Arminhos e Orquídeas

Colleen Moore was one of the really great comediennes of the silent era. Orchids and Ermine shows her off at her very best. Her puzzlement at the appearance of Mickey Rooney is worth the movie by itself. And when she rejects the fresh overtures of Jack Mulhall and leaves with her dignity intact, it is not difficult to see why he would chase her through New York City in a driving rain, board a double-decker bus, pay the bus driver to catch up with her bus, and then leap from the top of his bus to hers in order to explain himself. What male would not be smitten? When true love triumphs in the end it hardly seems contrived. Surely no male, rich or poor, would ever consider life worth living without Colleen Moore.

Quintessential flapper Colleen Moore shines brightly in the darling Orchids and Ermine, a bubbly comedy with a title that perfectly matches its Roaring Twenties sensibility. As Pink Watson, a lowly hotel telephone operator who falls in love with an oil millionaire without even knowing it (the wealthy businessman has traded places with his valet to escape relentless gold diggers), Moore shows off indomitable spirit with a razor-sharp tongue to match -- courtesy of Ralph Spence's inter-titles. The energetic Moore has a unique gift for silent screen humor, and Orchids and Ermine, with a bounty of misunderstandings, will not disappoint those in search of a Jazz Age romantic comedy served up with plenty of heart to go along with its fizz.

Cute comedy with Colleen Moore as a switchboard operator at a fancy hotel who meets an oil millionaire from Oklahoma but she thinks he's the valet. Not a great comedy but perfectly OK with a nice performance by Moore, who by the late 20s was one of the biggest box office draws in movies.

Several good scenes save this but is seems a bit sluggish and slow to get going. Jack Mulhall plays the millionaire, Sam Hardy is the valet, Gwen Lee is Ermintrude the "friend," Hedda Hopper plays the sales lady, and 7-year-old Mickey Rooney plays a midget! Moore is very good once the story gets rolling, a natural comic and film actress, she could be beautiful or look like Harry Langdon. Her trademark hair-do made her stand out. The rest of the cast is fine in this little comedy.

Orchids and Ermine was a big hit, but not as big as Lilac Time in 1928, which was a smash! Unfortunately Colleen Moore flopped in a series of badly made semi-talkies and a few attempts at talkies.

The 1920s and the decades thereafter must have seen hundreds of films about poor girls who fall in love with rich men and eventually marry them, without, of course, being in any way gold diggers! The genre seems to have died - maybe at the hand of comedies like 'Some Like it Hot' (1959) - by the 1960s. 'Orchids and Ermine' is a thoroughly pleasing example. Its plot is simple but offers some enjoyable twists, and the acting is really very good. Colleen Moore was perfect in the kind of role she plays here. The film is less sophisticated than that of for example 'Why Be Good' (another film of the poor girl-rich man genre), that Moore filmed two years later, which is why I am rating it seven rather than eight stars, but this is still a very nice picture. Watch it if you get the chance.

Orchids and Ermine is the story of a girl who loves and wants both from her husband. "Pink" Watson (Colleen Moore) refuses the love of a working class man for the dream of wealth and prosperity. She wins a job as a telephone operator in a ritzy hotel simply because she is not overdone. There she meets Ermintrude (Gwen Lee), a gold digger who only appears to be more successful than Pink. The two become part of a trick among a very wealthy man and his valet. Richard Tabor (Jack Milhall) is a meek, intellectual type which is probably why he is a millionaire. To avoid being swarmed by gold diggers, he switches identities with his valet Hank (Sam Hardy) who gladly parades his "wealth" around. In the process he meets Pink who falls for him despite his money and becomes the victim of various mishaps due to the switch.

This is yet another silly film starring Moore, but a good one. She's a lot of fun in her comic role. Milhall is great too, very reminiscent of Harold Lloyd's bashful character. Also making an appearance is Mickey Rooney, a seven year old playing a sophisticated midget. You'd never guess it was him by his looks, but his acting ability is apparent even at this early stage.