Black Orchid
Tags: revenge, murder

Plot synopsis:
Rose Bianco (Sophia Loren) a florist widowed by a famous gangster, looks for happiness with widower Frank Valente (Anthony Quinn). Rose is dealing with her son Ralph in a work farm for troubled boys, while for Frank, his grown up daughter Mary (Ina Balin) takes care of everything for him. Noble and Mary love each other and are engaged, but Mary refuses to marry him because she worries about who will take care of her father. She asks Noble to marry her and stay with her in her father’s house. At the same time, however, she refuses to accept Rose as her stepmother and allow her to join the family. Before Frank’s wedding day Mary irons Frank’s clothes, cooks all the food and locks herself in her room. This leads Rose and Frank to call everything off, devastating them both.
When Rose’s son finds out, he disappointedly runs away from the work farm, leading the police to come and search for him in the house. The next day, Noble comes and sees Frank is sleeping in his chair and Mary has still confined herself in upstairs. He asks her to come out, but there is no answer. Noble decides he will drop Frank off at Rose’s house and will wait at the church for him. Frank finds out that Rose is waiting beside the telephone for news about Ralph and reveals how miserable he is, torn between her and his daughter.
Frank leaves and joins Noble in the church and Rose heads for Frank’s house to confront Mary. Her son comes to the church, hoping to see his mother one last time before they send him to reform school. Frank and Noble bring him back to the farm and manage an agreement with the boarding manager, Mr. Harmon. On the other hand, thinking herself alone in the house, Mary unlocks the door and comes out of the room. There she meets Rose, who has decided to try to help Frank find happiness, even if it is not with her. Rose argues her point with Mary and makes her understand Rose's love for her father, and finally Mary accepts her, asking her to stay for coffee. Frank, Rose, Noble, and Mary have breakfast together. In the end, Rose and Frank take Ralph out of the work farm and the three happily walk toward the horizon.

Review: This one comes on the ABC often, and almost every time it does I manage to catch it either watching it or setting tape to record it.
It's a great little film.
It's a great little film.
Just sits around the hour mark but for that hour you have a lot of stuff packed in.The leads were believable despite the short run time and I liked the whole mystery aspect of it.
I found that enjoyable despite the fact I've seen the film like a gazillion time in repeats and it's one of those little gems, that if you blink you will miss so to speak.
Again I'd recommend this movie to anyone looking for a nice mystery to watch.6/10 from me..
A smart seductive wife and girl-next-door lab assistant--and he goes for the assistant.
Black Orchid (1953)A smart, crisp, and very British kind of drama with a touch of murder thrown in.
It has a flavor of a classic whodunit, but it's never quite seen from the point of view of someone who has to solve the crime.
Rather, we are wrapped up in this upper class world (at one point a woman says, as an apology, that she has just one gardener), and the crossed loves of two or three or maybe four of the characters becomes the meat of it.
It is a deceptively noir titled movie, directed by British workaday director Charles Saunders, but it's not a noir one bit.For movie buffs there is the wonderful Leslie Howard's son, Ronald, who has an amazing resemblance (and something less of a presence) on the screen.
Ronald Howard had a middling career, and many less than stellar performances on stage, and then screen, and then lots of telly, including a series of 39 episodes as Sherlock Holmes.
More impressive by far is his wife, played by Mary Laura Wood, an even lesser known actress of mostly 50s era dramas and some t.v. Here she is sharp and alive, so taut you are never sure what she's about to do or say next.
There are several good secondary performances, as well, and indeed, if anything lifts this movie up a bit, it's the committed, convincing acting all around.And the clever, if formulaic, plot..
Rather good film.
I caught this film late one night on the ABC and was pleasantly surprised to find Ronald Howard - best known for his role as Sherlock Holmes in the 1954 television series - playing the main character Dr.John Winnington, a kind hearted doctor who has the misfortune to stuck in a loveless marriage to a selfish woman, more interested in dinner parties than his work in curing disease.I thought Black Orchid was a rather good film, short and sweet (running a little less than one hour).
A neat little murder mystery in a who-dunnit structure.
