How come whenever Edward G Robinson and Humphrey Bogart appear in a film, they're almost always rivals? A movie with either one of these legends would be usually be enough to make it revered for decades to come, but when they face off, you're guaranteed to be in for a classic. Brother Orchid's title may not make any sense at first, but Robinson's character undergoes a drastic transformation, both mentally and in terms of his appearance, that ultimately makes him realize what true elegance is. The movie starts with mob boss Little John Sarto (Robinson) announcing he is resigning as head of the outfit and replacing himself with Jack Buck (Humphrey Bogart). He's doing this because he wants to travel to Europe, thinking that the more time he spends there, the classier he'll become. Reality punches him in the face and John loses all his money at various gambling establishments in Monaco and France. Believe it or not, John has already been away for 5 whole years by the time he comes back to America. Buck and the others throw a "welcome back party" for their old boss, which quickly turns into Buck getting nasty and telling John he's not getting any sympathy because he just decided to abandon them. After John is thrown out, he meets with his girlfriend, Flo Addams (Ann Sothern), who is one of the only people still on his side, but she says she has met a rancher from Montana named Clarence (Ralph Bellamy) who offers to drive them somewhere. John accepts and attempts to start a new mob to challenge Buck's. While taking a break at a house, some of Buck's thugs pull up outside. Clarence tries to get them to leave, but they beat him up. Clarence still manages to subdue them, but this forces John to go on the move again. Shortly after, Flo takes it upon herself to visit Buck in John's former office. She tells him he and John shouldn't be fighting since they used to be partners, and wants him not to say anything about this secret meeting to John. Flo starts getting more romantically involved with Clarence, so she plays a trick on John. She calls him from the bar and pretends to be intoxicated, and wants him to drive her home. John falls for the trap and drives to the place, not noticing Buck waiting in a car outside. Buck confronts John and forces him into his car. At one point, John manages to run away, but is shot twice and falls next to a creek. Unable to find his body, the thugs assume he is dead. Barely alive, John manages to stumble to a monastery inhabited by monks who sell flowers for money. At first, John takes advantage of their kindness and thinks they are suckers, but then shows genuine interest in their order and wants to sign up. While living with them, John gains much respect from them for his hard work in the garden, but eventually comes across a newspaper with Flo's face on it. The paper says Flo, believing John is dead, has decided to marry Clarence. John is enraged. After living with the monks for many months, John is granted permission to take a truck into the city in order to deliver the flowers the monastery grows. John visits his old apartment and sees Flo in a wedding dress, and starts berating her for wanting to marry Clarence. Flo confesses she was an idiot to trust Buck that night he took John away, as she actually thought meeting with him would help John. John manages to convince Flo to call off the wedding, and she explains to Clarence that she was John's girl for years. He seems not that upset by this news, and John offers him (and his friends from montana) something exciting to do to make up for it. John tells the monastery he is quitting, but is surprised to learn not a single flower has been bought because Buck's mob doesn't allow growers not allied with him to sell things. John tracks Buck down, and Clarence's friends beat up everyone in his headquarters. John gives up Buck to the cops, tells Clarence he is free to marry Flo, and then finally arrives back at the monastery and rejoins. For John, helping other humans like they do is the epitome of class. This must be the best movie I've seen in a while. Any film that has Bogart and Robinson going head to head is sure to be a hit with me, but I'm surprised I never heard of this movie. As is often the case, I was kind of able to tell this would be worth my time, since there is a lot of confrontation and interesting moments basically right from the start. Once Robinson discovers the convent, the movie takes a much more different turn, but still manages to be great since you want to see Robinson get revenge on Buck. My only real complaint is that Bogart is absent for quite a large part of the film, starting around the time Robinson becomes a monk. While that's not what most people think of when they picture Robinson, he once again showed his amazing versatility when it came to playing varied characters.
Review of Brother Orchid
