After watching this movie I wanted more info. Wiki to the rescue. This movie couldn't have been FURTHER from the truth. Read it for yourselves. Almost everything is revised or "tailored" for convenience and marketability. Many things irked me but pay particular attention to the fact that Thalia committed suicide (as in the movie) but she did it in 1963 on the mainland. Not in her mother's shower after the trial! AND WHO THE HELL IS POLICE CAPTAIN CURTIS MADDOX? And there was a shooting, but NOT IN THE COURTROOM. Purely sensational. Mr. Katkov should be ashamed, what a prostitute he was/is.
Below is one paragraph, see the whole short article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massie_Trial In February 1986, CBS-TV aired a four-hour miniseries produced by Lorimar Productions titled Blood & Orchids, written for television by Norman Katkov, who based his teleplay on his own novel of the same title. Though Katkov said that he based his novel on the Massie Affair, his novel and teleplay bear only a superficial resemblance to actual fact. Katkov changed all the names of the principal characters and added other characters for whom no historical warrant can be found (most notably, Police Captain Curtis Maddox, supposedly the one conscientious law-enforcement officer who ever investigated the affair). Katkov's story also departs significantly from actual historical events in many ways, not least of which is making the murder of Kahahawai look like a crime of passion rather than the cold-blooded murder that it actually was--and also laying all the blame on Lieutenant Massie and not on Grace Fortescue, the true instigator of Kahahawai's murder.
I got to admit, I liked the movie a lot more before finding out the real story. It does have a nice look, if not a little heavy-handed in the wardrobe department. KK goes through the whole movie (remember, this is Hawaii) in a freshly pressed 3-piece suit, vest fully buttoned and jacket permanently affixed to his body. And the stupid fedora, give me a break. They want you to believe no one wore shirt sleeves I guess.
5 out of 10 for the moderate entertainment value. Still worth a watch.
hollywoodjim@gmail.com
Below is one paragraph, see the whole short article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massie_Trial In February 1986, CBS-TV aired a four-hour miniseries produced by Lorimar Productions titled Blood & Orchids, written for television by Norman Katkov, who based his teleplay on his own novel of the same title. Though Katkov said that he based his novel on the Massie Affair, his novel and teleplay bear only a superficial resemblance to actual fact. Katkov changed all the names of the principal characters and added other characters for whom no historical warrant can be found (most notably, Police Captain Curtis Maddox, supposedly the one conscientious law-enforcement officer who ever investigated the affair). Katkov's story also departs significantly from actual historical events in many ways, not least of which is making the murder of Kahahawai look like a crime of passion rather than the cold-blooded murder that it actually was--and also laying all the blame on Lieutenant Massie and not on Grace Fortescue, the true instigator of Kahahawai's murder.
I got to admit, I liked the movie a lot more before finding out the real story. It does have a nice look, if not a little heavy-handed in the wardrobe department. KK goes through the whole movie (remember, this is Hawaii) in a freshly pressed 3-piece suit, vest fully buttoned and jacket permanently affixed to his body. And the stupid fedora, give me a break. They want you to believe no one wore shirt sleeves I guess.
5 out of 10 for the moderate entertainment value. Still worth a watch.
hollywoodjim@gmail.com