General Sternwood (Charles Waldren): Do you like orchids?
Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart): Not particularly.
General Sternwood: Ugh. Nasty things. Their flesh is too much like the flesh of men, and their perfume has the rotten sweetness of corruption.
From The Big Sleep (WB, 1946)
For some reason I have always appreciated that dialogue set in the humid sweltering environs of Sternwood’s greenhouse. Every time I see an orchid I think of two things: 1) The Big Sleep and 2) The Day of the Triffids. An orchid looks a bit like a triffid correct? They’re menacing. Somehow in color the beauty of orchids prevails over the creepy aspects. Look at the difference.
In any event, what looks more menacing? Generally I believe monster movies were meant for black and white composition.
monsterminions 