The Black Orchid (1958)

6.3/10

The Black Orchid Storyline

After mobsters murder her husband, Rose Bianco works long hours making artificial flowers, to support herself and her son. Some suspect that Rose’s demand for a lavish lifestyle pushed her husband to a life of crime, and they blame her for his death. Widower Frank Valente is attracted to Rose, and must convince her that real love exists. He must also deal with his own daughter, who has her own reasons for opposing his marriage to Rose.

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The Black Orchid Movie Reviews

This one has ACTING…..

I liked “The Black Orchid”, as it’s a film that works well because the script is very good and the acting really carries it off well. Too many films feature everything but fine acting–so this one is a great lesson to aspiring actors and folks who want to learn to appreciate more than explosions and the like.

The film begins with the death of a gangster. He’s left a mixed up son and a beautiful but mixed up wife (Sophia Loren). Because of some sense of guilt for pushing her husband to succeed, he chose organized crime–and now she feels responsible for killing him. Her penance is to shut herself away from the world and be miserable. However, a gregarious widower (Anthony Quinn) is determined to break through this wall. He figures that they both are lonely and they should make a go of it.

When it comes to Loren’s change from closed and unhappy to falling in love with Quinn, this is probably the weakest point in the film. It happens very quickly–as if some period of time is missing. However, considering that their being in love and wanting to get married is NOT the main point of the film, this can be forgiven.

The hiccup in this relationship is, surprisingly, not from Loren’s son. While he is in reform school, he likes the idea of the marriage. The problem is Quinn’s adult daughter. She has an almost incestuous bond with her father and she is determined to do anything to prevent him from remarrying–even if it means her losing her own chance for marriage. While this may seem a bit unrealistic, as a family therapist, such reactions from daughters to the prospect of their widowed fathers remarrying isn’t that unusual–and is the great basis of a film.

All this works together very well due to the acting. Quinn is simply great–very likable and decent. As for Loren, it’s one of her earliest English language films–and she is exceptional. In particular, I loved her body language and expressions. As for the rest, the ensemble cast is uniformly good. While this is not an exciting film, it is very well done and deserves to be seen. A sweet and worthwhile romance that will probably leave you feeling a bit misty-eyed.

But for the kids

Black Orchid concerns the story of two neighbors both of whom lost their respective spouses and seem like a natural match for each other. But for their respective children the ship of romance would have some smooth sailing.

Sophia Loren is a bit young to play a middle aged widow, but she carries it off beautifully. She was a bride fresh from Italy when she married her husband and she fell in love with the material wealth of America. It cost her husband his life when he turns to being a gangster to give his wife all she desires. She also shuns and is shunned by the neighborhood.

Anthony Quinn is a widower whose wife died years earlier and left him to raise daughter Ina Balin who was making her big screen debut. Although she is engaged to Peter Mark Richman she wants him to move in with her and her father and Richman who has his business in another town wants his own household.

As for Loren’s kid Jimmy Baird he’s on a youth farm for youthful offenders. How he reacts to his mother’s new romance is a bit unusual but in keeping with how the adult characters are drawn in this drama.

What I liked about Black Orchid is the sheer ordinariness of the people yet some great drama is played out across the screen. No heroes or villains, just people going about the day to day business of living. For a writer it’s probably the most difficult to find a story with these characters, but it is done beautifully in Black Orchid.

Case in point. Anthony Quinn and Sophia Loren were together before in the Italian film Attila where Quinn plays the title role the scourge of Europe and Loren is a pulchritudinous and seductive Roman princess. Two totally different types, but that’s a tribute to the acting ability of the stars.

This is a film that should get more attention and maybe it will some day.

Remarkable and intelligent account about a mature couple , being well directed and wonderfully performed

Patchy weeper with terrific and enjoyable performances , in which a businessman Frank Valente (Anthony Quinn) romancing criminal’s widow named Rose Bianco (Sophia Loren) and the principal problem results in convincing their children that marriage will make all their lives better . As the Italian Frank wooing a mobster’s widow that leads to unexpected consequences . Both of whom are strongly involved with their sons , as Frank has to convince his sternly moralising daughter (Ina Balin) about marry herself to Noble (Peter Mark Richman) , while Rose must convince her little boy Ralph (Jimmy Baird) who usually is locked at remand home like in N.Y. State Farm .

This is a plain and simple film with plenty of interesting drama , Soap opera , emotion and a sensitive as well as unexpectedly tender romance . Filmmaker Martin Ritt has got a considerable success in delineating their troublesome roles in this fabricated Soaper . Various character-studios furnish the basis for this agreeable drama and it results to be a superb piece of acting . Excellent interpretation by protagonist duo , as Anthony Quinn as the bungling businessman romancing a moll’s beautiful widow , this was the first of Anthony’s European roles leading to his hit five years later in ¨Zorba the Greek¨ . And Sophia Loren playing magnificently the mature but attractive crook’s widow , though she was 23 years old during filming, only 10 years older than the actor playing her juvenile son . The picture also established Loren’s claim as a player of some worth and paved the way for her Acadeny Award-winning success three years later in ¨Two women¨ and her triumph in ¨The Cid¨ . It is a mostly staged drama in which the two main actors spend the majority of the movie attempting to persuade their children that all will be better if they marry and it can work out . Nice screenplay by Joseph Stefano dealing with sensitive themes such as the disintegration of a family , an enticing love story , rebellious childhood and including engaging dialogs . Evocative cinematography in VistaVision by Robert Burks , he’s a classic cameraman and Hitchcock’s usual . The music is sparse, but it’s potent and lively every time it appears , it was composed by Alessandro Cicognini .

This understatement motion picture was well produced by Carlo Ponti , Sophia Loren’s husband , and professionally directed by Martin Ritt, who worked with Paul Newman in three Westerns : ¨Hombre¨ , ¨Hud¨ and ¨Outrage¨. Ritt was an expert on dramas such as ¨Stanley and Iris¨ , ¨Nut¨ , ¨Norma Rae¨ , ¨The front¨, ¨The Sound and the Fury¨ , though also directed films of all kind of genres such as : ¨The Spy Who Came in from the Cold¨ , ¨The Great White Hope¨ , ¨Mafia¨ and ¨Molly McGuire¨ . This ¨Black orchid¨ film will appeal to drama enthusiasts and Anthony Quinn/Sophia Loren fans . Rating : Above average, well worth watching ; along with ¨Hud¨ ,and ¨Outrage¨ being one of Ritt’s best movie.