The Blue Gardenia
Waking to the report that the man she had dated the night before has been murdered, a young woman with only a hazy recollection of that evening begins to fear she may have killed him while trying to fend off his advances.
Director(s)
Fritz Lang
Don McDougall
Emmett Emerson
Cast & Crew
Details
Reviews
John Chard
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
The Blue Gardenia FAQs
The directors of The Blue Gardenia are Fritz Lang, Don McDougall, and Emmett Emerson.
The cast of The Blue Gardenia includes Larry J. Blake as Music Shop Clerk (uncredited), Frank Ferguson as Drunk Reporter (uncredited), Sailor Vincent as Drunken Sailor (uncredited), Tommy Lee as Waiter (uncredited), Kenner G. Kemp as Nightclub Patron (uncredited), Carl Sklover as Photographer (uncredited), William Haade as Patrolman Hopper (uncredited), Jeffrey Sayre as Police Recorder (uncredited), Frank Kreig as Drunken Reporter (uncredited), William Phipps as Lt. George Foster (voice / uncredited), Richard Conte as Casey Mayo, Richard Erdman as Al, and more.
The duration of The Blue Gardenia is 1h 29 mins.
The Blue Gardenia was released on 20 Mar 1953.
The Blue Gardenia is listed under Crime and Mystery on Fanbiz.
The Blue Gardenia has 1 review on Fanziz, with an average rating of 6.5/10. One reviewer wrote: "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 Ca..."
