Underplayed Gems

Lonely Orchid (1926)

Lonely Orchid poster
Directed by
Zhang Shichuan
Genre
melodrama
Country
Republic of China
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A married couple is separated when the husband gets involved with another woman. The first wife disguises herself and eventually reunites with him.

melodramaticold-fashionedromantictensesoapybittersweet

What happens

Lonely Orchid (traditional Chinese: 空谷蘭; simplified Chinese: 空谷兰; pinyin: Kōnggǔ lán), also known as Orchid in the Valley, is a 1926 silent family drama film directed by Zhang Shichuan for the Mingxing Film Company. Adapted from a British novel via several intermediary translations, it follows a married couple who are separated after the husband falls for a seductress, but reunite when his disguised first wife returns. The film changed several settings and plot elements to better suit Chinese audiences, and was a commercial success upon release. Now lost, Lonely Orchid was remade by Mingxing in 1935. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.