Blood & Orchids

Chuck Arnold

In 1937 Hawaii, four native Hawaiian men find a white woman, beaten nearly to death, and take her to a hospitalonly to be charged later with her rape and assault. During their trial, the womans husband, a lieutenant in the US Navy, fatally shoots one of them and later stands trial himself. The trial brings into stark relief the racial tensions that tear at the social fabric of Territorial Hawaii in the years prior to World War II.Socialite Hester Ashley Murdoch Madeleine Stowe leaves an officers dinner party at the US Naval base in Honolulu in the company of a man who is not her husband Lieutenant Lloyd Murdoch, played by William Russ, but rather Lt. Murdochs best friend. The friend coldly announces that he is terminating their relationship, though Hester is carrying his child. Outraged, she announces that she will tell her husband and the commanding admiral on the station. In retaliation, the friend beats her savagely and leaves her bloodied and battered where she lies. ........

Source: Wikipedia