The Blue Gardenia (1953)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Vera Caspary (story)
Charles Hoffman (writer)

Release Date:

23 March 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Nora is a pretty telephone operator engaged to a soldier overseas. On her birthday, she gets a Dear John letter from him...

Plot Keywords:

Letter | Birthday | Newspaper | Telephone Operator | Telephone

Cast

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	...	Police Capt. Sam Haynes
Ruth Storey	...	Rose Miller
Ray Walker	...	Homer
Nat 'King' Cole	...	Himself

Runtime:

Germany:88 min | USA:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Norway:16 | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #16317) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Blue Gardenia Productions

Trivia:

While the record album of the "Tristan and Isolde" music is never shown close enough to the camera for the movie audience to see it, it either is, or has been created to resemble, a typical 78-RPM album set of the 1940's of an RCA Victor recording featuring Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra. The cover art greatly resembles that of a 78-RPM album pressing featuring Toscanini conducting that orchestra. Toscanini was considered the greatest conductor of that era.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Perhaps unaware that his hands on the keyboard are visible in the mirror behind him, Nat 'King' Cole plays a strikingly different piano arrangement of "Blue Gardenia" than the one we are hearing.

Quotes:

Casey Mayo: [on the phone] If you want your picture on the paper, you'll have to go out and kill somebody first.

Soundtrack:

Prelude and Liebestod from 'Tristan and Isolde'

not one of Lang's best, but you could definitely find worse for a matinée thriller

The Blue Gardenia might be the kind of picture that Fritz Lang might make if he were under contract by the Lifetime TV network. This isn't so much an outright put-down as it is a matter of fact, and it goes without saying the mark that Lang puts somewhat at least on every picture. It's a tale of a woman in trouble for doing what seemingly should've been the most logical thing to do- however criminal- under the circumstances. Poor Norah Larkin (Anne Baxter, sweet and scared and sad, and lots of expressions of being provoked), she's just been dumped by her man who's off at war, and so in a moment of frustration she goes for heavy playboy/artist Harry Pebble (Raymond Burr, even with certain bulky charms, is still reminiscent of his classic part in Raw Deal as the villain), who takes her to the club of the film's title. After serenading her with live Nat King Cole, and a bunch of hoity toity rum drinks, he takes her back to his place and tries to have his way with her. She goes foggy after that - next morning, Pebble is dead, and "The Blue Gardenia" is the only suspect.

Maybe it's a harsh conclusion to jump to with saying it's like one of these prototypical melodramas where all of the women have crappy men in their lives and the moment they fight back they're looked on as the sudden threat (or, maybe that's just my impression of those TV movies). But even in the so-called realm of noir, Blue Gardenia doesn't seem to pack the same punch of the many others in the field, despite Lang's attempts to valiantly add some bits of humor (I loved the one woman who was sincerely trying to dupe reporter Mayo with being the Blue Gardenia and then changing her tone when looking at her shoes: "they're 8 1/2, sometimes 8 if I try"). It's predictable to a fault - and I'm not spoiling anything here kids - that she can't be the killer. How it happens isn't so much of a surprise as it's an inevitable conclusion with the nice touch being how Lang directs the actress when she suddenly realizes the jig is up; one is briefly, sharply reminded of the gusto in one of Lang's silent pictures.

But the fact that the Blue Gardenia is about what you'd expect doesn't mean it's not worth watching, especially if you're already getting into Lang's films or want to check out another noir with 'Blue' in the title (sans Chandler unfortunately). I liked Norah's roommates/co-workers, who had little bits of conversation early on that seemed a lot more natural than would normally come out of a melodrama (leaning more towards the sarcastic), and the whole aspect of the song itself, with that old-time melody crooning over as a marker of a crime and the attraction of one to the other in the dead of night. Respectable movie-making, though nowhere near brilliant, fix yourself a drink with a long, poetic description, and enjoy Baxter's descent into existential crisis 101.