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''The Brotherhood'' is a 1968
Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...
, directed by
Martin Ritt Martin Ritt (March 2, 1914 – December 8, 1990) was an American director and actor who worked in both film and theater, noted for his socially conscious films. Some of the films he directed include '' The Long, Hot Summer'' (1958), '' The Black ...
. It stars
Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in '' The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. D ...
, Irene Papas,
Alex Cord Alexander Viespi Jr. (May 3, 1933 – August 9, 2021), known professionally as Alex Cord, was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Michael Coldsmith Briggs III, better known as Archangel, in 55 episodes of the television series '' ...
, and Luther Adler. The script was by
Lewis John Carlino Lewis John Carlino (January 1, 1932 – June 17, 2020) was an American screenwriter and director. His career spanned five decades and included such works as '' The Fox'', '' The Brotherhood'', '' The Mechanic'', '' The Sailor Who Fell from Grace ...
. Released by
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
, while the film received mixed to positive reviews, the film bombed at the box office, with Paramount deciding not to produce another gangster film until it made ''
The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caa ...
'' four years later.


Plot

A young American man arrives in
Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...
by plane. A taxi driver at the airport immediately gets word to Frank Ginetta (
Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in '' The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. D ...
), 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 Alexander Viespi Jr. (May 3, 1933 – August 9, 2021), known professionally as Alex Cord, was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Michael Coldsmith Briggs III, better known as Archangel, in 55 episodes of the television series '' ...
). 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 New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, 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 Murray Hamilton (March 24, 1923 – September 1, 1986) was an American stage, screen, and television character actor who appeared in such films as '' Anatomy of a Murder'', '' The Hustler'', '' The Graduate'', ''Jaws'' and '' The Amityvill ...
), Rotherman ( Val Avery) and Levin (
Alan Hewitt Alan Hewitt (January 21, 1915 – November 7, 1986) was an American film, television, and stage actor. His most prominent TV roles were Detective Brennan in ''My Favorite Martian'' and the district attorney in ''How to Murder Your Wife''. Earl ...
), 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. Frank still fondly remembers his father, who also was a mafioso who was assassinated in a hit. Vinnie is more of a businessman, and takes sides with the other board members in ventures they intend to pursue without his brother. Frank resents this, striking Vinnie for defying him and insisting to the board that Vinnie will have no part in what they have planned. Older members of the organization who are no longer involved in decision-making tell Frank that it was Dom Bertolo who made it possible for outsiders to spot and find members of their Mafia family, resulting in 41 murders, Frank's father included. Bertolo had taken up outside of the family 35 years earlier with Irish and Jewish outsiders who wanted to get in the Mafia, and by doing so secured his own power in the larger, expanded outfit against older members like Frank's father. Frank is conflicted because Bertolo is his brother's father in law, but the Sicilian code of honor decides what he must do. Pretending to reconcile with Dominick for past differences, he offers to submit to the new deal, while in reality he is taking him to a deserted warehouse to be executed. As he realizes what his fate is, a terrified Dominick collapses from heart failure. Frank hides out in
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
, but knows his days are numbered and that the Board plans to have him killed. Realizing that it is Vinnie who has been forced under threats by Egan to do the job of killing him, Frank bitterly accepts this fate in the hope that it will save his brother's life and that of his family back in America. Vinnie realizes at last that he has been played like a puppet all along against his well-meaning brother, who in order to protect him lays down his own life, handing Vinnie their father's shotgun with which to shoot him.


Cast


See also

* List of American films of 1968


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brotherhood, The 1968 crime drama films 1968 films American crime drama films Films about the American Mafia Films about the Sicilian Mafia Films directed by Martin Ritt Films set in Sicily Films shot in New York City Paramount Pictures films Films scored by Lalo Schifrin Films with screenplays by Lewis John Carlino 1960s English-language films 1960s American films