Review of The Brothers Rico (1957) by Art S — 27 Aug 2018

To me, Richard Conte seems the epitome of the noir villain, probably due to his evil role as the crime boss in The Big Combo (1955). So, when he shows up as a mob accountant turned small business man named Eddie Rico, you aren't quite sure where he stands.

As it turns out, he's on the straight-and-narrow - but his younger brothers are still involved with the mob. And when a once-fatherly mob kingpin asks Eddie to find his brothers (who have gone missing) so that they can be "protected", Eddie naively helps out (persuading his aging mum to tell what she knows).

Of course, mob kingpins are never that generous and nefarious ulterior motives soon appear; Eddie's safe family life (he and his wife are about to adopt a child) is soon jeopardised. Director Phil Karlson doesn't do anything fancy visually with the material (and Martin Scorsese notes this in his introduction to the film, arguing that this makes it come across tougher); but he's an old hand at noir and it shows (previous films include Scandal Sheet, 1952; Kansas City Confidential, 1952; 99 River Street, 1953; and The Phenix City Story, 1955).

This isn't top tier but it's solid.