The audience is able to participate in attempting to pick who the "real" killer is, following Christine and John's friend Eric as they desperately try to clear Winnington's name and find her sister's "real" murderer, whoever that may be...4 out of 5 stars..
More like a TV mystery than a feature film.
This short, engaging mystery has more in common with television episodes than it does with full-fledged, intricate movie mysteries.
There are a couple of red herrings along the way before the true killer is revealed at the end.It's the usual made-for-TV plot: man is torn between shrewish, manipulative wife and her cute, kindly sister.
Wife is killed, husband is blamed; sister and best friend must find the killer because the police won't look beyond the most obvious evidence.Interesting trivia note: the "best friend" is an author named Eric Blair.
"Eric Blair" was the real name of the author we know as George Orwell..
formula film from England.
Ronald Howard stars in "Black Orchid," also starring Olga Edwards, Mary Laura Wood, and Sheila Burrell.
Howard is a successful doctor in an unhappy marriage who wants to divorce his wife and marry her sister.
Under British law, this is not possible unless his wife happens to be dead.
You can guess the rest.Howard at some angles and certainly in his mannerisms resembles his famous father.
The meatier roles go to Sheila Burrell as his wife's loyal maid, and Mary Laura Wood as the cold wife.This is one of those short British cheapies, which I happen to like for some reason.
They're always very familiar, and it's like sitting down with an old friend.
And I did want to see Ronald Howard, best known for his Sherlock Holmes.These movies, and there are hundreds of them, are all of a piece.
Plot's key = a man cannot marry his wife's sister while wife still alive.
Dedicated research doctor has unhappy selfish wife.
Sister of wife comes to visit and her and doctor were fated for each other.
Wife gets divorce --and the plot's key is revealed : there is a law where a man cannot marry a wife's sister while wife still alive.Wife is poisoned husband accused and condemned to death.
Sister and husband's friend solve the murder.Mind you all this happens in less than an hour so the action is fast.The wife is far prettier than the sister thus seems somewhat miscast.
You find yourself wanting to see more of her and less of the sister.One reviewer called it a quota film....sounds reasonable.
Grade B on the Hollywood scale...maybe even a C.Still OK, if you are bored with little time.RECOMMEND.
Murder mystery.
John and Sophie Winnington are trapped in a loveless marriage.
He is a doctor and she feels he neglects her for his patients, yet won't give him a divorce.
In comes Sophie's younger sister, Chris, who immediately clicks with John and, all in the space of a few minutes of screen time, Sophie has found out about their affair, given John a divorce, and left with the revelation that he may be free of her now, but the law prevents him from marrying Chris as she is his ex-wife's sister.
He checks this out and finds it is so, and the only way he could marry Chris legally is if Sophie were dead....
Stanley Lord and Tucker McGuire as The Unsinkable Molly Brown the latter credited in "Black Orchid"(1953) as "American Woman" in the travel agency - (blink and you will miss her).And to clear up an above user who commented that at one point a woman apologized she "had only one gardener", well it was the wife of the publisher of "Eric Blair" literary joke ha ha, played by Patrick Barr.The latter being miscast as he normally played professional honest roles like "Mutt" Summers in "The Dam Busters" (1955).Whenever a character has his car tampered with by the murderer sawing through brake pipes in a downhill ride, I find myself screaming at the screen "Turn off the ignition and change down gears and use the side of the road to brake your speed".I accept compulsory safety belts were some time off into the future.Another annoying trait occurred when a complete stranger (nice Christine) knocks at the door and a maid lets her in unmonitored even saying she will be going off duty leaving the house apparently unoccupied.Another stupid mistake in films occurs when the murderer insists on acknowledging his crime and explaining his motive unbidden to a stranger.I suspected the maid Annette had lesbian leanings for Sophie her boss, the estranged wife of Dr.John Winnington (Ronald Howard) but of course film producers could not deal with same sex love on screen in 1953.Anyway it kept my attention for an hour so I awarded it 6/10..
Marvelous isn't it how some bad old movies simply refuse to lie down and die?
"Black Orchid" is a British quota quickie that will not surrender.
Maybe because it has such a short running time, plus an intriguing title, plus Ronald Howard (whose Sherlock Holmes has a following), it has been a favorite on my local TV station.
