Black Orchid

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. And she was in almost nothing else you can get your hands on, so enjoy her for what she's worth. 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.

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...

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.

This short, engaging mystery has more in common with television episodes than it does with full-fledged, intricate movie mysteries. The characters are fairly one-dimensional, so we can dispense with character development and move the plot along. 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. Was this name chosen as a joke? "Eric Blair" was the real name of the author we know as George Orwell.

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. He gives a smooth performance, but one not particularly filled with emotion. 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. If you've seen one, you've seen all of them.