A post-noir gangster thriller based on a novel by French mystery writer Georges Simenon. An ex-mobster turned successful businessman (Richard Conte) is compelled to re-enter the crime world in search of his two brothers when he learns they are the target of a national syndicate hit. His frenzied, lonely search is reminiscent of the bitter sense of futility that pervaded the universe of forties film noir. But in every other way The Brothers Rico points to the police and FBI yarns of the 1950s whose world was clearly buoyed by a strong sense of right and wrong as befit that era in American culture.