The Black Orchid (1958)

Director:

Martin Ritt

Writer:

Joseph Stefano (writer)

Release Date:

24 March 1959 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

More than a story of love... a story of life!

Plot:

After mobsters murder her husband, Rose Bianco works long hours making artificial flowers, to support herself and her son...

Plot Keywords:

Actor Shares First Name With Character

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Sophia Loren	...	Rose Bianco
Anthony Quinn	...	Frank Valente
Peter Mark Richman	...	Noble
Virginia Vincent	...	Alma Gallo
Frank Puglia	...	Henry Gallo
Jimmy Baird	...	Ralph Bianco
Naomi Stevens	...	Guilia Gallo
Whit Bissell	...	Mr. Harmon
Robert Carricart	...	Priest
Joe Di Reda	...	Joe
Jack Washburn	...	Tony Bianco
Ina Balin	...	Mary Valente

Runtime:

Brazil:94 min | USA:96 min | Argentina:98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:16

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Sophia Loren was 23 years old during filming, only 10 years older than the actor playing her juvenile son.

Quotes:

Frank Valente: Working at night? Even God doesn't work at night.
Rose Bianco: To make a living people do many things God doesn't do.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: Sophia Loren: Actress Italian Style" (1997)

Quinn and Loren Shine in Melodramatic Soap Opera

An early effort by director Martin Ritt, "The Black Orchid" is an unconvincing melodrama about the romance between a widow and a widower. Each has a child that complicates the situation, although the widower's daughter provides most of the roadblocks to the couple's happiness. Filmed in black and white by Hitchcock favorite Robert Burks, the story is predictable and often frustrating and annoying. The widower's daughter, played by Ina Balin, evidently suffers from mental illness, although professional help is not sought. She locks herself in her room to protest her father's involvement with the widow, she walks out on her fiancé after he refuses impossible living arrangements, and she is obsessed with maintaining her hold on her father and his life. The character is unsympathetic, and most fathers would have put her on an analyst's couch, while most fiancés would have seen what the future held and walked out.

However, the film cannot be completely dismissed, because the widow is played by Sophia Loren at her most beautiful, despite a nearly all-black wardrobe, and the widower is played by Anthony Quinn, who is wonderfully appealing in a rugged lovable way. Physically and emotionally, Loren and Quinn make a fine pair, and their performances rise above the problematic material. Quinn particularly has a difficult time making his character believable. That such an imposing forceful man would allow his daughter to ruin his life is hard to swallow, especially when the happiness of the widow, her son, and his daughter's fiancé also hang in the balance. Loren is on firmer ground in a role that takes the actress from mourning a dead husband to the joy of newfound romance. Her strong performance foreshadows her later work in "Marriage Italian Style." Loren's famous eyes are on full display, and the actress seems wise and earthy beyond her years. Perhaps Quinn's performance was not acting, because who could fail to fall for Sophia.

The movie moves back and forth between sets and locations. Although the sets are well designed, their stagy nature is jarring when the action moves outdoors. Few actors stand out beyond the leads, except for a matchmaking neighbor amusingly played by Naomi Stevens. The screenplay by Joseph Stefano, better known for "Psycho," borders on soap opera and seems conceived for the stage. Like a well-oiled episode of "As the World Turns," "The Black Orchid" moves slowly to a predictable, if unconvincing, conclusion that extols the power of sausage, which is perhaps a symbolic key to the daughter's emotional problems. However, despite its flaws, the magnificent stars ultimately redeem the film and save it from the dustbin of Hollywood history. Unfortunately, Loren and Quinn no longer grace the screen, but fortunately their shadows linger and enhance even otherwise lackluster films such as this one.