A Orquídea Negra

At first , I saw it as a sort of refuge . Familiar actors, good script, old fashion romance , beautiful acting.

And a realistic obstacle front to a form of new chance to happiness for two single people after not easy experiences from past.

A film about love, neighbuorhood, attitudes and answers, difficulties and life in fresh aspects .

Sure, for so many reasons, the film of Sophia Loren and Anthony Quinn. But it is not honest or fair to ignore the supporting actors.

The main virtue of film, maybe wise mix of honesty and noble simplicity. A film who you feel it , scene by scene, against a sort of hurry to craft the romance. But, no doubts, a film who deserves be seen. Not only once.

Martin Ritt has always been a director concerned by social problems:racism,illiteracy,the lot of workers and trade unionism,juvenile delinquency.And some of his works are commendable:"Stanley and Iris","Norma Rae" "edge of the city" to name but three.

This is the latter subject we find here:Ralphie ,whose late father was a gangster has been sent to a reform school.His mother (Loren) wants to marry an honest man (Quinn).But they've got to reckon with the guy's offspring who's not prepared to accept that.We deal with a "serious" sitcom which drowns out Ralphie's character.Sophia Loren 's portrayal is minimal,and Quinn cannot make up for it.The supporting cast,particularly Quinn's daughter,her fiancé and her confidant,has no presence at all.

Get Douglas Sirk's "imitation of life" instead if you think melodrama can be great art!

Martin Ritt was a very good director, but this film is not his best. Probably because the film was one of those he directed after being accused of being communist during the McCarthy's hunt. Two stars like Sophia Loren and Anthony Quinn together again for the second time (They were acting together in "Attila" 1954) made the film a good entertainment with a very happy end. Quinn's daughter is too egoist with his father because she does not want to share him with any other woman, and once noticed the new relationship with Sophia, a widow of a presumably maffia man, who also has a son sitting in farm school for children with problems of behavior. Sophia solved the problem Quinn had with his daughter (too simple way of solution) and Quinn was able to get the sympathy of her son and to take him back with them. I wish life could be like it was shown here, it was so simple and easy.

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.

To this point in her American career, Italian actress Loren had starred mainly in big budget, Technicolor productions—e.g. Legend of the Lost, The Pride and the Passion, Boy on a Dolphin, (all 1957). Of course, such a format showed off her ample proportions for that mammary obsessed decade. I suspect this little b&w production was intended to help establish her as more than a sex goddess. And it does.

She's quite good in the de-glamorized role of an embittered working widow, Rose. Despite her resistance, she's being intensely courted by prosperous business man, Frank (Quinn). Trouble is Frank's daughter Mary (Balin), is very possessive of dad and also thinks Rose is undeserving of him. So Mary creates problems that jeopardize not only dad's engagement but also her own—to nice guy Noble (Richman). If this sounds like tangled relationships, it is, especially when Rose's delinquent son (Baird) is added to the mix.

Fortunately, the movie's well acted and directed (Ritt), which helps what turns out to be something of a soap opera. The first part comes across as mainly a character study as the hardened widow Rose fends off Frank's persistent gambits. However, once the relationships begin to spread and conflict, the screenplay takes on a more conventional tone. Also, looks like the movie was shot entirely on the Paramount lot. Thus, I expect they were able to squeeze it into her hectic schedule. Note too how subtly actress Loren expresses emotions with her eyes. That's probably something guys like me never noticed before.

Despite the obscurity in Loren's canon, the film works as an engaging showcase for the two leads, and is not without its moments.