It's a thoroughly boring movie with absolutely nothing to offer.
With the exceptions of Sheila Burrell's fawningly vicious Annette and Mary Laura Wood's preening socialite, the players are a lackluster lot.
John Bentley is especially glum and even ever-reliable Russell Napier seems to be playing at half-steam..
A British quickie that should have been better..
This is a B-movie from the UK.
Like a typical B, it clocks in at about an hour and has a breezy pace from start to finish.
The story idea's pretty good but some sloppy writing here and there prevent this from being better.Dr.John Winnington (Ronald Howard) is a doctor married to a horrible woman.
Sophie Winnington (Mary Laura Wood) is very demanding and selfish and doesn't do well being at home when her husband sees his patients.
So, she runs around on him and goes to parties--and has a very, very strained relationship with her husband.
Sophie's sister, Christine (Olga Edwardes), comes to live with them.
She also starts working for John on his research.
Soon Sophie announces that John is boring and she wants a divorce--something John has been begging her for years.
Later, when Sophie comes back to get her things after the divorce, she announces she's leaving with another man AND if John and Christine want to marry because apparently the law says you cannot marry your sister-in-law if your wife is still alive.
This is an obviously telegraphed plot point--and soon the wife is dead.
The police assume the husband did it in order to marry Christine--but Christine and her friend decide to investigate the case for themselves.Quite a bit of the film makes little sense and shows shoddy writing--like the script was hurriedly slapped together.
When the pair are investigating the crime, then man they think is responsible for the murder leaves them alone with his wife for a while.
Then, as they leave, he recommends they go back to London by a shortcut--down a bit hill.
IMMEDIATELY, I thought 'he's cut the brakes--don't go that way'.
Later, after this car crashes, the man is shaken up and taken to the hospital.
Yup, she goes back to investigate the man's house...ALONE.
And, when the guy wakes up and calls for the nurse to bring the police, he tells the copper that Christine is in danger and might be killed and he tells them who the murderer is.
The policeman and the nurse AND the people at the local police station announce that he is crazy and refuse to investigate!!!
I would sure as h#&& think that if a person woke up after an accident that MIGHT have been caused by sabotage AND the person says a murder is about to be committed, I would have reacted!!!
Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy--and a bit of common sense would have make the film better..
Quick UK tale of Murder.
BLACK ORCHID 1953A fast moving murder mystery played out like a 1930's whodunit.
The film stars Leslie Howard's son, Ronald.
Ronald Howard is a top end medical type married to, Mary Laura Wood.
Wood is not amused with how Howard seems more interested in his work than him.
Wood is stepping out with other "gentlemen" behind Howard's back.
Olga Edwardes is now introduced to the plot.
Miss Edwardes is the younger sister of Wood.
Edwardes is also a medical type and she and Howard strike it off.
Howard tells Edwardes that he had asked his wife, Wood, for a divorce but the cow refused.
Also in the mix is Wood's maid, Sheila Burrell, novelist, John Bentley and his publisher, Patrick Barr.
Howard and Edwardes are in love and wish to marry.
The only thing in their way is Wood.
Wood suddenly decides she is moving home to South Africa.
She is also willing to grant Howard a divorce.
Wood tells Howard that there is a UK law that forbids a man to marry the sister of his ex.
Next thing you know, Miss Wood is creamed by a handy passing truck and killed.
Now Edwardes and Howard are free to wed.
That is till the coroner says Wood had been poisoned before the truck got her.
Wood's maid, Sheila Burrell, never liked Howard and put a bee in the Police's bonnet about him as a suspect.
The Police gobble up Howard when they find that the poison used, is the same substance Howard is experimenting with.
Miss Edwardes, along with Howard's pal, writer, John Bentley, do a bit of detective work of their own.
They turn up evidence of Wood's affair with another man.
And what a surprise they get when they discover that the man is Bentley's own publisher, Patrick Barr.
(This is pushing it a bit story wise)Barr is not happy with being outed and now tries to eliminate Edwardes and Bentley.
A spot of sabotage on the brakes of Bentley's car damn near works when Bentley and Edwardes crash.
Bentley is hauled in for a bit of repair work at the emergency ward.
