I first purchased a DVD of NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH (1948) from quality public domain provider VCI Entertainment back in 2010 (it has since been discontinued). I had never seen it or even heard of it but I was intrigued by hearing it described by its original English critics as “the worst British movie ever made. That wouldn’t have deterred me from seeing it, in fact it should have made it irresistible, but I was watching and reviewing so many movies at that time that I just simply forgot about it. FLASH FORWARD to today (2024). I was re-arranging several of my old DVDs which I had stored in my then 10 year old daughter’s summer camp trunk when I ran across it and said to myself, “oh yeah, I never did watch this” and so I did.
Well, I was completely taken by surprise! Not only was it not “the worst British movie ever made”, it was actually quite good and the film worked on several different levels. After watching it and then reading up on it (I like to go into an unseen movie without any preconceptions), I realized that the storyline had been remade in 1971 as THE GRISSOM GANG by American director Robert Aldrich and starring Kim Darby (fresh from her role in John Wayne’s TRUE GRIT). It got withering reviews and so I never saw that version nor did I want to. Back to NO ORCHIDS. It was an attempt by the Brits to make an American film noir and they succeeded brilliantly because they were able to include things that the Hollywood Production Code would never allow.
Those things include extended kisses between the romantic leads, more violent behavior exhibited by and towards other characters, and a couple of risque nightclub numbers that are full of not too subtle innuendo. What was not permissible in America was allowed by the British censors. Usually Brit movies were considered stodgy when compared to their U.S. counterparts but that’s not the case here. It is this aspect of NO ORCHIDS that so outraged 1948 English critics who just couldn’t believe it and responded with a plethora of negative reviews like the one I quoted above. Of course the movie is viewed differently today for including those same elements although on closer examination, the film comes across as an over the top comment on American Film Noir.
NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH was originally a best selling novel in Britain. It was written in 1939 by James Hadley Chase who admitted upfront that it was heavily influenced by William Faulkner’s SANCTUARY and a 1933 American movie based on it called THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE. Three years later, in 1942, the book was turned into a successful West End stage play that starred Linden Travers in the title role. She reprises her role in the movie. The role of Slim was played in the stage version by the legendary Robert Newton (LONG JOHN SILVER-“Arrr!, avast me hearties!) He was unavailable for the movie version so they got American actor Jack La Rue who bore a striking resemblance to Humphrey Bogart.
The plot, taken from the novel and then the play, concerns an heiress who is kidnapped from her engagement party along with her fiance’ by 3 small-time crooks. This comes to the attention of professional mobsters the Grissom gang. They bump off the crooks who have killed the fiance’ and plan to ransom the heiress themselves. However Slim, the leader of the gang and the heiress fall for each other and plan to run away together without asking for a ransom. This doesn’t go down well with other members of the gang who have their own plans. After several confrontations, every member of the gang dies and the broken-hearted heiress is returned to her family and the rich lifestyle which she despises. The film concludes with a twist ending.
After the VCI DVD was discontinued, the only way to see NO ORCHIDS was to obtain a Region 2 DVD from the U.K. There were two different discs with the BEST OF BRITISH Collection one being the better of the two. Then in 2018, for the movie’s 70th anniversary, Kino Lorber released NO ORCHIDS on Blu-Ray which is Region 1 only. The following year, 2019, Powerhouse Films, as part of their critically acclaimed INDICATOR series, released an All-Region Blu-Ray of the movie which comes with a host of supplemental material including interviews, a World War II docudrama from the director, and an informational booklet. There are also new and improved subtitles. If you’re a fan of Film Noir, then you need to see NO ORCHIDS.
The Capsule Critic 