Black Orchid (1953)
3/10
A British quickie that should have been better.
31 January 2014
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'. Did this occur to these two characters? Nope. Later, after this car crashes, the man is shaken up and taken to the hospital. What does the woman do? 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.
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