James Hadley Chase was a prolific British crime writer whose books
were so fast paced that "page turner" was the phrase invented to
describe them and there was often a totally unexpected plot twist
that would surprise even his most die hard fans. Initially his books
had an American setting with gangster and New York vernacular
interspersed with visits to the cinema and rides on omnibuses etc
but by the mid 1940s he tried a different approach and started to set
them in the London underworld.
"No Orchids for Miss Blandish" was originally a West End play in 1942 and unlike the movie which wasn't appreciated in it's day, the play was praised and ran for 203 performances. Beautiful Linden Travers was the coolly seductive heiress Miss Blandish in the play and she repeated her role in the movie. She is due to be married but her fiance finds her cold and aloof, she is also being sent orchids by an unknown admirer with cryptic messages ie "don't do it". Her maid is being romanced by a small time hoodlum who, in dire need of money, tries to peddle his idea of stealing the heiress' diamond necklace, to a small gang of thugs. However the Grissom gang gets wind of it and the robbery goes horribly wrong with a violent shootout which leaves her in hysterics.
The buildup to Jack La Rue's appearance is big - Slim's ruthlessness is talked about in hushed terms and in a scene eerily reminiscent of the one in "The Story of Temple Drake", viewers will not be disappointed. For fans who know La Rue through his early 1930s work - he is the only actor who could have pulled this off. His sadistic brutality, in stark contrast with the almost elegant romantic - two people, not quite put together right, find their soulmate!!
Based (I think) on the Ma Barker gang legend, Slim's mother, equally as vicious as her son, runs the Grissom Club with a rod of iron but questions are raised as to Slim's worthiness to lead the gang as bit by bit his affection and love for Miss Blandish starts to humanize him and they even dream of fleeing to a foreign country to start life again. This film is so ahead of it's time - the only false note are the American accents (Sidney James was to be a repeat offender). The whole atmosphere seemed to have more in common with the street thuggery of the London underworld of the Krays, than the type of setting that was the American crime movie of the late 1940s. The violence leaves you feeling breathless, half the gang members are psychotic - one pistol whips the original instigator of the robbery leaving him for dead - there's no second chance for any of them. MacDonald Parke who played Doc, a Sidney Greenstreet type character, had a unique way of holding his cigarette and you know you are in rough company when even the reporter packs a gun and is not afraid to use it!!
Highly Recommended
"No Orchids for Miss Blandish" was originally a West End play in 1942 and unlike the movie which wasn't appreciated in it's day, the play was praised and ran for 203 performances. Beautiful Linden Travers was the coolly seductive heiress Miss Blandish in the play and she repeated her role in the movie. She is due to be married but her fiance finds her cold and aloof, she is also being sent orchids by an unknown admirer with cryptic messages ie "don't do it". Her maid is being romanced by a small time hoodlum who, in dire need of money, tries to peddle his idea of stealing the heiress' diamond necklace, to a small gang of thugs. However the Grissom gang gets wind of it and the robbery goes horribly wrong with a violent shootout which leaves her in hysterics.
The buildup to Jack La Rue's appearance is big - Slim's ruthlessness is talked about in hushed terms and in a scene eerily reminiscent of the one in "The Story of Temple Drake", viewers will not be disappointed. For fans who know La Rue through his early 1930s work - he is the only actor who could have pulled this off. His sadistic brutality, in stark contrast with the almost elegant romantic - two people, not quite put together right, find their soulmate!!
Based (I think) on the Ma Barker gang legend, Slim's mother, equally as vicious as her son, runs the Grissom Club with a rod of iron but questions are raised as to Slim's worthiness to lead the gang as bit by bit his affection and love for Miss Blandish starts to humanize him and they even dream of fleeing to a foreign country to start life again. This film is so ahead of it's time - the only false note are the American accents (Sidney James was to be a repeat offender). The whole atmosphere seemed to have more in common with the street thuggery of the London underworld of the Krays, than the type of setting that was the American crime movie of the late 1940s. The violence leaves you feeling breathless, half the gang members are psychotic - one pistol whips the original instigator of the robbery leaving him for dead - there's no second chance for any of them. MacDonald Parke who played Doc, a Sidney Greenstreet type character, had a unique way of holding his cigarette and you know you are in rough company when even the reporter packs a gun and is not afraid to use it!!
Highly Recommended