Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

"The Black Orchid", a fairly anonymous picture by director Martin Ritt ("Hud", "Hombre" etc), stars Sophia Loren as Rose Bianco, a widowed florist who strikes up a relationship with widower Frank Valente (Anthony Qinn). Other subplots deal with Frank's grown up daughter, Mary (Ina Balin), who's reluctant to leave home and marry a man of her own; she fears that doing so will constitute an abandonment of her father.Indeed, virtually everyone in the film fears abandonment. Rose's son, stuck in a boarding school, feels discarded, as do Rose and Frank, who've been abandoned by their respective spouses, and Mary herself, who desires not to be torn away from her father. The film ends with these anxieties resolved, new connections made and bridges built.Amongst the cast, actor Anthony Quinn stands out; he's as infectious as usual. Sophia Loren is stiff, but this fits her role. The film was directed by Martin Ritt, who would go on to do a number of far more interesting films.7/10 – Worth one viewing.

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.

The soon-to-be-married daughter of a handsome widower is furious when her father starts dating the widow of a gangster. Anthony Quinn and Sophia Loren are quite good as the older lovers whose romance hits a family obstacle (Quinn, in particular, is well-attuned to his role), but the stereotypical Italian characters get to be a bit much. One can understand why Quinn's daughter is reluctant to let go of her papa (she's been mother and daughter to him for years), but her overwrought behavior--not to mention her over-acting--creates an hysterical mood which nearly undermines the love story. Martin Ritt directed, staging the piece with sensitivity yet never allowing the characters and their emotions to bloom. **1/2 from ****