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Warner Bros. Pictures
Not part of a collection.
There was nothing lily-white about her -- the clinch-and-kill girl they called: The Blue Gardenia
Upon waking up to the news that the man she’d gone on a date with the previous night has been murdered, a young woman with only a faint memory of the night’s events begins to suspect that she murdered him while attempting to resist his advances.
John Chard
Mar 8, 2016 · via TMDB
A Letter to an Unknown Murderess. The Blue Gardenia is directed by Fritz Lang and adapted to screenplay by Charles Hoffman from the short story "Gardenia" written by Vera Caspary. It stars Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, Ann Sothern, Raymond Burr and George Reeves. Music is by Raoul Kraushaar and cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca. Norah Larkin (Baxter), after receiving some horrible news, ends up drunk and at the mercy of a Lothario in his apartment. The next morning she wakes up with the distinct feeling she may have committed murder. More solid than anything spectacular, this minor Lang is never less than interesting. The Blue Gardenia of the title is a nightclub, one where Nat King Cole no less, sings the title song. However, it's the local newspaper that is the key element of the story, the place of work of ace journalist Casey Mayo (Conte), who gets in deep with the story and of course that means Norah as well. There's some sparky dialogue as the story ticks away, with Sothern (sadly underused) wonderfully waspish, the murder mystery element remains strong enough, while there's dark at work as well (Burr is effectively on a mission to date rape). However, the pairing of Lang and Musuraca should be a dream team, but although there's the odd flash of noir visualisations during night sequences, you can't help but lament more wasn't provided for Musuraca to weave his magic. A good show from the cast helps ease the pain of the script's inadequacies, especially as regards the not very clever final revelations. So all in all, it's more a case of a mystery melodrama with noir touches than anything thrilling, and really it's one for Lang fans to tick off their to see lists, not to be visited again. 6.5/10
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Anne Baxter
Norah Larkin
Richard Conte
Casey Mayo
Ann Sothern
Crystal Carpenter
Raymond Burr
Harry Prebble
Jeff Donnell
Sally Ellis
Richard Erdman
Al
George Reeves
Sam Haynes
Ray Walker
Homer
Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Fay Baker
Switchboard Monitor (uncredited)
Robert Bice
Policeman (uncredited)
Larry J. Blake
Music Shop Clerk (uncredited)
Lela Bliss
Miss Stanley (uncredited)
Gail Bonney
Policewoman (uncredited)
Frank Ferguson
Drunk Reporter (uncredited)
Dolores Fuller
Woman At Bar (uncredited)
William Haade
Patrolman Hopper (uncredited)
Victoria Horne
Disturbed Woman w/Big Feet (uncredited)
Kenner G. Kemp
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Frank Kreig
Drunken Reporter (uncredited)
Norman Leavitt
Bill (uncredited)
Celia Lovsky
Mary (uncredited)
Frank O'Connor
Passerby (uncredited)
Lee Phelps
Information Desk Guard (uncredited)
William Phipps
Lt. George Foster (voice / uncredited)
Joey Ray
Prebble's Assistant (uncredited)
Hugh Sanders
'Chronicle' Managing Editor (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre
Police Recorder (uncredited)
Almira Sessions
Cleaning Lady (uncredited)
Robert Shayne
Doctor (uncredited)
Carl Sklover
Photographer (uncredited)
Marjorie Stapp
Policewoman (uncredited)
Amzie Strickland
Woman at Bar (uncredited)
Sailor Vincent
Drunken Sailor (uncredited)
Victor Sen Yung
Blue Gardenia Waiter (uncredited)
Nicholas Musuraca
Director of Photography
Fritz Lang
Director
Nelson Riddle
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2020
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1965
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Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
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1978 · 13 wins
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2000 · 12 wins
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1981 · 11 wins
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