Brother Orchid

Little John Sarto announces retirement and hands leadership of the gang to Jack Buck. He then departs for a tour of Europe to acquire class and refinement. Buck begins to consolidate power in his absence.

Sarto travels across Europe, hoping to gain cultural polish and legitimacy. He is repeatedly swindled and loses all his money, leaving him poorer than before. The trip ends without the promised transformation.

Five years pass and Sarto returns home to reclaim his territory, but Buck has moved in and throws him out of his office. Flo Addams and Willie Corson remain loyal to Sarto, setting the stage for a renewed feud. The stage is set for Sarto to challenge Buck once more.

With his power diminished, Sarto rebuilds a new gang and begins encroaching on Buck's turf. Flo and Willie stay loyal, hoping for a comeback for Sarto. Buck tightens his grip as rival forces mobilize.

Flo tries to persuade Buck to reconcile, but he sees an opportunity to humiliate Sarto. He engineers a plan for Flo to lure Sarto to a tavern, hoping to trap him. Clarence P. Fletcher accompanies Flo, though he is knocked out by Buck's men.

Sarto is taken for a ride and believes Flo has double-crossed him. He escapes, but is shot several times in the pursuit. Wounded, he makes his way toward sanctuary.

Seeking safety, Sarto slips away to the Floracian monastery, where a group of charitable agriculturalists accepts him as a novice, giving him the name Brother Orchid. He initially regards the monks with a sardonic joke, but the life there begins to soften him.

At first, Sarto mocks the monks, calling them the biggest chumps in the world, but their kindness and the simple life gradually change his outlook. The monastery's routine starts to awaken a sense of real class and purpose in him.

Sarto sees a newspaper announcing Flo will marry Clarence. He rides into the city with Brother Superior to sell the monastery's flowers and catches a glimpse of Flo's life. Flo is stunned to see him alive, confirms she did not betray him, and agrees to break off with Clarence.

Sarto learns the flowers have not been sold because Buck's protective association bans flower growers who do not pay. He informs Brother Superior that he plans to leave, but the market pressures make a clean exit difficult. The tension between monastic life and organized crime intensifies.

Clarence, Montana friends, and Sarto visit the protective association to push back. A brawl erupts, drawing in the police. Sarto seizes the moment to present Buck and his men to the authorities, asserting his leadership and restraint.

With Buck and his gang sidelined by the law, Sarto hands Buck and his men to the police and resolves Flo's future by letting Clarence take her. He then returns to the monastery, choosing a path away from crime. The sum of his actions marks a turning point.

Back at the Floracian monastery, Brother Orchid's transformation is complete as he embraces the life he once mocked. He has finally found real class and a purpose beyond crime.