller starring Richard Conte. Conte is a successful businessman in Florida w/a happy home life (his wife however is infertile but they are in the process of adoption) & all of this is interrupted by a cryptic phone call summoning him to Arizona for a one on one conference. He goes & meets w/a man who has been pulling his strings for the majority of his & his family's life. It turns out Conte has been tied to the mob for some time & even though his current business concerns are legitimate, his brother (who's part of this capo's crew & has gone into hiding) has committed murder & the boss fearing if caught, will spill to the authorities decides to rub him out w/Conte's help. At first hoping his familial loyalty will convince him of turning over his brother (he actually believes him at this point), Conte instead flies out to California to warn a third brother to run away (even though his own wife is expecting) but all along as much as Conte tries to keep his movements close to his vest, the mob boss's minions are on him every step of the way. A demoralizing hero's journey is taken whereby the cold waters of reality wash over him in the worst possible way w/blood being the price to be paid. Conte is excellent here & his trek to the unknown plays like a travelogue of the worst kind as he city skips his way to a bitter truth. Co-starring James Darren (I remember him from TJ Hooker growing up) as one of Conte's brothers.

Towards the end of the noir cycle director Phil Karlsen came up with a really good crime drama about three brothers all involved to a greater and lesser degree with organized crime. The oldest, Richard Conte, was at one time the syndicate accountant. But he's retired now, running a laundry the boys have set him up with. His biggest problem now is that he and wife Dianne Foster are trying to adopt a child.

But brothers Paul Picerni and James Darren are still very much involved and at the dirty end of it. Picerni's a contract killer who just made a major hit and Darren drove the car. Darren's gotten married and disappeared and the syndicate heads are worried he'll turn state's evidence. His brother-in-law Lamont Johnson's already been to the District Attorney.

Conte has faith and trusts in the big boss Larry Gates who's been close to the whole family Rico, including their mother Argentina Brunetti who took a bullet meant for Gates way back when. So when Gates tells him to find Darren, Conte takes it on face value.

Of course it's all not that simple and it becomes a tragedy for The Brothers Rico all around.

The Brothers Rico made in the Fifties as it was could have been an anti-Communist film. The syndicate seems to be really well organized, from Little Italy in New York, to Phoenix Arizona, to Miami, Florida, they've got Conte's movements all tracked. Karlson really builds the tension up as Conte seems to keep running into old acquaintances, but just keeps going on trust.

Larry Gates who usually plays upright moral types on screen has that persona work for him as the syndicate boss who's just pulling the strings from coast to coast. His is the best performance in the film, followed closely by Harry Bellaver an amiable underboss in Phoenix who's just following orders.

Kathryn Grant is in this film as Darren's bride. This year that The Brothers Rico came out, she became Mrs. Bing Crosby. She'd keep working a few more years, but after that retired to raise the Old Groaner's second family. She registers well in her role as a pregnant bride in love.

The Brothers Rico is a gripping noir film, not one for the paranoid minded among us.

It's a long way from the Little Caesars, Public Enemies and Scarfaces of the earliest sound movies to the Godfathers, Goodfellas and Scarfaces Miami-style of more recent decades. Along the way, there were intermediate stages, and director Phil Karlson (99 River Street, Kansas City Confidential) tries his hand at one -- oddly enough, working from material by venerable French pulp-writer Georges Simenon. Richard Conte runs a commercial laundry and, with his new wife, is trying to adopt a child; after a tarnished youth, he's gone straight. The younger males in his family, it so happens, have not, and a syndicate kingpin sends Conte off to smoke out his youngest brother, in hiding, supposedly to save his life; the young squirt is played by 50s recording heart-throb Bobby Darrin. But Conte is just being used as bait.... The Brothers Rico introduces us to an all-American, corporate, impersonal view of organized crime, ranging from New York's Mulberry Street to palm-fanned Florida to the mobbed-up sunbelt of Phoenix -- and to a world where the terms "family" has lost all of its many meanings. Only the bottom line now counts.

