The Hollywood film industry and its audience has faced challenges resurrecting film noir classics produced from the 1940’s, Steve Anderson’s 2023 release “The White Orchird” aims to overcome those obstacles. During the last week of September, a new movie had its world premiere in Santa Barbara, California called “The White Orchid”, and at the same time its world premiere featured a promotional video where its plot seems heavily inspired by films such as “The Maltese Falcon” and “The Big Sleep.” “The White Orchid” is paraded under the guidance of the Humphrey Bogart Estate, alongside Stephen Bogart’s role as an executive producer.” is featured along with Bogart’s son, Stephen Bogart, who happens to be an executive producer on the project. The characters are played by Olivia Thirlby and other prominent actors. Everything rolled into one, the rewards for the genre fanatics exist, but this combination contains no potential box office hits.
Misty Thirlby depicts Claire, a shy investigator setting out to uncover the murder of a beautiful outsider who had been renting a house in Morro Bay. Thirlby has a challenge ahead of her; first, she has to identify the headless corpse and then assist with solving the crime. It is reported that the deceased, “Jessica“, was quite the promiscuous woman and had many one night stands with both men and women.
While Claire was investigating the murder, she came across a drawer filled with sex toys, an expensive outfit closet, some wigs, and eventually a mysterious stash of cash and a gun. She then begins to grow more and more infatuated with the encased corpse, and starts to wear her clothing, causing her to be completely transformed into a more flirtatious and seductive version of herself. Claire also begins to explore her sexuality and finds herself flirty with a woman she meets in a bar in San Francisco that “Jessica” used to go to.
Characters motivated by the obsession of a dead woman has been used in several suspense films which includes Rebecca, Laura, and Vertigo. (The Golden Gate Bridge shot alone pays homage to Kim Novak in Vertigo.) These designs are priceless, but they do set a high standard. The White Orchid does not ever come close to capturing the legacy of those films. Jones’s photography of the film and Rotthoff’s score undeniably evoke classic Hollywood films, and probably the best aspect of The White Orchid.
On the other hand, the performances are all over the place. Thirdly tries but does not sell a confident femme fatal detective as much as she does as a timid waif. Longtime character actor John Carroll Lynch is effective as the sheriff who’s too nosy for his own good. Star Trek has Nichelle Nichols taking a step outside of her comfort zone and giving some touching moments as a blind woman who knew the victim. (Her blindness serves the useful purpose of keeping her from revealing too much information.) Claire’s supervisor, played by Jennifer Beals, is a strong presence.
While the denouement appropriately pays off in parts, it adds one too many twists during the last scene. Similar to Lawrence Kasdan’s Body Heat, the climax has some enjoyable surprises which may fall flat on others. The film is entertaining to fans of the genre, but it will likely make one want to rewatch one of the better older romantic thrillers.
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