Aug 27, 2024
The Brothers Rico (1957)
"Okay, okay, so nobody's blaming you! Let's just say something happened way back, huh? So maybe I am gonna die. But, Eddie, you've got even bigger troubles. You're gonna live."
#the brothers rico#1957#film noir#american cinema#phil karlson#lewis meltzer#ben perry#georges simenon#richard conte#dianne foster#kathryn grant#larry gates#james darren#argentina brunetti#lamont johnson#paul picerni#harry bellaver#paul dubov#william phipps#richard bakalyan#mimi aguglia#US noir adaptation of a Simenon novel; i haven't read this one i dont think but I'd bet good money the book doesn't feature the same#syrupy sweet (and frankly quite implausible) ending. that aside‚ this is very decent stuff indeed. it's character led‚ rather than being#too plot heavy‚ allowing Conte (an old favourite of mine since he stole The Four Just Men tv series away from his international co stars)#to shine in his role as a former mob accountant gone straight but dragged‚ by younger brothers‚ back into the grist of it all#he's brilliant‚ particularly in the early domestic scenes with Foster which are genuinely very sweet and charming‚ with a realism and#natural rhythm that this kind of film so often fails to find in contrast to the stylized violence and hyper cool dialogue of the more macho#setpieces (not that i don't enjoy those too!). nor is Conte alone; this is a good film for actors‚ and every part down to the most minor of#middlemen‚ henchmen and goons (and there's a lot of those here) feels like a fully realised‚ honest creation by a talented actor#the melodrama comes a little thick in the back half and as said the very ending is.. far fetched. but definitely a superior whole of a film
