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    Smile Orange Film Review

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    Che Hinds
    The 1976 satirical film "Smile Orange" follows Ringo Smith, a hotel waiter and con artist in postcolonial Jamaica who exploits tourists for money and social mobility. The film examines the relationship between race, power, and exploitation within the tourism industry, showing how both black workers and white tourists take advantage of each other. Though the plot lacks development for Ringo's character, the film realistically portrays the schemes some black workers resort to for income. It uses music, particularly a song about Ringo, to enhance characterization. While having a cynical view of social issues, it balances this with comedic elements.

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    Smile Orange Film Review

    Uploaded by

    Che Hinds
    74 views2 pages
    The 1976 satirical film "Smile Orange" follows Ringo Smith, a hotel waiter and con artist in postcolonial Jamaica who exploits tourists for money and social mobility. The film examines the relationship between race, power, and exploitation within the tourism industry, showing how both black workers and white tourists take advantage of each other. Though the plot lacks development for Ringo's character, the film realistically portrays the schemes some black workers resort to for income. It uses music, particularly a song about Ringo, to enhance characterization. While having a cynical view of social issues, it balances this with comedic elements.

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    The 1976 satirical film "Smile Orange" follows Ringo Smith, a hotel waiter and con artist in postcolonial Jamaica who exploits tourists for money and social mobility. The film examines the relationship between race, power, and exploitation within the tourism industry, showing how both black workers and white tourists take advantage of each other. Though the plot lacks development for Ringo's character, the film realistically portrays the schemes some black workers resort to for income. It uses music, particularly a song about Ringo, to enhance characterization. While having a cynical view of social issues, it balances this with comedic elements.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    74 views2 pages

    Smile Orange Film Review

    Uploaded by

    Che Hinds
    The 1976 satirical film "Smile Orange" follows Ringo Smith, a hotel waiter and con artist in postcolonial Jamaica who exploits tourists for money and social mobility. The film examines the relationship between race, power, and exploitation within the tourism industry, showing how both black workers and white tourists take advantage of each other. Though the plot lacks development for Ringo's character, the film realistically portrays the schemes some black workers resort to for income. It uses music, particularly a song about Ringo, to enhance characterization. While having a cynical view of social issues, it balances this with comedic elements.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    Che Hinds Film Review – ‘Smile Orange’

    “If you‟re a black man and you can‟t play a part, you‟re gonna starve to death”. This is the

    central focus in the 1976 satire „Smile Orange‟, a comedic yet harrowing story about social

    issues in the tourism industry. The film follows Ringo Smith, played by Carl Bradshaw, a hotel

    waiter and con artist who earns extra money on the side through his seedy schemes and

    charismatic personality. The film was written and directed by Trevor D. Rhone who first

    conceived of the story as a play.

    The film chronicles a poor black waiter, Ringo Smith, as he exploits the patrons of the Logbeach

    Hotel for his own material gain. After meeting the new hire at the hotel, the busboy, Ringo takes

    him under his wing and teaches him how to fleece white female tourists for pleasure and money.

    At the same time, Ringo is trying to dodge his wife as she endeavors to extract money and

    favours for her and her family.

    The main theme of the film is the relationship between race and positions of power within the

    context of a postcolonial Caribbean. Specifically, when white tourists come to the hotel to

    exploit the poor black workers there for sex and, in return, the black workers scam the white

    tourists for money, pleasure and upward social mobility. An example of this is Ms. Branson, the

    call operator of the hotel who sleeps with a white man and feigns love in order for her to marry

    him and gain permanent residency within the United States. In a stark turn of events near the end

    of the film, the man escapes the clutches of a marriage proposal and returns back to the U.S.

    Having had his fill of sexual pleasure from Ms. Branson, he leaves and this shows the audience

    that this parasitic relationship of exploitation cuts both ways.

    The plot of the film documents the usual antics of Ringo at the hotel. In the first half of the

    movie his personality and wit capture interest, but in the climax of the film, where a white tourist

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    Che Hinds Film Review – ‘Smile Orange’

    nearly drowns in the pool, Ringo exhibits no noticeable change in any of his motivations,

    thoughts and behavior. Even though he did try to save the man‟s life, he quickly falls back into

    his duplicitous ways by covering up the incident of him rigging the crab races. In this sense, the

    plot of the film felt „flat‟ because of the lack of development on Ringo‟s part; the film portrays

    him as a lovable scoundrel who has no other choice. While this is a compelling thematic choice,

    the movie failed to move his character beyond such ends. Consequently, the film illustrates a

    conflict about the black man versus a postcolonial society which concludes with the main male

    cast continuing to stick to their exploitative practices. With that being said, the plot does score

    points in believability as it addresses typical behaviour of some poor black workers in the resort

    industry having to partake in sleazy schemes to make extra money.

    The sound design in the movie was done well; particularly the song performed by Alaine Grant

    that references Ringo Smith and how he has to “live by his wits”. “Hustler, he never quits….

    He‟s slick…,” this was a brilliant choice of auditory storytelling that nicely sums up the

    character of Ringo Smith. It is played first when Ringo steals valuables from his wife and

    escapes with the car, a second time when Ringo slips off with the Assistant Manager‟s wife and a

    third time at the end of the film where he is rewarded undeservedly by the Assistant Manager. Its

    placement throughout the film acts as a theme song for his character‟s beguiling nature.

    In conclusion, the film presents a cynical view of the social issues pervading the resort industry

    in postcolonial Jamaica, interspersing it with comedic antics to bring a more lighthearted tone to

    what may otherwise be a grim reality. The film lacks a more coherent plot but redeems itself

    with a captivating theme and amusing characters as well as good sound design to bolster a well-

    shot film.

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