Product Details

• Actors: Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, Ann Sothern, Raymond Burr, Jeff Donnell
• Directors: Fritz Lang
• Writers: Charles Hoffman, Vera Caspary
• Producers: Alex Gottlieb
• Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: April 11, 2000
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004RER5
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,170 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Blue Gardenia" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

BLUE GARDENIA - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Film Noir With A Feminine Twist, October 6, 2002

By 

Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Blue Gardenia [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The acting by both Anne Baxter and Raymond Burr is exceptional and elevates this to one of my favorite film noirs. Baxter is the young innocent Norah Larkin who is crushed when she receives a 'Dear Jane' letter from her boyfriend in Korea. Devastated and alone, she is easy prey for the slimey Harry Prebble portrayed by Raymond Burr in his pre-Perry Mason period. After a drunken night, Norah can't remember anything except that she was fighting off advances from Prebble. The newspapers are filled with the story of his murder and the mysterious blonde who left a blue gardenia behind. Viewers watch Norah slip deeper and deeper into paraonia as she frantically tries to conceal her involvement yet remember the details of her ill-fated night. Adding to the outstanding cast are Ann Sothern and Jeff Donnell as her roommates and Richard Conte as the newspaper reporter who makes an open appeal for the Blue Gardenia killer to come forward and trust him. As the police web (led by TV's Superman George Reeves) tightens around her, Norah turns to the reporter to help her, but....suffice it to say the happy-ever-after ending is a little too quick and easy. However, this is definitely worth watching and as an added plus you will be treated to the melodic voice of Nat "King" Cole singing the title song throughout the movie.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too Saccharine for a Murder Mystery. Too Bland All Around., September 7, 2005

By 

mirasreviews (McLean, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Blue Gardenia (DVD)

"The Blue Gardenia" is among director Fritz Lang's lesser films. It is often categorized as noir, but is only vaguely so. Adapted from the short story "Gardenia" by Very Caspary, it's more mystery/romance, like Caspary's "Laura", which made a far superior film. The cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca is in high-key style that was coming back into fashion in the 1950s, a major departure from the low-key lighting of the 1940s that became iconic of film noir. "The Blue Gardenia" looks an awful lot like 1950s television, which is alluded to in one bit of dialogue. It's placement during the Korean War and the plethora of post-war gender stereotypes also place this film firmly in the 1950s thematically. Ironically, Fritz Lang made "The Big Heat" the same year, which is solid film noir and perhaps his only truly great American film.

Norah Larkin (Anne Baxter) is a pretty, young switchboard operator with a boyfriend to whom she is devoted stationed in Korea. She cheerfully spends her evenings at home and never dates other men, wishing to remain faithful to her man overseas. But on her birthday, she learns that her boyfriend has fallen in love with another woman. Distraught, Norah impulsively accepts a dinner invitation from artist and infamous lothario Harry Prebble (Raymond Burr). She drinks too much and gets herself right snookered, a situation which Harry tries to take advantage of. Prebble is found dead in his apartment the next day, and Norah can't remember what happened. Confused and afraid, she responds to newspaperman Casey Mayo (Richard Conte) who, looking for an angle, promised his newspaper would provide the murderer with legal assistance in exchange for an exclusive story.

I found the most striking aspect "The Blue Gardenia" to be how much it looks and feels like 1950s television. The concept of characters and gender relations had changed radically from the 1940s by the time this film was released in 1953. The men, exemplified in Harry Prebble and Casey Mayo, are conspicuously charming, egotistical, chauvinistic, predatory, and inexplicably irresistible to the ladies. The women are silly, chatty, and in need of rescuing. No one is interesting, and everyone is shallow. Add to that the cheesy "Blue Gardenia" restaurant , and the film is a little ridiculous. Nat King Cole performs "The Blue Gardenia"'s thoroughly mediocre theme song in the restaurant scene.

The DVD (Image Entertainment 2005): This print has occasional specks and spots, but most of it is clean. There are no bonus features or subtitles.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Blue Gardenia, April 25, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Blue Gardenia [VHS] (VHS Tape)

My mother and I ordered this video to see if it beared any resemblance to "The Blue Dahlia" with Alan Ladd. It turned out to be nothing like it, but we love it just tje same. I highly reccomend it to anyone who enjoys classic film noir.