Brother Orchid (1940) on Netflix
NR19401h 28mComedyCrimeDramaRomance
Crime boss Little John Sarto hands his gang to Jack Buck and leaves for Europe to acquire class. Swindled and broke five years later, he comes home to take the gang back.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb7.0/103,474 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
John Sarto runs a crime gang until he abruptly retires, hands the leadership to Jack Buck and travels through Europe to acquire class. Swindled over and over, he loses everything and comes home to reclaim what was his. Buck has run the gang for five years and has Sarto thrown out of his office. Only Sarto's girlfriend Flo Addams and Willie 'the Knife' Corson stay loyal to him. Sarto gathers a new crew and begins moving in on Buck's territory. Flo, who has an admirer in a good-natured Midwestern rancher named Clarence P. Fletcher, wants the two men to settle their quarrel.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Brother Orchid (1940)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- James Cagney was the original choice to play gangster Little John Sarto in Brother Orchid; the lead went to Edward G. Robinson instead.
- Producer Hal Wallis wanted Lee Patrick as Flo, but producer Mark Hellinger appealed directly to Warner Bros. head of production Jack L. Warner, and Ann Sothern was cast in the part.
- Edward G. Robinson had grown bored with gangster parts; he agreed to play the lead in Brother Orchid only in return for being cast in the historical drama A Dispatch from Reuters.
