TaryBiggBall
It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
Ketrivie
It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
Ogosmith
Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
ma-cortes
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.
pkryder-1
"The Black Orchid" is about a widow (Sophia Loren) of a murdered mobster, who finds new love in the widower who lives next door, played with great verve and humor by the always-good Tony Quinn.The Quinn character's barely-grown up daughter (Ina Balin) lives with him and she strongly disapproves of him getting involved with a gangster's widow, even going so far as to lock herself in her room for days on end in protest.This was one of the lovely Balin's earliest screen roles, and I thought that she was very good and convincing. Even in scenes with gorgeous Sophia Loren, Ina's beauty and radiance were absolutely intoxicating!!The film also has many comedic moments, including the trip that Quinn and Loren's characters take to the boarding school where her son is attending.The end of the film, in which the two women settle their differences and make breakfast together, is very heartwarming and downright charming.Now, how would you like to have had Sophia Loren and Ina Balin prepare breakfast for YOU ??!!!
whpratt1
Enjoyed this 1958 film which was the first film that Carlo Ponti who was Sophia Loren's husband in real life, and this was the first film that he directed in the United States for Paramount Studios. This story is about a woman, Rose Bianco, (Sophia Loren) who was the wife of a Mafia mobster who was killed and Rose just lived with her son and worked in a factory making flowers and mostly orchids. Frank Valente, (Anthony Quinn) is a widower after many years with a wife who had a mental condition. The neighbors all felt sorry for Rose and the fact that her only son was sent to a correction farm because he was a problem child and always ran away. The same neighbors wanted to matched up Rose & Frank in hopes of them getting married someday. This story becomes very complicated with many people falling in love and then there are many fights and plenty of cold shoulders going on. I noticed in the film whenever something was going wrong with people there was this strange music being played like in a horror film. Very unusual film and worth viewing this great 1958 Classic film.
gregorybnyc
I never knew about this film until I saw it on Netflix and decided to rent the DVD. I have always loved Sophia Loren. Along with Audrey Hepburn, she was my favorite female star growing up. Here's a 50s kitchen sink drama that if you look too hard seems awfully implausible. Loren plays the widow of a mafioso who has been killed drying to give his Italian-born wife (Sophia) everything her heart desires. Now a grief-stricken widow, she's trying to make ends meet while coping with a son who keeps running away until he is sent to a reform school. Her nosy next-door neighbor wants to fix Sophia up with a family friend, but Sophia resists, wallowing in her own self-pity and guilt, convinced her desire for material needs has caused her husband's death. Enter Athony Quinn, a somewhat older man--a widower with a grown daughter (Ina Balin) on the eve of her own marriage. Quinn's wife has died, apparently suffering from some form of mental breakdown and Quinn's daughter has been lovingly and obsessively taking care of her father. Quinn notices Sophia and falls for her right away. After resisting his advances, she finally begins to date him and in not time at all, Quinn proposes, saying he will sell the New York home in Little Italy and move to Somerville, NJ near his factory, and help her get her son out of reform school and live happily as a family. The difficulty here is Quinn's possessive daughter, who is now insisting that her fiancé move into with her and daddy after they marry. He understandably balks at the suggestion and whenever they argue, she has the bad habit of simply walking away from him. Of course when she finds out that her Dad wants to marry "that Mafia woman," Quinn's daughter has a meltdown. In a confrontation, Daddy slaps daughter who retires to her bedroom refusing to come out. All is resolved when Sophia takes matters in her own hands and confronts the daughter. Sophia and Quinn are blissfully reunited, and her son is released form the reform school. The daughter is reconciled with her fiancé, and they all live happily ever after. This is utterly absurd and doesn't make a bit of sense. However, under Martin Ritt's expert direction, Sophia delivers an expert, subtly acted performance that she would later become truly famous for. Quinn is outstanding, but you've seen this big, sensitive and physically imposing performance before. The daughter's role is the big hole in this movie, and newcomer Balin cannot do a thing to make her likable. The rest of the cast does their job expertly. Still the movie achieves wonderfully acted moments and anything that Sophia did during this period is worth watching. Her Hollywood years didn't yield a lot of outstanding studio movies, but she always transcends the thin material she's given. Sophia's essential luminescence always shines through. More than worthwhile.
