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The central character in this story rather reminds me of Twain's story of "The Prince and the Pauper". In that story, a prince and a pauper changed identities for a while to see how the other lived. In the present story, Eddie Robinson's character suddenly changes from a gang leader to a monk. This transformation was partly accidental and partly voluntary. That is, the monks found Eddie near death on their doorstep, having been shot in a gangland attempted assassination, wandering through an obscure woods until reaching the monastery. That is the accidental part. He volunteered to stay on as a trial monk in a probational period. Since neither the monks nor Eddie had any money for him to be treated at a hospital, the monks took care of him as best they could. He recovered enough strength to soon become the most productive worker in the monastery. So, he was on the way to reinventing himself as a productive worker, self-supporting in most basic necessities, along with the rest of his brotherhood. Because one of his main jobs was to grow flowers for sale in the city, he decided that he should be referred to as Brother Orchid. However, he's almost thrown out, because he committed a transgression. After a defensive speech, it was decided to retain him.
Although Brother Superior said the monastery never received newspapers, somehow Jimmy got a hold of one with an article about his ex?-girlfriend, Flo(Ann Southern), getting married to Clarence(Ralph Bellamy): from a western cattle ranch(I still don't understand what he is doing in the East?). Eddie knows Clarence, but is miffed that Flo would marry so soon after his reported apparent death, without a body. True, she's been strung along by him for 10 years without a marriage proposal, serving as the moll for his old gang, then waiting for 5 years for his return from a European tour to absorb some elite "class" into his personality. He should have married her and taken her along on his trip if he expected her to stand by him. As it was, his European tour was a financial disaster, returning broke after buying too many expensive artifacts and gambling away his money. He didn't seem to have any more "class" than when he started. He tried to resume his old position as chief of his old gang, but most of them weren't going to stand for that. Only Flo and Willie "the Knife" stood loyal to him. He started to raise a new gang, to be competitors of his old gang, headed by Jack(Humphrey Bogart). Flo wanted to try to get the two back together. She arranged a meeting between Eddie and Bogie in a rural tavern. Clarence was supposed to be there to help protect Eddie, in case Bogie had an unwanted surprise, but Clarence was knocked out before he got there. Eddie was "taken for a ride" by several of Bogie's men, and set to walking through the woods with a gun in his back. He got ahead and ducked into the underbrush, running to who knew where. He was wounded by a bullet or two, but managed to hide well enough, then fortuitously made his way to the monastery.
When the flowers that Eddie was tending were ready for market, he saw his chance to contact Flo, by riding along in the truck to town. While Brother Superior went to sell them, he went to the most likely place for Flo to be. She fainted when she saw him, thinking him dead. He asked her why she double-crossed him setting up the nearly lethal meeting with Bogie. She replied that she didn't think Bogie would pull that stunt. He also questioned her about her imminent marriage to Clarence, saying he wanted it cancelled, as he was quitting the monastery and would be available for her to marry. Meanwhile, Brother Superior was unable to sell any flowers, because he had not paid protection money to Bogie's gang. I leave the rest of the story for you to see.
Ann Southern made a beautiful moll, but her character had a weak personality. When Eddie went to Europe for 5 years, she should have demanded to he marry her then or forget about her in the future, since she had an alternative suitor not with a criminal record.
Being a monk was somewhat like being in a prison. Evidently, Eddie had experienced some time in prison, as he once called Brother Superior "the warden" by mistake. So, perhaps being a monk wasn't quite as novel for him as we might think.
The Warners were enthusiastic anti-Nazis. I wonder if we could equate the destructive parasitism of criminal gangs with that of the Nazis(who were essentially an extreme example of a criminal gang). The monks would then represent the average person, who performed legitimate services or made goods for sale or personal consumption. Economically, they were self sufficient, whether or not they were monks who raised much of their own food.
At first, Eddie called the monks the biggest chumps he knew. Later, he revised his opinion of then to the people with the most "class" he had discovered. If we define "class" as having the most appropriate ethos, and most desirable lifestyle, Eddie changed his idea of "class" from aping the mannerisms of the wealthy and influential to serving others, presumably including God, as much as possible.
score 8/10
weezeralfalfa 9 March 2017
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3658077/ |
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28-3-2021 12:06:14