''Paper Orchid'' is a 1949 British crime film directed by

Roy Ward Baker Roy Ward Baker (born Roy Horace Baker; 19 December 1916 – 5 October 2010) was an English film director. His best known film is ''A Night to Remember (1958 film), A Night to Remember'' (1958) which won a Golden Globe for Golden Globe Award for ...

, with a script written by

Val Guest Val Guest (born Valmond Maurice Grossman; 11 December 1911 – 10 May 2006) was an English film director and screenwriter. Beginning as a writer (and later director) of comedy films, he is best known for his work for Hammer, for whom he direct ...

. It featured

Hugh Williams Hugh Anthony Glanmor Williams (6 March 1904 – 7 December 1969) was a British actor and dramatist of Welsh descent. Early life and career Hugh Anthony Glanmor Williams (nicknamed "Tam") was born at Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex to Hugh Dafydd Anth ...

Hy Hazell Hyacinth Hazel O'Higgins (4 October 1919 – 10 May 1970), stage name Hy Hazell, was a British actress of theatre, musicals and revue as well as a contralto singer and film actress. AllMusic described her as "an exuberant comic actor and lively ...

and

Garry Marsh Garry Marsh (21 June 1902 – 6 March 1981) was an English stage and film actor. Born Leslie Marsh Gerahty in St Margarets, Surrey, his parents were George and Laura. His elder brothers were the author Digby George Gerahty and the journalist ...

, and was based on the 1948 novel of the same title by Arthur La Bern. It featured an early film appearance by

Sid James Sidney James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. He was best known for numerous roles in the Carry On film series. Born to a mid ...

, who later found success through the

Carry On Carry On may refer to: * ''Carry On'' (franchise), a British comedy media franchise *Carry-on luggage or hand luggage, luggage that is carried into the passenger compartment * ''Carry On'' (film), a 1927 British silent film * ''Carry On'' (novel), ...

series. It was shot at the

Walton Studios Walton Studios, previously named Hepworth Studios and Nettlefold Studios, was a film production studio in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England.London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Bernard Robinson.

Plot

Despite feeling that women are unsuited to journalism,

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

newspaper editor Frank McSweeney hires Stella Mason as a reporter at the ''Daily National''. Stella starts a hugely popular gossip column, gaining the nickname 'Paper Orchid'. When her husband dies, Lady Croup becomes the new proprietor of the ''Daily National''. She fires Frank and another journalist, 'Johnny' Johnson - both of whom join rival newspaper the ''World Record''. After offending Lady Croup, Stella also loses her job. When Stella's tenant is murdered, circumstantial evidence builds up against her. She takes the story to Frank, hoping that the ''World Record'' will give her a job in return for the

scoop Scoop, Scoops or The scoop may refer to: Objects * Scoop (tool), a shovel-like tool, particularly one deep and curved, used in digging * Scoop (machine part), a component of machinery to carry things * Scoop stretcher, a device used for casualt ...

. When he tries to force her to publish it under her own by-line she takes it to the ''Daily National'', where its crime reporter Freddy Evans is asked to investigate it. It emerges that Freddy actually committed the murder. He files his final newspaper report: a confession. After declaring his love for Stella, he kills himself at

Charing Cross Station Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a central London railway terminus between the Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South Eastern Main Line to Dover via Ashfo ...

. In the epilogue, Frank decides to publish Freddy's last story - pausing momentarily when he hears of his tormented colleague's death.

Cast

as Frank McSweeney *

as Stella Mason *

as Freddy Evans *

as Johnson * Andrew Cruickshank as Detective-Inspector Clement Pill *

Ivor Barnard Ivor Barnard (13 June 1887 – 30 June 1953) was an English stage, radio and film actor. He was an original member of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, where he was a notable Shylock and Caliban. He was the original Water Rat in the first L ...

as Eustace Crabb *

Walter Hudd Walter Hudd (20 February 1897 – 20 January 1963) was a British actor and director. Stage career Hudd made his stage debut in ''The Manxman'' in 1919, and later toured as part of the Fred Terry Company; first attracting serious attention play ...

as Briggs *

Ella Retford Elinor Maud Dawe ( Flanagan, 2 July 1885 – 29 June 1962), who used the stage name Ella Retford, was an English music hall comedian, singer and dancer, and later a stage and film actress. Biography She was born in Sunderland (not Ireland, ...

as Lady Croup *

Hughie Green Hugh Hughes Green (2 February 1920 – 3 May 1997) was an English radio and television presenter, game show host and actor. Early life Green was born in Marylebone, London, to a Scottish father, Hugh Aitchison Green, a former British Army offic ...

as Harold Croup *

Vida Hope Vida Hope (16 December 1910 – 23 December 1963) was a British stage and film actress, who also directed stage productions. Life and career Born in Liverpool, Lancashire, to theatrical parents, she travelled widely as a child.Some of the Comp ...

as Jonquil Jones *

Frederick Leister Frederick Leister (1 December 1885 – 24 August 1970), was an English actor. He began his career in musical comedy and after serving in the First World War he played character roles in modern West End plays and in classic drama. He appeared in ...

as Walter Wibberley * Vernon Greeves as John Deane *

Patricia Owens Patricia Molly Owens (January 17, 1925 – August 31, 2000) was a Canadian-born American actress, working in Hollywood. She appeared in about 40 films and 10 television episodes in a career lasting from 1943 to 1968. Early work Owens moved ...

as Mary MacSweeney * Rolf Lefebvre as Peter Pasterman *

Brian Oulton Brian Oulton (11 February 1908 – 13 April 1992) was an English character actor. Biography Born in Liverpool, Lancashire, Oulton made his acting debut in 1939 as a lead actor. During the Second World War he served in the British Army, and ret ...

as Nightclub Manager *

Andrew Sachs Andreas Siegfried Sachs (7 April 1930 – 23 November 2016), known professionally as Andrew Sachs, was a German-born British actor and writer. He made his name on British television and found his greatest fame for his portrayal of the comical Sp ...

as Office Boy *

Ray Ellington Henry Pitts Brown (17 March 1916 – 27 February 1985), known professionally as Ray Ellington, was an English singer, drummer and bandleader. He is best known for his appearances on ''The Goon Show'' from 1951 to 1960. The Ray Ellington Quartet h ...

as himself

References

Bibliography

* Mayer, Geoff. ''Roy Ward Baker''. Manchester University Press, 2004.

External links

1949 films Films directed by Roy Ward Baker British crime films 1949 crime films Films set in London British black-and-white films Films about journalists Films based on British novels Columbia Pictures films Films shot at Nettlefold Studios 1940s British films {{1940s-crime-film-stub