The Brotherhood

1968

Action / Crime / Drama

6
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 60% · 10 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 24% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.0/10 10 1236 1.2K

vietnam veteran sibling relationship mafia

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Plot summary

The son of a powerful Mafia don comes home from his army service in Vietnam and wants to lead his own life, but family tradition, intrigues and powerplays involving his older brother dictate otherwise, and he finds himself being slowly drawn back into that world.

Director

Martin Ritt Photo
Martin Ritt

Top cast

Paul Reubens Photo
Paul Reubens as Wedding Guest
Murray Hamilton Photo
Murray Hamilton as Jim Egan
Kirk Douglas Photo
Kirk Douglas as Frank Ginetta
Susan Strasberg Photo
Susan Strasberg as Emma Ginetta
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
882.88 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 36 min
Seeds ...
1.6 GB
1920*1080
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 36 min
Seeds 3

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by ma-cortes 6 / 10

Fair production about Italian-American mobsters with plenty of drama , thrills and fine performance.

The son of a powerful Organized Crime -Mafia- don comes home from his army service in Vietnam and wishes to lead his own life. This is a young man called Vince Ginetta (Alex Cord) that his older brother Frank Ginetta (Kirk Douglas) raised with selfless devotion, following the family tradition. As intrigues and powerplays involving his older brother dictate otherwise, and he finds himself being slowly drawn back into that world. But Frank Ginetta is a veteran member of the mafia who refuses to accept the new principles of his brother Vince. Things go wrong when the Mafia high council (Luther Adler, Val Avery, Alan Hewitt and Murray Hamilton) in New York, together with outvote Frank Ginetta all the time. And Vince executes orders of the council, while Frank refusal to follow the higher dictates, it leads both to a confrontation, emulating Cain and Abel, resulting in sad consequences. Honor, Loyalty, Betrayal !.The central theme of the film is the confrontation between two hot-headed brothers from a Mafia syndicate, who clash over old and new methods and the changing of the guard in the Family. In this film, Kirk Douglas, dressed up with a drooping mustache and dyed hair, excels in his role as a New York syndicate board member who has nostalgic memories of how much better things were done in the old Mafia days. Not surprisingly, he turns on the syndicate and runs off to retire to Sicily. The picture is passable and acceptable enough, but not remarkable. Martin Ritt can't do much with the chest-beating that accompanies this tale of brotherly love, self-sacrifice and providing a far-fetched as well as failed notion of believably portraying the physical aesthetic and singular temperament of Sicilians. So he slowly and stolidly makes his way through the bitter and the new, stopping for a few interesting and exciting scenes. Kirk Douglas gives the best performance with his usually over-the-top style allowing him to liven things up; far below is newcomer Alex Cord, who gives an inferior and weak interpretation compared to that of the Hollywood towering Kirk Douglas. Much of the movie's failure was attributed to lack of chemistry between Kirk Douglas and Alex Cord. While normally fine Greek actress Irene Papas is really wasted and Luther Adler briefly steals the show as a plump, greasy, rather likeable snitch who becomes respectable. Joining these superior actors are a host of well-known supporting actors, such as: Susan Strasberg, Murray Hamilton, Eduardo Ciannelli, Joe De Santis, Connie Scott, Val Avery, Alan Hewitt, Barry Primus, and look for very brief appearances from Hal Holbrook, and even Paul Reubens.In the film there is also a historical remark when the role played by the old mafia boss Eduardo Ciannelli explains that it is necessary to carry out a bloody revenge for some events of the past, thus he refers to notorious kingpin Lucky Luciano and about the person to be killed, a stool pigeon who told Lucky the people to murder. Luciano was one of the bosses of the Mafia and leader of Cosa Nostra or Mafia, and soon became a chief in the Reina Family during the height of the Castellammarese War. Subsequently, taking place a Mafian War between Salvatore Maranzano, who eventually defeated the faction headed by rival Joseph Masseria . After Masseria's murder , this position was short-lived, as Maranzano himself was murdered in 1931. Then , the family is headed by Charles "Lucky" Luciano , eventually known as the Genovese Family. He orders the slaughter of 40 other responsible , a famous massacre nicknamed Sicilian Vespers, therefore becoming the only boss.The motion picture was professional but unevenly directed by Martin Ritt and it did not do very well at the box office. As a result, studios were reluctant to do more Mafia stories, that's why it almost convinced Paramount not to make The Godfather (1972). ¨Edge of the city¨(1957) resulted to be Martin Ritt's first directing assignment after being blacklisted in the 1950s and he went on to direct 25 more films, including some classics. Ritt was an expert on dramas such as ¨Stanley and Iris¨ , ¨Nut¨ , ¨Norma Rae¨ , ¨The front¨, ¨The Sound and the Fury¨ , ¨Black orchid¨ , though also directed films of all kind of genres such as : ¨The Spy Who Came in from the Cold¨ , ¨The Great White Hope¨ , and ¨Molly McGuire¨ . Martin Ritt worked with Paul Newman in two Westerns : ¨Hombre¨ and ¨Outrage¨ and two dramas : ¨Hud¨, ¨Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man ¨. ¨Mafia¨ rating : 6/10, a decent family thriller . It will appeal to drama enthusiasts and Kirk Douglas fans. Well worth watching, it's considered to be an adequate precedent to ¨The Godfather¨, although it is not one of Martin Ritt's best films.
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Reviewed by jotix100 6 / 10

Brothers

Vince, the younger brother of exiled mafioso, Frank Ginetta, comes to visit his sibling in Sicily, where he has been hiding. Vince has come on a mission although we must wait until much later because we are taken back to get to know Frank's involvement in crime in New York.

In flashbacks we are taken to Vince's wedding to Emma Bertolo, the daughter of a prominent mafia bigwig in Brooklyn, where Frank controls the criminal operations. Vince, a man that has gone into the US army and has studied, is also drawn into the illegal activities by loyalty to his brother. Family, among these men matters more than anything else. Vince, who grows disillusioned with Frank, is given the ultimate mission anyone in the organized crime can get.

No one can accuse Lewis John Carlino, the screenplay writer, with copying the more famous "The Godfather", which came out later. The film, directed by Martin Ritt, is uneven, at best. The story is about power more than gore and shootouts. Kirk Douglas, the star, produced the film as well as appeared as Frank.

Mr. Ritt got the atmosphere right, although the Sicilian locations are just a passing thought. Alex Cord, who made a career on television, is impressive in his take of Vince. Irene Pappas and Susan Strasberg have nothing to do. Luther Adler, Murray Hamilton, Eduardo Cianelli, are among the supporting players.

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