Despite a horrible happy ending that still leaves a bad taste in the ol noir mouth and some really crappy acting from Kathryn Grant and Dianne Foster director Phil Karlson, as per usual, manages to snatch steak tartar from the jaws of Hollywood sausage. I'm especially impressed at how this fine action director can create an atmosphere of tension and menace without resorting to undue amounts of physical violence. In the first two thirds of the film, other than a very brief scene of one of the Rico boys being beaten, most of the mayhem is of the psychological variety as we see the slow, painful education of Eddie Rico into his naivete regarding the ways and means of organized crime that he had foolishly thought he'd left behind. Ably dramatizing this inner conflict is Richard Conte, one of the giants of the noir and crime genres. From an eager desire to believe that crime boss "Uncle" Sid has his best interests at heart to his sagging realization that the opposite is the case, Conte gives us a believable and powerful study in the dangers of self delusion. Ably assisting are three fine but too often overlooked late 50s/early 60s character actors; Larry Gates, who usually plays avuncular professors and DAs, chillingly effective as Sid, "Naked City" regular Harry Bellaver as a corrupt big fish in a small Calif. Desert town pond, and Rudy Bond as his none too bright flunky. So even though the denouement sucks and I would have liked more exploration of the very sick Sid/Eddie relationship I think even Georges Simenon, upon whose novel this film is based, would not have minded watching. Give it a B. PS...Great moody, black and white cinematography from Burnett Guffey of "Bonnie/Clyde" fame. I like how he renders Coronado Calif. Into Miami.

"You dirty rotten stinking animal", these were the harsh words actor Richard Conte who plays the bookkeeper Eddie Rico blandly expresses to a Mr. Rogers type of mob boss Sid Kubik, played by character actor Larry Gates. This is a black and white 1957 film which softens the film's gritty under story which is that you don't mess with the mob. Some of the bad guys in this film were miscast and they could have been playing children's ice cream truck drivers rather than rough and tough hit men.

Yes, there is a plot in the film, but I wouldn't say that it was very suspenseful and I won't be putting it on my DVD film noir purchase list.

I give it a barely passable 5 out of 10 IMDB rating.

The idea of the film sounds rather generic and not much different from other lower budget films of the genre. It also though sounded interesting, and was looking forward to seeing Richard Conte atypically cast, or at least at the time, and in a role that isn't support or co-lead. The biggest draw into seeing 'The Brothers Rico' was director Phil Karlson, have seen some of his films overtime and have been impressed (while not considering him a favourite). 'Gunman's Walk' and '99 River Street' being standouts.

1957's 'The Brothers Rico' is not in the same league as those two, nowhere near, but it is a most watchable film in its own way. It is not a great film by any stretch and another film of the films seen recently that is a case of a tale of two halves (one great, the other ehh). A lot of elements however are done very solidly in 'The Brothers Rico', with the interest points not disappointing, and the film generally is recommended, but not in a wildly enthusiastic way.

Am going to begin with the good things. Some of the photography is slick and suitably moody and while with nothing extraordinary Karlson amps up the tension quite well. The music doesn't distract and at least fits. The script has many moments where it is taut and thought-provoking.

Did think that the first half was great and very intriguing, with some nice suspense. It's well acted with Conte excelling against type, James Darren suitably gritty (despite his character's decision making being frustrating) and Kathryn Grant making the most of little. Did like the chemistry between Conte and Darren, despite them not being believable enough as brothers due to the age difference, instead it is more of a partners in crime sort of partnership.

However, 'The Brothers Rico' could have been better. The second half is less good, suffering from a serious lack of suspense, truly illogical and stupid decision making (especially Johnny's) and too many over convenient and less than plausible coincidences that are too relied upon.

Furthermore, the skimpy budget does show in some less than tight editing and cheap sets and rear projection. The female roles are very underwritten and come to think of it not particularly necessary. The ending felt rushed and doesn't make enough sense.

Overall, uneven but worth seeing. 6/10.

Eddie Rico (Richard Conte) receives a call from Phil in the middle of the night. He used to be an accountant for a crime syndicate. He's now out of the racket but Phil is demanding a favor. Phil wants a job from Eddie for Joe Wesson who turns out to be a real gangster. Eddie's brother Gino is desperate to escape to Cuba after doing a hit. Their other brother Johnny was the getaway driver and has since disappeared. Eddie tries to save his younger brothers while his wife is desperate to adopt a child.

Richard Conte is great for this role. I like this movie except for Johnny. I can accept the distrust but I can't accept the illogical thinking. They go crazy with bad reasoning. Eddie should be able to convince him to do something. I can't stand stupid people doing stupid things. Eddie isn't smart either. He should know better. He can't be that naive. I like the general premise but the specific writing leaves these characters looking stupid.

