The Brothers Rico 🇺🇸 (Bratři Ricové)

During his career, Richard Conte’s Italian-American origins and rather rugged visage ensured a string of roles as gangsters and mobsters from the Italian immigrant clan, which he capped off in the classic noir trio of The Big Combo, New York Confidential (both 1955) and The Brothers Rico. He couldn’t have ended his entire acting career more fittingly than with his portrayal of Don Barzini in Coppola’s The Godfather (1972). The Brothers Rico is a very poignant study of an Italian gangster family from the point of view of the older scion who tried to cross over to the right side, only to be pulled back by his brothers. Karlson could not have found a more suitable actor than Richard Conte, who was supremely convincing as the “good bad man”. Although most of the action is done through dialogue, the film is not without a few purely Karlsonian raw images of violence that come suddenly and without prior gradation. The stylish black-and-white visuals are also aided by the participation of veteran noir cinematographer Burnett Guffey.

Jana Bébarová

The film is screened in cooperation with the U.S. Embassy in Prague.