kapelusznik18 ***SPOILERS*** British Murder mystery where the murder weapon is of all things a rare black orchid that kills without leaving a trace but the smell of nicotine on it's victim. The victim of this fatal flower is the vindictive Sophie Winnington, Mary Laura Wood, who after catching her doctor husband Dr. John, Roland "Son of Leslie" Howard, making eyes on her kid sister Christine Shaw,Olga Edwards,who came to visit her from far off South Africa. Unable to wed Christine because of a British law that forbids a man, that's Dr. John, to marry his wife's sister unless she dies. And that's exactly what happens as Sophie suddenly drops dead on her way to her lawyer's office to file divorce papers against John that will have him leave one third of his money and property to her.With the police arresting Dr. John as the #1 suspect in his wife's murder the poor schmuck makes no attempt to defend himself in him feeling that he's a born loser and more then willing to meet his fate, the gallows, that's until both Christine and her friend Eric Blair, John Bentley, comes to his rescue. The fact that Dr. John was resigned to his sorry fate didn't discourage both Christine and Eric from going out to bat and all tilt to help him and save his life.***SPOILERS***It soon became evident that it was a deadly black orchid that did Sophie in and even more shocking the person who used the flower to do his dirty work was one of her many lovers whom like her husband Dr. John she treated like dirt. Caught by Christine with his pants down in his private green house the killer lost his cool and went all out to strangle her to death only to have Eric and the local police break through the glass before he could finish his job. It was Sophie's killer's love of flowers that gave him away that left a valuable clue, a whiff of the black orchid's nicotine,to his true identity.

MartinHafer 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.

secondtake 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.

filmfan86 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.