That, and other cheerful little catch phrases spoken as gangster slang in this gangster melodrama (British-style),are spoken by a cast of British actors given some hilarious tough guy talk.

In this terse screenplay they need little prodding to slug someone with a fist or a gun while the plan is to kidnap and rob a wealthy socialite who turns out to have a yen for the lead criminal (AL LA RUE). He has a role crying out for an American actor like Bogart or Garfield if this were a Warner melodrama. La Rue does alright but he's about as wooden as George Raft when it comes to delivering key lines with any enthusiasm.

LINDEN TRAVERS is the pretty socialite captured by a bunch of thugs and falling quickly into the Patty Hearst syndrome when she becomes a willing victim willing to escape the sheer boredom of her life as a pampered daughter of a wealthy aristocrat.

HUGH McDERMOTT is the detective set on her trail by her father who only wants to free her from captivity. It all feels like a Mickey Spillane thriller with little sympathy for any of the victims who get shot for the slightest infringement at a moment's notice.

The nightclub scenes seem to have been inspired by GILDA ('46),with a songstress rendering a non-too-subtle rendition of a torch song in a flimsy peekaboo dress while around her all sorts of plotting and planning is going on somewhere in the dark.

Not bad, but don't expect the dialog to have the sharp touch intended. "Drop your anchor in that chair," is about the best you can expect between all the slapping and punching and gunshots that abound in every other scene. The gangster slang gets a workout and some of the jargon is downright hilarious.

"No Orchids for Miss Blandish" is an excellent British film noir picture. Its greatest strength is its script--which avoids sentimentality and has a hard edge that makes it a big tougher than its American cousins.

Miss Blandish is a young lady whose father is immensely wealthy. Additionally, her diamonds have caught the eyes of some petty thugs who are planning on robbing her. This robbery turns out to be super- vicious and in the process, two of the robbers are killed. The remaining crook is a swell guy--who not only plans on taking the diamonds but raping Blandish! However, just before he can complete this vicious act, another gang (headed by Slim---played by Jack LaRue) takes the diamonds and kills the remaining thug. At first, this second gang plans on keeping the diamonds and ransoming the woman, but Slim falls for the lady and soon decides to not only keep her for himself but return the jewels! This, of course, doesn't sit well with the gang and you know it's only a matter of time before they make their move.

This is an incredibly violent film for the time. Not only is the attempted rape heavily implied, but the very end is really, really violent--and fortunately does NOT give way to sentiment. Overall, a very gritty film with great gangster dialog and lots to appreciate.

By the way, one reviewer complained how bad the accents were, as the cast was mostly British and they were pretending to be Americans. Well, I thought this was barely noticeable most of the time and didn't think this impaired the film at all. Sure, a few of the attempts were downright silly...but don't take away from the great noir plot, atmosphere and horrifyingly realistic violence. Just my two-cents worth.

No Orchids for Miss Blandish is noir crime thriller set in America but it is a British production made in the UK.

Rich girl Miss Blandish (Linden Travers) has an admirer who sends her orchids. She is engaged to be married but her fiance tells her that she is icy.

One night Miss Blandish is kidnapped for her jewellery, her fiance is beaten to death, some of the gang members end up killing each other.

The leader of the gang takes Miss Blandish to a ramshackle place and plans to rape her but he is interrupted by the more powerful and vicious Grissom gang.

The gang is led by the matriarch Ma Grisson. It is the ruthless Slim Grissom (Jack La Rue) who is the real leader. He sets Miss Blandish free but she returns to him, maybe realising that he is the secret admirer who sent her those orchids.

The immediate attraction between Miss Blandish and Slim is difficult to take. It happens too fast even though we gather he was smitten by her already. The director maybe needed to leave room that Miss Blandish was attracted to a bad boy like Slim.

Of course their romance dooms these two people, her father sends a detective on her trail. This a drama where gang members turn on each other and the body count is high. Assisted by the psychotic Eddie Schultz (Walter Crisham) a member of the Grissom gang. The film gained notoriety because of its violence and suggestion of rape.

The film could had been more tightly plotted. There are too many British actors turning up, some do not even bother doing a passable American accent. Yet it is an interesting noir film for British cinema. It owes a debt to the pre code Hollywood movie, The Story of Temple Drake which also starred Jack La Rue in a more sadistic role.