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mariocki · 4 years ago

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No Orchids for Miss Blandish (Black Dice, 1948)

"Say, Doc, what're you gonna do with your cut?"

"Oh, much the same as you, Flyn, I expect - 'cept that mine'll bathe every day instead of alternate Thursdays."

"Hey, what d'ya mean?"

"And you, Edward, my boy? Does this rosy prospect, this rich and heartening future, displease you?"

"I never count my chickens till I've wrung their necks."

#No Orchids for Miss Blandish #Black Dice #1948 #british cinema #crime film #St. John Legh Clowes #James Hadley Chase #Jack La Rue #Linden Travers #Hugh McDermott #Walter Crisham #MacDonald Parke #Danny Green #Lilli Molnar #Charles Goldner #Zoe Gail #Leslie Bradley #Richard Neilson #Michael Balfour #Frances Marsden #Walter Gotell #sid james #An absolutely fascinating footnote in Brit cinema history. A completely British production‚ with a largely Brit cast (aside from one or two #Token yanks) and shot in the UK in 1948; but trying desperately to pass itself off as a US gangster flick. The result is a bunch of brit #Character actors shouting 'wiseguy!' and using tommy guns to blast each other apart. All this is very weird and slightly disorientating but #Get past it and there's a rewardingly silly crime melodrama to enjoy. A critical bomb on first release‚ banned in multiple territories‚#Slated by politicians and the Bishop of London among others; the excessive violence and frank sexuality was at odds with post war tastes #In some ways this film is just a little ahead of its time. La Rue (one of the few actual Americans) does his best Bogart as he snarls and #Rolls dice in a sinister fashion. Travers‚ an old favourite (Mrs Todhunter!)‚ does what she can with a slightly flighty and nonsensical #Role. But it's the background cast‚ the likes of Sid James‚ Walter Gotell‚ Harold Kasket‚ that steal focus as improbable Americans

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theartofmoviestills · 5 years ago

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No Orchids for Miss Blandish | St. John Legh Clowes | 1948

#No Orchids for Miss Blandish #St. John Legh Clowes

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ozu-teapot · 6 years ago

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No Orchids For Miss Blandish | St. John Legh Clowes | 1948

#St. John Legh Clowes #No Orchids For Miss Blandish #1948

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natehoodreviews · 6 years ago

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There’s precisely one sequence in No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1948), St John Legh Clowes’ grisly gangster film adaptation of James Hadley Chase’s novel, where the stars align and everything comes perfectly together. It happens about a third of the way through the film and centers on a bone-chilling confrontation between two criminals.

The first, a gutter crook who orchestrated the kidnapping of pampered heiress Miss Blandish (Linden Travers), the second, Slim Grisson (Jack La Rue), a cold-blooded member of the Grisson gang, one of New York City’s most feared crime syndicates. After bungling the kidnapping so disastrously it devolved into a triple homicide leaving Blandish’s fiancé and two of his criminal accomplices dead on a country road, the crook spirits his victim away to a hidden cabin where he tries to rape her. But he’s found out by Slim who moves in to snatch Blandish—and her ransom—away from him.

Showing up to the cabin with a coterie of thugs, Slim sits on a table and starts rolling two black dice into a dish. The sound of the dice is deafening, maddening. Click-clack. Click-clack. CLICK-CLACK. And all the while the crook begs, yells, and pleads with Slim to have a heart and leave him with a piece of the action. Click-clack. Just one of her jewels! Click-clack. Please, anything!! CLICK-CLACK. Broken, defeated, the crook sobs a surrender and turns to leave. But at the last moment he spins, desperately pulling out a pistol. With a flash, one of Slim’s lackeys blasts him to pieces and he collapses to the ground as dead as his hare-brained buddies.

This scene is a masterwork of tension, dread, and atmosphere. Slim’s quiet, almost insouciant cruelty; the unflinching long camera shot and expert character blocking; the uncaring click-clacking of the dice like the ticking of a clock counting down to the kidnapper’s pitiless doom. All of these blend together magnificently into magnetic movie magic.

To read the rest of this piece, click on the link!

Published on TheRetroSet.com

#1948 #★★½ #British Cinema #No Orchids for Miss Blandish #St. John Legh Clowes #Jack La Rue #Linden Travers #Film Reviews #The Retro Set

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nostalgiepourmoi · 4 years ago

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No Orchids for Miss Blandish, 1948.

#Noirvember #No Orchids for Miss Blandish #Noir #Linden Travers #Jack La Rue #Hugh McDermott #1940s #Dir. St. John Legh Clowes #1948 #Nostalgiepourmoi

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citizenscreen · 4 years ago

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St. John Legh Clowes’ controversial NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH was released in the U.S.A. #OnThisDay in 1948.

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manualstogo · 5 years ago

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For just $3.99 Things Happen at Night Released in 1947: A mischievous poltergeist attached to the young Prescott daughter is causing havoc in the Prescott home after dark, so a ghost hunter, an insurance agent and the girl's father stay up this night to capture the ghost and send him packing. Directed by: Francis Searle Written by: St. John Legh Clowes and Frank Harvey The Actors: Gordon Harker Joe Harris, Alfred Drayton Wilfred Prescott, Robertson Hare Vincent Ebury, Gwynneth Vaughan Audrey Prescott, Olga Lindo mother Hilda Prescott, Garry Marsh Spenser, Wylie Watson Watson the butler, Joan Young Mrs. Venning the cook, Beatrice Campbell Joyce Prescott, Grace Denbigh Russell Miss Hancock, Judith Warden Mrs. Fortescue, June Elvin Mabel Minter, Knox Crichton Nobby Ebury, Eric Micklewood Robert Ebury, Charles Doe Bill, Ernest Borrow unknown, Michael Callin Mac, George Brydon Freddie Simpson, Esma Lewis unknown, Lilian Stanley unknown, Peter Reynolds unknown, Patricia Owens unknown, Marilyn Williams singer, Eric Robinson himself, L. Franks little person Runtime: 1h 19m *** This item will be supplied on a quality disc and will be sent in a sleeve that is designed for posting CD's DVDs *** This item will be sent by 1st class post for quick delivery. Should you not receive your item within 12 working days of making payment, please contact us as it is unusual for any item to take this long to be delivered. Note: All my products are either my own work, licensed to me directly or supplied to me under a GPL/GNU License. No Trademarks, copyrights or rules have been violated by this item This product complies withs rules on compilations, international media and downloadable media. All items are supplied on CD or DVD.

#theater #classic #movie #vintage #theatre #film

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theartofmoviestills · 6 years ago

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