Blood & Orchids

This fictional melodrama about a '30s rape-assault trial in Hawaii, intertwined with prejudice and corruption among the Island's establishment, with subplots involving a Hawaiian princess and an unassuming native lawyer-with-a-future, was based on Norman Katkov's best-selling novel which he (and, according to initial press releases, Steve Shagan) turned into a four-hour teleplay.

Katkov's book seemingly was inspired by the notorious Massie case that occurred in Honolulu in 1931. Kris Kristofferson is the unusually laid-back cop on the case; Jane Alexander the Grande Dame who coerces her unfaithful Navy wife daughter to point the finger at four local youths after the girl is raped and beaten by her lover; Jose Ferrer is the high-toned lawyer from the mainland brought in to prosecute the case, and Sean Young is Ferrer's young wife who has a fling with Kristofferson. An Emmy Award nomination went to the costumers of part one.