The White Orchid

The location photography in Mexico is a noticeable plus in this adventure feature, which is watchable but just fair overall. The story follows a very familiar pattern, yet it opens up some good dramatic possibilities. The cast and characters don't always make full use of the opportunities, but there is enough to make it worth seeing.

William Lundigen stars as a diligent but rather small-minded archaeologist, who is reluctant to take a female photographer on an important and hazardous trip to a remote part of Mexico. Once the expedition is underway, he and the group's guide find themselves rivals for the photographer's attentions, which makes the hazardous situations they face even more difficult.

The combination of a love triangle with a hazardous quest is the kind of setup that can make for a fine movie, and this one gets enough out of the setup to be interesting, but it could have been quite a bit better. The dialogue is too bland to give the actors a lot to work with, and as the lead, Lundigen is believable but one-dimensional. Peggy Castle is attractive enough to make it easy to believe that the two males could make fools of themselves over her, but likewise she and her character remain one-dimensional. Armando Silvestre is somewhat more interesting as the guide.

On the plus side, the settings and the situation are interesting, and they offer a slight change of pace from the usual action film premises. Even with some of the color having faded from the print, the rugged scenery is often well worth seeing just for itself, and the outdoor photography adds considerably to the atmosphere. Overall, though it has some apparent flaws, it's not bad and it has some definite pluses.

Peggy Castle was one lovely female...yessir. She was basically a dead ringer for Lana Turner. Unfortunately Hollywood already had Lana. Oh well. This film worked well for me. This is not your typical jungle adventure that looks to impress Tarzan fans first. No, this is a very adult Jungle adventure that should appeal to all of us who at one time or another have participated in the game of love.

Peggy Castle plays a photographer who skillfully plays one man off another in order to get what she wants. Of course it all blows up in a film noir kind of way and ends tragically. The little three way game of sexual one upmanship is directed well and reasonably well acted. The steam that Castle emanates goes a long way towards making this work. The color photography was nice, especially considering the great locales.

I enjoyed this quite nicely, in a weird way it reminded me of the second half of Gone With The Wind with the way the steamy melodrama unfolded. The action scenes that depicted the final events would have been better with slightly more authentic looking Indians. The rescue of the girl was highly improbable but the finale included an interesting little twist there with the unusual demise of the guide. I found this an interesting movie with very cool sexual undertones that kept me glued to my TV set. Unique...worth a look for a glimpse of Peggy Castle at her apex.

Opens with Robert Burton (William Lundigan "Santa Fe Trail") dictating into his recorder. He is giving the story of El Taxim, the Mayan Temple, but during this and other parts of the film, the sound is choppy and small portions are missing. This disc is part of a 50 film collection of "action classics" from Treeline/TCM, and much of the color is also faded and washed out . Burton meets up with Kathryn Williams, ( Peggy Castle, who made lots of westerns in the 1950s) who has been assigned as his photographer. Burton doesn't like the idea of having a female photographer along, but later decides she's not so bad. We also get to witness some interesting native Mexican festival rites which may or may not be authentic. Local native Juan Cervantes (Armando Silvestre, actor from Mexico who made many movies from the 1940s right up until 1999) promises to help her find the jungle to research a more primitive, traditional population, but of course this only causes more friction with Burton, her boss. Through Burton's stupidity, they lose supplies in a sandstorm; moving on, they stop at Juan's ranch before continuing on their expedition, with their singing band of helpers. At one point, they cross paths with a raccoon, and Kathryn asks "What's that?" One might think she would recognize a raccoon, on either side of the border...Then the troubles begin... and things get a little unbelieve-able, but I guess we're just along for the adventure. The travel to exotic lands would have been quite interesting before people did as much travel as they do today.

More a postcard of Mexico than a movie, despite which, actor William Lundigan stars as a straight-laced archaeologist who reluctantly takes stand-in photographer (Castle) along on an expedition where tensions grow as a love triangle evolves with local guide (Silvestre).

Interesting cast features the young Rosenda Monteros as Silvestre's scorned woman, the ill-fated Peggie Castle as the seductive snapper, and Latin heart-throb Silvestre as the bane of Lundigan's dapper but ultimately bland existence. The soap opera treatment services the romantic melodrama and sexual tension, leaving the action to compete for the sloppy seconds. At times, Lundigan looks like coitus interruptus personified, such are the provocative glances and horny exchanges between Castle and her Latin tease.

Despite colourful landscapes and an attractive cast, the film never elevates beyond B-grade fodder, incapable of conjuring any excitement or palpable tension, weighed down by inane dialogue ("merely a vampire bat") and a plot that prefers melodrama to action (60 minutes passes before the first glimpse of something more fervent than tent buddies on heat). The climax and conclusion offer some redemption, with a fiery Aztec encounter, but it's all too little too late to resurrect the picture from 'average' status.

I was hung up between 5 and 6 stars. I opted for 6 probably because I admire Peggy Castle. She is playing a similar role to Grace Kelly's part in "Green Fire". Not as good a film. But It moves okay. Ms Castle actually highly resembles Princess Grace but their lives and careers couldn't have been more different. Grace had a storybook life. Wealthy background, great career, Academy Award marriage to the Prince of Monaco. Died in an automobile accident still too young.. Peggy followed a different path Raised in Appalachia. Went to Hollywood, like so many other beautiful young women. "discovered" based on her stunning good looks. Basically a B movie and TV career. Fell victim to the high life. Partying. Alcoholism. Her third husband found her body on the couch of her apartment. Diagnosis, cirrhosis of the liver. She was 46 years old Grace's death was tragic, but Peggy's whole life was tragic. Yet Peggy showed some real talent; had things gone another way, who knows? Beauty is a two edged sword. It can bring happiness and success or pain and sorrow.