Pulling the petals off the Blue Dahlia (The Blue Dahlia (DVD))

Member Name: kitten26

Product:	The Blue Dahlia (DVD)
Date:	07/02/09 (63 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fairly interesting story, nice aesthetic

Disadvantages: Not the best Noir out there

The Blue Dahlia is a 1940's film noir starring Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd. It's named the Blue Dahlia both for a nightclub in the film and for the motif of flowers in the film that are a key plot catalyst. The screenplay was written by Raymond Chandler and directed by George Marshall.

Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd) returns from war with his two friends Buzz and George. Buzz has had to have a metal plate fitted in his head after being injured in the war and it causes him bad headaches, particularly when he hears music and also he has bad memory loss. Johnny returns home to his wife Helen who he finds having a wild drunken party in his house. Helen's lover Eddie Harwood, owner of the Blue Dahlia nightclub is there and Johnny punches him in the face after seeing the two kissing. Everyone leaves the party and Johnny and Helen are left alone. Johnny tells Helen he wants their marriage to work but he needs her to stop drinking, she refuses and then tells him that she killed their son Dickie because she was drink driving. Johnny is furious and pulls out his gun. He decides against shooting her and throws his gun on a chair. He leaves and hitches a ride with Veronica Lake to Malibu. The next morning Helen is found murdered. The rest of the film is taken up with the police searching for Johnnny who they believe murdered his wife and Johnny trying to find the real killer.

The film is not one of the greatest Noir's I've ever seen but it's not bad. There's a lot of the genres aesthetic included in the film as well as some nice dialogue 'Bourbon straight with a bourbon chaser'. It's an entertaining film but not as suspenseful as some others from the genre such as Double Indemnity.

I read the original story for this film and that would have been a lot more interesting but it had to be changed as it was censored by the United states Navy. The film's not bad, but the original made a lot more sense.

Alan Ladd and Veronice Lake are always a good team but to be honest, although she's attractive she's not a very interesting character. There are some moments when you suspect some trickery on her part but it's not enough to really make a good character. His character is more interesting and you do want him to come out on top and find the killer. I think you feel sorry for him throughout because of the truly horrible thing Helen did to their son.

The music's fine in this film but nothing mind blowing. It heightens the mood on screen but isn't particularly noticable. I quite enjoyed this film but it's not what I would consider a classic. Some of the supporting actors are pretty good, Buzz in particular illustrates his mental deterioration very well.

Summary: Not a bad film but certainly not a classic