{"id":21213,"date":"2011-12-15T14:56:42","date_gmt":"2011-12-15T21:56:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=21213"},"modified":"2021-12-17T13:45:44","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T20:45:44","slug":"blue-dahlia-the-1946","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=21213","title":{"rendered":"Blue Dahlia, The (1946)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Just don&#8217;t get too complicated, Eddie. When a man gets too complicated, he&#8217;s unhappy. And when he&#8217;s unhappy, his luck runs out.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-Poster-210x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-21214\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-Poster-210x300.jpg 210w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-Poster-89x128.jpg 89w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-Poster.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 210px) 100vw, 210px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA veteran (Alan Ladd) returning from active duty in WWII with his two buddies (William Bendix and Hugh Beaumont) is disturbed to learn that his wife (Doris Dowling) has been carrying on an affair with a shady nightclub owner (Howard Da Silva). When his wife is murdered later that evening, Ladd becomes a prime suspect and hits the road, accidentally meeting Da Silva&#8217;s estranged wife (Veronica Lake) along the way.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Alan Ladd Films<\/li>\n<li>Falsely Accused<\/li>\n<li>George Marshall Films<\/li>\n<li>Murder Mystery<\/li>\n<li>Veronica Lake Films<\/li>\n<li>Veterans<\/li>\n<li>William Bendix Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\n<em>The Blue Dahlia<\/em> is notorious for being the only film with an original script by Raymond Chandler (his novels were all adapted for the screen by other writers) &#8212; and when reading about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0038369\/trivia?tab=tr&#038;item=tr0728021\">the trouble he had actually completing the screenplay<\/a>, it&#8217;s easy to understand why. With that said, the film itself remains an enjoyable, if uneven, entry in the <em>film noir<\/em> genre &#8212; one which showcases Chandler&#8217;s typically pulpy dialogue and characters, and offers a reasonably satisfying cinematic experience overall. Diminutive romantic leads Ladd and Lake were cast together for the third time (after<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24406\"> <em>This Gun For Hire<\/em><\/a> and the non-Peary-listed <em>The Glass Key<\/em>, both made in 1942), and they make a visually appealing &#8220;couple&#8221; &#8212; but the problem is that their &#8220;relationship&#8221; together (not to mention Lake&#8217;s ambiguously problematic marriage to Da Silva) is never adequately defined or developed. Chandler notoriously referred to Lake as &#8220;Moronica&#8221; Lake, and one can&#8217;t help wondering whether his disdain for her as an actress bled over into the lack of care he took in crafting her character. Regardless, it&#8217;s a frustrating flaw in the narrative. <\/p>\n<p>The central murder mystery, however, remains both taut and suspenseful, with the killer&#8217;s identity coming as a true surprise (don&#8217;t read too much about the movie online, as most reviews immediately give away a form of spoiler). Ladd is appropriately brooding and wary &#8212; if ultimately not quite as charismatic as, say, Bogart &#8212; playing a veteran who comes home to a truly nasty &#8220;surprise&#8221; in the form of his openly disdainful and philandering wife (one desperately wonders what their relationship was like pre-war; what drew the two of them together in the first place?). Meanwhile, Bendix turns in yet another solid supporting performance in a critical role as Ladd&#8217;s plate-headed buddy; the opening scene in a bar nicely establishes his character&#8217;s bugaboo. Da Silva is equally effective in a tricky role as a nightclub owner with a shady past who seems to regret having gotten involved with Dowling in the first place, and Will Wright is instantly smarmy as a house detective who&#8217;s a little too interested in the welfare of his most attractive clients. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Stark, noir-ish cinematography by Lionel Linden<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-Cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-Cinematography2-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-21217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-Cinematography2-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-Cinematography2-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-Cinematography2-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-Cinematography2.png 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>William Bendix as Buzz<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-Bendix2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-Bendix2-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-21218\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-Bendix2-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-Bendix2-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-Bendix2-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-Bendix2.png 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Howard Da Silva as Eddie Harwood<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-DaSilva2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-DaSilva2-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-21219\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-DaSilva2-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-DaSilva2-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-DaSilva2-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-DaSilva2.png 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Will Wright as &#8220;Dad&#8221; Newell<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-House-Detective.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-House-Detective-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-21220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-House-Detective-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-House-Detective-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-House-Detective-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Blue-Dahlia-House-Detective.png 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fine, hard-boiled dialogue by Chandler:<br \/>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s funny, but practically all people were strangers when I met them.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, simply to see Chandler&#8217;s only screenwriting venture. Listed as a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0038369\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/69206\/the-blue-dahlia#articles-reviews\">TCM Articles<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.noiroftheweek.com\/2006\/12\/blue-dahlia-1946.html\">Noir of the Week Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/the-blue-dahlia\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Just don&#8217;t get too complicated, Eddie. When a man gets too complicated, he&#8217;s unhappy. And when he&#8217;s unhappy, his luck runs out.&#8221; Synopsis: A veteran (Alan Ladd) returning from active duty in WWII with his two buddies (William Bendix and Hugh Beaumont) is disturbed to learn that his wife (Doris Dowling) has been carrying on an affair with a shady nightclub owner (Howard Da Silva). When his wife is murdered later that evening, Ladd becomes a prime suspect and hits&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=21213\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21213"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78725,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21213\/revisions\/78725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}