I don't know how much of what's best in The Molly Maguires is due to screenwriter Walter Bernstein or cinematographer James Wong Howe. There are several dialogue free scenes with the fluid camera visually informing the audience about the life of Pennsylvania coal miners in 1876. Several shots take advantage of framing devices such as windows and fences. Released in early 1970, The Molly Maguires was a major flop, regarded as old-fashioned and unfashionable. The casting of Richard Harris and Sean Connery made no difference to the box office. Like several of his films, Ritt examines the "American dream" for those whom it is out of reach. In this film about Irish immigrants, Connery is the rebellious worker seeking justice for those who are both literally and socially at the bottom. Harris is the undercover detective who finds himself caught between sympathy with the miners' goals and his own need for success, even at the expense of others. Thematically, The Molly Maguires is most obviously similar to Norma Rae as a look at labor in America. It is also one of Ritt's best films in terms of visual composition, both in positioning of actors and use of color.

Right after The Black Orchid, screenwriter Joseph Stefano wrote the screenplay for Psycho, while cinematographer Robert Burks shot North by Northwest. The Black Orchid looks much worse in comparison to those two Alfred Hitchcock assignments. The only reason to watch the film now is to see two forces of nature, Anthony Quinn and Sophia Loren, together. Loren is the widow of a small-time criminal pursued by Quinn, overcoming the obstacles involving his daughter and her son. The film comes off as a contrived look at Italian-Americans, that tries to be a slice of life, but looks more like a slice of baloney.

Did Mario Puzo see The Brotherhood? The film came out the year before Puzo's bestselling novel was published. The failure of the earlier film made Paramount uneasy about the prospects for Francis Ford Coppola's film with its expanding scope and budget. One can see several elements that are shared in both films. Lewis John Carlino continued to explore organized crime in other screenplays. Even with location shooting in Sicily and New York City, the film is not particularly involving. This is a tourist's view of organized crime families, distant and faintly exotic. I don't remember which documentary used clips of The Brotherhood to explain how it inspired the use of a cast and crew of Italian descent for The Godfather. If it has no other value, it seems that at least once, with The Brotherhood, Hollywood proved it could learn from one of its mistakes.