How do you change a gangster classic into a silly Hollywood fantasy written by someone who does not have a clue how organized crime works? Just ask the writers of this film. Just the description of the main character will give you an idea of their naive notions. A "retired" accountant for the mob? A former member of the mob who has gone straight? Please. You are either all the way in, or you are all the way out. There is no "retirement". This film is built on the premise that you can "go straight" after you have been an insider with the mob. Anyone who believes that should buy a bridge that is for sale in Brooklyn. Richard Conte does a great job with material he is given, as does Kathryn Grant and the supporting cast. But the ending of the film has absolutely no relationship to reality; not that Hollywood has to be real, but this one would have been far more impactful had the real ending been rendered, and I think that anyone with half a brain knows what that ending would have been. Sometimes, a realistic ending is far more powerful than some Hollywood fantasy.

Way before "The Counsellor" this movie proved that there's no substitute for class, subtlety, a good script and flow to get a message across.

Not a four letter word in earshot no a disembowelled corpse in sight yet we knew we were dealing with ruthless people.

Those were the days.

In Miami, the former mafia accountant Eddie Rico (Richard Conte) is happily married with Alice Rico (Dianne Foster) and runs a legit laundry shop business. They are trying to adopt a child but, out of the blue, Eddie is contacted by phone in the middle of the night by the mobster Phil (Paul Dubov) that asks him to hire a man to work in his laundry. Then his brother Gino Rico (Paul Picerni) meets him on the street and tells him that he has killed a powerful mobster and their brother Johnny Rico (James Darren) has driven the getaway car. Eddie tells Gino to travel to St. Lois as ordered by the mafia, instead of traveling abroad as he wished to go. He receives another phone call from Phil that asks him to travel to Miami to meet the mob boss Sid Kubik (Larry Gates) that wants to see him. He travels and meets "uncle" Sid, who was saved by Eddie's mother in the past from a bullet and is considered as a member of his family. Sid tells him that the organization bosses are looking for Johnny, who got married with Norah Malaks (Kathryn Grant) and vanished. Nora's brother Peter Malaks (Lamont Johnson) went to the D. A. office many times and the bosses are concerned that he is cutting a deal to Johnny betray them. Sid gives money and a plane ticket to New York expecting that Eddie meets his brother and asks him to travel to Mexico. Eddie travels to New York to search Johnny, but finds betrayal and the truth about uncle Sid's real intention.

"The Brothers Rico" is a film-noir with an engaging story but a very deceptive conclusion. Eddie is an honest businessman and family man with his past connected to the mafia that finds the truth about the powerful Sid Kubik, who is considered a member of his own family. He leaves his beloved wife to save the life of his young brother but her discovers that he was used as a "sniffer dog" to locate Johnny. Unfortunately, the unrealistic and commercial conclusion with happy end is totally disappointing. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Os Irmãos Rico" ("The Brothers Rico")

I had requested it for almost two years over on TCM's suggest a movie site. It's also being released to DVD as part of a film noir collection due out in November. Being a big fan of James Darren, he was the biggest reason for my interest in this film but it's also a pretty good film. Richard Conte is a good lead with Dianne Foster as his worried wife. Kathryn Grant and James Darren would play a couple a year later in Gunman's Walk also directed by Karlson. James Darren's two scenes as the youngest brother make you wish they had continued casting him in these types of roles, although I like the first two Gidget movies. Anyway Thank you TCM for showing this.

This really didn't feel like Film Noir. The plot wasn't that interesting, and there was little suspense or action.. Perhaps in 1957 it was novel to see someone flying from city to city, but most of the scenes are indoors anyways. Richard Conte does a good job acting his part, but the part given to him is a bit hard to believe.

An ex-employee of the mob is forced to return to his old stomping grounds after his brothers get in trouble with the mob. This is an absorbing drama that takes a bleak, realistic look at mob life. Conte and Foster are fabulous as a married couple trying to distance themselves from his past as an accountant for the syndicate. They are especially good in their natural depiction of married life as they go about their morning routine. Also impressive is Gates as a mob boss. Conte appeared in a number of mob films, including "The Godfather." Curiously, Grant (who married Bing Crosby following this film) has a small role but is given equal billing with Conte and Foster.