Girls of the White Orchid
Girls of the White Orchid is a 1983 television film directed by Jonathan Kaplan. It was also known as Death Ride to Osaka.

Premise
An American woman becomes a prostitute in Japan.

Cast
 Jennifer Jason Leigh
 Thomas Byrd 
 Mako 
 Carolyn Seymour 
 Richard Narita
 Soon-Tek Oh 
 Ann Jillian
 Yvonne McCord
 Philip Charles MacKenzie 
 Leslie Wing 
 John Hancock

Production
The film was based on a report by ABC's 20/20 show about women who go to Japan to work as entertainers but wind up as prostitutes under the control of the Yakuza. Producer Leonard Hill says NBC pressured him to cast a lead actress from an NBC show - Melinda Culea who was then on The A-Team - but he held out for Jennifer Jason Leigh. "I don't care about The A-Team" said Hill. "I may make a mediocre movie but I'm not going to make a mediocre effort." However Hill did cast two other actors in the cast who were then on NBC shows, Ann Jillian and Thomas Byrd.

The film was shot on location in Japan.

After the initial lack of success of Over the Edge, in 1979, Kaplan encountered difficulties in finding budget for new films, which explains why he sought direct financial support from TV producers.

Reception
One writer called it "the missing link between Kaplan's sensationalistic New World output (Night Call Nurses, The Student Teachers) and the socially conscious prestige dramas like The Accused and Immediate Family that he would make in the late '80s and early '90s."

References

External links
 
 Girls of the White Orchid at Letterbox DVD

1983 television films
Films set in Osaka
Films directed by Jonathan Kaplan
Films about prostitution in Myanmar