''Smile Orange'' is a 1976 satirical film set in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. It follows the day-to-day life of Ringo, played by Carl Bradshaw, a smooth-talking waiter and con-man. The film explores the tourism industry in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

and seems to suggest there are similarities to

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

in that industry. The film was directed by Trevor D. Rhone, who also wrote the play on which it is based, and was produced by Edward Knight. The movie stars Bradshaw, Glenn Morrison, and Stanley Irons.

Critical acclaim

Trevor Rhone's 1976 ''Smile Orange'' has received praise and criticism across the globe. The day after the film's debut in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' writer

Richard Eder Richard Gray Eder (August 16, 1932 – November 21, 2014) was an American film reviewer and a drama critic. Life and career For 20 years, he was variously a foreign correspondent, a film reviewer and the drama critic for ''The New York Times''. ...

remarked on the film's "wittiness and pungency" but criticized its technical cinematographic elements as "terribly awkward." ''

Time Out London ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 333 cities in 59 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

'' hailed ''Smile Orange'' a "genuinely hilarious politicized farce…a satire on tourism that centers on hotel waiter Ringo Smith's efforts to exploit the exploiters." However, perhaps the film's greatest praise comes from ''

The Gleaner ''The Gleaner'' is an English-language, morning daily newspaper founded by two brothers, Jacob and Joshua de Cordova on 13 September 1834 in Kingston, Jamaica. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the Western Hemisphere. Original ...

'', a Jamaican newspaper. On 6 November 2010, writer Andrew Robinson published the newspaper's top five Jamaican films. ''Smile Orange'' was placed at number three, and called "comedic, cinematic gold." Praise for ''Smile Orange'' has carried on through the internet until present day.

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calls it "a humorous and somewhat acidic view of the tourism business." Ras Zuke, author of ''Rastaman Vibration'' has also commented on ''Smile Orange''. He explains that the film allows people to experience the exploited resort culture of Jamaica with a clearer understanding of the relationships between skin color and positions of power, the urban and rural lifestyle conflicts, and the interaction between women and men of Jamaica.

References

Films set in Jamaica Films shot in Jamaica Jamaican comedy films Jamaican drama films 1976 comedy-drama films 1970s English-language films English-language comedy-drama films {{Jamaica-film-stub