{"id":45897,"date":"2019-11-23T15:01:23","date_gmt":"2019-11-23T22:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=45897"},"modified":"2021-01-23T21:46:23","modified_gmt":"2021-01-24T04:46:23","slug":"blue-gardenia-the-1953","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=45897","title":{"rendered":"Blue Gardenia, The (1953)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Sudden death sells papers, son.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Poster-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-45900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Poster-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Poster.jpg 666w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA woman (Anne Baxter) despondent after being dumped by her long-distance soldier-boyfriend accepts the offer of a womanizing painter (Raymond Burr) to go on a date, not realizing he will ply her with drinks and try to rape her. When Burr is found dead in his apartment the next morning with a blue gardenia lying on the floor, an ambitious reporter (Richard Conte) tries to crack the case by promising to help out the &#8220;Blue Gardenia&#8221; killer if she calls him.\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>Amateur Sleuths<\/li>\n<li>Amnesia<\/li>\n<li>Ann Sothern Films<\/li>\n<li>Anne Baxter Films<\/li>\n<li>Framed<\/li>\n<li>Fritz Lang Films<\/li>\n<li>Journalists<\/li>\n<li>Media Spactacle<\/li>\n<li>Raymond Burr Films<\/li>\n<li>Richard Conte Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary argues that this &#8220;mediocre Fritz Lang film takes too long to get started, forcing the final, more interesting scenes to be rushed.&#8221; He notes that &#8220;typically, Lang has Baxter [the protagonist] ignore her moral senses for a slight indiscretion, fall into fate&#8217;s trap, become involved in a crime that she might be convicted of whether innocent or guilty, and become increasingly paranoid that she is alone and everyone is pointing accusing fingers&#8221; &#8212; though he adds that &#8220;significantly, this is the only time Lang lets this happen to a woman.&#8221; Indeed, in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagoreader.com\/Bleader\/archives\/2012\/06\/19\/another-side-of-fritz-lang-the-blue-gardenia-1953\">Ben Sachs&#8217; review of the film<\/a> for the <em>Chicago Reader<\/em>, he notes this is &#8220;the only Fritz Lang film that could be categorized as a women&#8217;s picture&#8221;, given that &#8220;the central characters are three single women&#8221; &#8212; Baxter lives with two blonde roommates, divorced Crystal (Ann Sothern) and crime-fiction-obsessed Sally (Jeff Donnell) &#8212; &#8220;navigating hazards of working life and the dating scene as they try to get by in Los Angeles.&#8221; The scenes between the three supportive roommates are among the most memorable in the film, adding a humorous and humane touch to the proceedings. Burr, meanwhile, is effectively menacing, voicing his lines with a thorough degree of veiled creepiness: &#8220;Women always surprise me when they take off their&#8230; shoes.&#8221; While I agree that this Lang flick is nowhere near his best, even one of his &#8220;mediocre&#8221; outings is worth a one-time look by his fans. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Nicholas Musuraca&#8217;s atmospheric cinematogrophy<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Cinematography-1024x577.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"361\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-45899\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Cinematography-1024x577.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Cinematography-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Cinematography-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Cinematography-768x433.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Cinematography-1536x866.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Cinematography.png 1715w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Raymond Burr as Harry Prebble<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Burr.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Burr-1024x672.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"420\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-45901\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Burr-1024x672.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Burr-300x197.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Burr-128x84.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Burr-768x504.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Burr.png 1479w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Ann Sothern and Jeff Donnell as Norah&#8217;s roommates<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Sothern.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Sothern-1024x705.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"441\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-45898\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Sothern-1024x705.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Sothern-300x206.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Sothern-128x88.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Sothern-768x529.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blue-Gardenia-Sothern.png 1431w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s definitely worth a one-time look.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0045564\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/69212\/the-blue-gardenia\/#articles-reviews?articleId=25823\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagoreader.com\/Bleader\/archives\/2012\/06\/19\/another-side-of-fritz-lang-the-blue-gardenia-1953\">Chicago Reader Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Sudden death sells papers, son.&#8221; Synopsis: A woman (Anne Baxter) despondent after being dumped by her long-distance soldier-boyfriend accepts the offer of a womanizing painter (Raymond Burr) to go on a date, not realizing he will ply her with drinks and try to rape her. When Burr is found dead in his apartment the next morning with a blue gardenia lying on the floor, an ambitious reporter (Richard Conte) tries to crack the case by promising to help out the&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=45897\"> 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":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45897","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=45897"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45897\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65468,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45897\/revisions\/65468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}