MartinHafer Apparently, when "The Brotherhood" debuted, critics disliked it and the film lost money as the public never embraced it. Now, more than 40 years later, the film has a completely mediocre IMDb score of 6.1. And, I am left to wonder why the film is so maligned. After all, I really liked the film and thought it was exceptionally well made and quite compelling. It's like I saw an entirely different film than the one everyone else saw...or I just have absolutely no taste."The Brotherhood" is a mobster film that is actually highly reminiscent of "The Godfather". Like Don Corleone from "The Godfather", Frank Ginetta (Kirk Douglas) is a bit of a dinosaur in the mob. While respected and powerful, he doesn't like the direction the organization is going and fights change--choosing instead to hold on to the old ways. The problem is that the longer he does this, the more he makes himself an impediment--one that might just be eliminated.At the same time, Frank's brother, Vince (Alex Cord) joins the family business and does well. In fact, when Frank gets on the bad side of the other bosses, there is talk that Vince should perhaps take his older brother's place.Into the mix comes another reason for the mob to take out Frank. It seems that one of the bosses (Luther Adler) had been responsible for the death of many mobsters many years ago--and Frank just discovered this. To make matters worse, this traitor also was responsible for the death of Frank and Vince's father! What happens next? See the film for its gritty finale.All around, it's a very good film. Kirk Douglas was surprisingly convincing as a Sicilian-American. I have no idea how good his Sicilian and Italian was throughout the film but it sounded good. I'd love to hear what some Italians think of his portrayal. Otherwise, the script is tight and well written, the film is well directed. The only possible negative I saw was if you an Alex Cord fan--he really didn't have a lot to say or do--it was clearly Douglas' film.If you do watch the film, one bit of warning. While you'd expect a mob film to be violent, you might think since it came out in the 60s that it would be very sanitized. Well, there are some gritty scenes--especially when Douglas murders someone--it's VERY vivid and tough to watch.

jotix100 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.

John T. Ryan PREDATING the Mario Puzo tale of Mafiosi in immediate Post World War II NYC by over four years, THE BROTHERHOOD (The Brotherhood Company/Paramount Pictures Company, 1968) was a great example of the underworld life, every bit bas good as THE GODFATHER (Paramount Pictures, 1972) It did not compare to the latter in respect to its stature and epic standards, but nonetheless it has the proper spirit and twisting storyline to make it ever so engaging.TOLD in flashback from the point of view of Frank Ginetta (Kirk Douglas), the elder and prominent Underworld Mob Boss and Vince Ginetta (Alex Cord) the younger and much less criminally involved of the family. Frank has returned to the land of his ancestors, being in Sicily in current times; being 1968, when the film was made.BOLDLY the scene returns to NYC several years earlier, where Frank Ginetta is celebrating at the Wedding of his younger brother, Vince. Shortly thereafter, he is confronted by a couple of old line Mafiosi or "Mustached Joes"; being Sicilian born, transplanted to the New World. The two men, Don Peppino (Eduardo Cianelli) and Pietro Rizzi (Joe DeSantis) have information about certain now High-Ranking Mafia Bosses had been instrumental in having many a Sicilian born mobster killed years earlier.* One of the victims was the Ginetta Boys Father.Further complicating matters is the revelation that the main informant was the now Mob Boss, Dominic Bertolo (Luther Adler), who's Daughter, Emma (Susan Strasberg) has just married Vince Ginetta (Alex Cord) in a sort of Royal Underworld Wedding and a securing a veritable political alliance at the same time.BEING a highly traditional type, Frank knows that it is his Sacred Duty to avenge this foul deed; so with Pietro Rizzi (Joe De Santis, again) acting as his chauffeur, Frank lures Dominic into a trap. Following an impromptu luncheon, Frank relates some amusing "war stories" from the "Old Days"; after which he confronted him with being the informer of those long days ago. With the help of Pietro Rizzi, he binds the hands of Bertolo and rig a neck to feet over the back rope, which slowly strangles the victim as his strength is ebbed away with his impossibly successful struggling.AS the doomed Bertolo lies struggling, unquestionably facing the eventual fate that Frank has decreed him, the elder Ginetta reads the names of the slain who the bound and gagged gangster-chieftain had condemned.MAKING the traditionalist Ginetta the obviously prime suspect is the fact that he uses so many of the old-line signs and symbols of intentional "hits"; such as his favourite of shoving a dead canary into the mouth of the "fink", leaving no doubt as to the reason for the murder.FLEEING to Sicily, among many relatives, Frank and Mrs. Ida Ginetta (Irene Pappas) are in a seemingly endless Mediterranean vacation, when Brother Vince suddenly shows up in Sicily. The revelation doesn't upset Frank any, but it obvious that there's some major event by the expression on Ida's countenance.MEETING the younger Brother and Junior Partner in their Construction Company at the Palermo Airport, Frank takes Vince to lodging among relatives and talks of tradition and its relevancy to today's world. Drinking Wine together and walking out into the Sicilian hills, Frank hands a Sicilian shotgun to his younger brother; imploring him to shoot, saying' "Go ahead, shoot! They got you by the throat!" THE 'they' referred to in Frank Ginetta's dying declaration were the modern day Crime Syndicate's Bosses, who demand that the Bertolo Slaying must be avenged by the younger Ginetta Brother.THE BROTHERHOOD in addition to being a work of fictional gangs and mobsters, is maybe the first to emphasize the multi-ethnic make-up of the modern American Underworld. Gangsters of Irish Ancestry such as Jim Egan (Murray Hamilton), Jewish like Jake Rotherman (Val Avery) and others are present and prominent from the earliest of scenes in the Picture; emphatically underscoring that the Italian Mobster is far from being alone in the Nation's Underworld.MAKING the one point crystal clear, that the make-up of the Crime Syndicate in modern days is far from being populated strictly with Italian hoods; but rather it is a sort of League of Nations. It is one that has a large number of ethnicities on its long list; being an ever growing roster of organized crime.NOTE: * This event of many multiple executions of the "old line" gangsters is referred to in Urban Legend as "the Night of the Sicilian Vespers." There are two sides to the argument, with both great numbers of believers and just as many detractors who believe that the Sicilian Vespers never occurred.POODLE SCHNITZ!!

Hollywoodcanteen1945 The Brotherhood was made 4 years before the legendary blockbuster classic, The Godfather. However, it's amazing how much of this earlier film about the "brotherhood" is so similar to the Godfather. Alex Cord is the younger brother of mob boss Kirk Douglas. There's a wedding scene (sound familiar?), as Cord returns from the war (Viet-Nam), and gets married in his army uniform. Godfather begins with a wedding; Al Pacino arrives back from the war(WWII), wearing his marine corp uniform. The Brotherhood is a story of tradition, as well-as the desire for power, power that's stronger than family ties. Two brothers in conflict. The Godfather has similar scenes and themes. I'm giving the ending away (sorry), but Alex Cord gives his brother Frank(Kirk Douglas) the "Kiss of Death" and kills him with a shot-gun to avenge the family's honor. Godfather II is similar with Al Pacino's character ordering the murder of his older brother Fredo.The Brotherhood is well acted. Kirk Douglas is out-standing in one of his better "later" roles. Alex Cord gives his best on-screen performance. Veteran actor Luther Adler is out-standing as well as the traitor. The scene in which Adler is hog-tied and strangled is one of the most brutal and graphic in screen history. This is a non-romanticized looked at the Brotherhood. There are no heroes, or big shoot-outs. It's raw, brutal, edgy, and realistic. An out-standing work, even some 37 years later.