Edwardes, silly girl that she is, tries to tackle Barr by herself.
She ends up at the wrong end of a choking and is only saved by maid Burrell arriving with a pistol.
(Another stretch, story wise) Howard is now released from jail and into Edwardes' arms.
The Black Orchid of the title is how Barr had poisoned Miss Woods.
He had covered the flowers he sent Woods with poison.
The film moves right along and at only 58 minutes, it does not over stay its welcome.The director was Charles Sanders.
Sanders made quite a few mystery, crime and noir during his 30 plus years directing.
A dandy little murder mystery.
John Wittington is a dedicated physician married to a beautiful but unhappy woman, Sophie.
Clearly all of our sympathy is meant to be for the good doctor but the disgruntled, self- centered Sophie does have a point.
He tells her that she knew from the beginning of their marriage that his work was the most important thing in his life.
Here are two people who never should have married.
Then enters Sophie's sister, Christine.
She takes a great interest in his work and clearly admires him.
In about two minutes they fall in love.
Sophie agrees to a divorce.
As she's leaving their house she, with a wicked grin, tells her now ex- husband that he will never be able to marry Christine because it is illegal for a man to marry his ex- wife's sister.
Of course, if the ex- wife is dead, this problem goes away.
Well, she does end up dead and the doctor is arrested and convicted of her murder.
Fortunately, Christine and the doctor's good friend Eric don't believe he did it and investigate on their own.
The movie is well paced and entertaining.
It was nice seeing Ronald Howard as the doctor; I had only previously seen him in the Sherlock Homes television series.
The entire cast was very good but special kudos go to the actress playing Sophie.
Recommended as an enjoyable way to spend an hour..
***SPOILERS*** British Murder mystery where the murder weapon is of all things a rare black orchid that kills without leaving a trace but the smell of nicotine on it's victim.
The victim of this fatal flower is the vindictive Sophie Winnington, Mary Laura Wood, who after catching her doctor husband Dr. John, Roland "Son of Leslie" Howard, making eyes on her kid sister Christine Shaw,Olga Edwards,who came to visit her from far off South Africa.
Unable to wed Christine because of a British law that forbids a man, that's Dr. John, to marry his wife's sister unless she dies.
And that's exactly what happens as Sophie suddenly drops dead on her way to her lawyer's office to file divorce papers against John that will have him leave one third of his money and property to her.With the police arresting Dr. John as the #1 suspect in his wife's murder the poor schmuck makes no attempt to defend himself in him feeling that he's a born loser and more then willing to meet his fate, the gallows, that's until both Christine and her friend Eric Blair, John Bentley, comes to his rescue.
The fact that Dr. John was resigned to his sorry fate didn't discourage both Christine and Eric from going out to bat and all tilt to help him and save his life.***SPOILERS***It soon became evident that it was a deadly black orchid that did Sophie in and even more shocking the person who used the flower to do his dirty work was one of her many lovers whom like her husband Dr. John she treated like dirt.
Caught by Christine with his pants down in his private green house the killer lost his cool and went all out to strangle her to death only to have Eric and the local police break through the glass before he could finish his job.
It was Sophie's killer's love of flowers that gave him away that left a valuable clue, a whiff of the black orchid's nicotine,to his true identity..
British mystery.
Did the doctor really do it?.
BLACK ORCHID is a quickie of a British mystery running almost an hour.
Dr. John Winnington(Ronald Howard)seems very trapped in a loveless marriage.
His wife(Mary Laura Wood)feels he is more interested in dinner parties than his duties at the hospital.
And he seems to ignore and neglect his wife with no shame.
Mrs. Winnington's younger sister Christine(Olga Edwardes)comes into the picture and flirtation and lust commences.
The doc's wife is wise to the attraction and has enough; she leaves him with a sly warning that British law will not let him marry her sister...that is as long as she is alive.
Winnington will soon become the prime suspect in his wife's tragic murder.
Christine and John's best friend Eric(John Bentley)will set out to clear his name.This Black & White film is short and sustainable.
The best acting comes from Wood.
Other players: Sheila Burrell, Russell Napier, Patrick Barr and Mary Jones.