Blood & Orchids (2-Disc)

They should be hailed as heroes. Instead, they become the accused. Four young Hawaiian men who find a beaten and raped nude Caucasian woman and rush her to a Honolulu hospital are the defendants in a heated trial that underscores the divide between locals and powerful, plantation-running whites of 1937 Hawaii. Working from his own bestselling novel, Norman Katkov provides the script for this miniseries tale of twisted justice and deadly vengeance. As the investigating police captain who swims against the tide of racism and rancor surrounding the case, Kris Kristofferson leads a notable cast that includes Jane Alexander, Sean Young, Jose Ferrer, James Saito and Madeline Stowe.

BLOOD AND ORCHIDS was adapted from Norman Katkov from his own fact-based book. The scene is Hawaii, 1937. The wife (Madeline Stowe) of a naval officer (William Russ) is beaten nearly to death by her lover (Matt Salinger)--her husband's best friend. Four native Hawaiians find the woman and take her to the hospital, then flee out of fear of being blamed for the assault themselves. The aristocratic mother (Jane Alexander) of the beaten woman knows the truth, but, coldly insistent upon maintaining white supremacy on the islands, orders her daughter to claim that the Hawaiian boys had abused her. A trial follows, complicated by an honest police officer (Kris Kristofferson), who doesn't believe the victim's story. This two-part TV movie digresses from the source novel by hoking up a romance between the cop and the young wife (Sean Young) of the prosecuting attorney (Jose Ferrer). BLOOD AND ORCHIDS was originally telecast in February of 1986.