The Black Orchid

Rating:
Summary: Priceless Movie
Review: Many of you might be unfamiliar with this particular movie. But I will say one thing: you are definitely missing a lot if you don't watch this very touchy drama. I don't think they ever showed this movie on AMC but they really should. Although the movie is filled with sad moments, there's still a certain mellowness to it. I have watched this movie 10 years ago and I decided to rewatch it again last week. I almost forgot how delightful it was. Please watch it if you get a chance, and you'll see what I mean.

Rating:
Summary: A film about second chances.
Review: Sophia Loren is a headstrong widow and loving mother with a past. Her deceased husband was involved in the crime world and the neighbors aren't too friendly to her. Her young son is lost without guidance. Anthony Quinn, who portrays a lonely widow, tries hard to convince Loren and his daughter that they could be a happy family. Quinn is great as he desperately tries to reason with people all caught up in the past. There is always hope and love, if you try hard enough seems to be a good message here in this film. Good chemistry between Loren and Quinn.

Rating:
Summary: Touching romance
Review: There is more than a hint of the Oscar winning Marty in this quiet and well obseved drama ,shot in luminous black and white by Roberet Barr and directed with ecconomy and restraint by Martin Ritt.
Anthony Quinn palys a widower who falls in love with Rose Bianco -the Black Orchid of the title.She is a widow whose husband was entangled with the mob and killed in a mob hit.She is eking out a living working in an artificial flower company and worrying about her son who is a persistent escapeee from the county farm.Initially resistant she soon falls heavily for Quinn's rough hewn charms but there is an obstacle -the staunch opposition of his possessive daughter ,played by Ina Balin.
The movie is the story of the courtship and its eventual resolution .
Sterling performances by the leads and a strong musical score by Alessandro Cicognini compensate for the slighly over sentimental script but overall this a neglected little gem