The Brotherhood (1968 film)
| The Brotherhood | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Martin Ritt |
| Written by | Lewis John Carlino |
| Starring |
Kirk Douglas Alex Cord Irene Papas Luther Adler |
| Music by | Lalo Schifrin |
| Cinematography | Boris Kaufman |
| Edited by | Frank Bracht |
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Production
company |
The Brotherhood Company
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Brotherhood is a 1968 Technicolor crime drama film, directed by Martin Ritt. It stars Kirk Douglas, Irene Papas, Alex Cord, and Luther Adler. The script was by Lewis John Carlino. Released by Paramount Pictures, the film bombed at the box office, with Paramount deciding not to do another gangster film until it made The Godfather four years later.
A young American man arrives in Palermo by plane. A taxi driver at the airport immediately gets word to Frank Ginetta (Kirk Douglas), who hides, armed with a gun, until he realizes that the visitor he's been warned about is actually his younger brother Vinnie (Alex Cord).
Frank happily welcomes his brother and takes him home, catching up on old times. But his wife, Ida (Irene Papas), reminds him that "they're going to send someone," suggesting that perhaps Vinnie is the one.
In a flashback, Frank recalls better times in New York City, beginning with Vinnie's homecoming from military service and subsequent marriage to Emma Bertolo (Susan Strasberg). The father of the bride, Dominick Bertolo (Luther Adler) is a Mafia don, as is the groom's brother, Frank. And among those paying their respects as guests at the wedding are mob leaders like Egan (Murray Hamilton), Rotherman (Val Avery) and Levin (Alan Hewitt), who are the equals of Frank and Dominick in the New York region's organized crime.
These capos within the Organization meet as a board to coordinate their business. The majority becomes increasingly unhappy with Frank's position, as he seems opposed to every new idea. Frank also dispenses justice on his own in the old Sicilian fashion, without seeking approval from the others. They, not being of Sicilian origin, are trying to leave behind the old traditional methods, such as when two of Frank's hit men kill a stool pigeon in the marshes and leave him tied to a chair with a canary stuffed in his mouth, as a warning to others who might talk too much.
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Wikipedia