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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential video
With its title inspired by the notorious Black Dahlia murder case, The Blue Gardenia throws a twist into the story by making the mystery woman not the victim but the suspect in a lurid murder case. Anne Baxter, playing a virginal blonde with almost breathless innocence, impulsively accepts a blind date after receiving a "Dear Jane" letter from her boyfriend in Korea. Raymond Burr oozes slime as the lothario who plots his seduction with cynical calculation ("For drinks, Polynesian Pearl Divers, and don't spare the rum!") and the naive Baxter is easy prey, until she fights back against his advances with a fireplace poker and stumbles home. Waking up the next morning with the past evening a veritable blank, she discovers herself the prime suspect in a murder case trumpeted into a sensationalistic headline story by calculating columnist Richard Conte. Fritz Lang transforms the rather conventional low-budget thriller into a paranoid nightmare, his cheap sets and flat backdrops creating a tawdry world peopled by cynics and opportunists preying on the guileless, and Baxter makes every guilt-ridden moment palpable. Like in many film noir thrillers, the pat conclusion seems wholly arbitrary, the product of the Hollywood happy-ending machine. However, Lang's film isn't about the mystery, but the experience of an innocent whose single, desperate transgression turns her world upside down. --Sean Axmaker
Product Description
Fritz Lang's scathing critique of fifties America's hunger for bloodshed and scandal. Classic Hollywood film noir with a feminine twist, "The Blue Gardenia" stars Anne Baxter (All About Eve) as Norah Larkin, a working girl who wakes up a murderess after passing out in the apartment of brutish playboy Harry Prebble (Raymond Burr). Branded "The Blue Gardenia" by a sensational columnist (Richard Conte), Norah dodges dragnets, informants and the cruel hand of fate as she struggles to conceal her involvement with Prebble and to remember the details of her ill fated night. As her hopes for justice fade, she decides to gamble her future on the journalist who transformed her into such a notorious public figure. Enhancing the melancholy mood of the film is the haunting theme song arranged by Nelson Riddle and performed to perfection by Nat "King" Cole.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape|Amazon Verified Purchase
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
Format: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.
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
Format: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.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Jilted And Blue
Yes, where is Perry Mason when you need him. And not just because one of the lead actors in this film noir is Raymond Burr, who made Perry famous on 1950s black and white... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Alfred Johnson
Great classic but bad DVD no extras and shaky picture with no extras
I was the unfortunate recipient of a bad DVD copy of the film it was extremely shaky and out of focus that made it difficult to fully enjoy the film, and before anyone assumes that... Read more
Published 6 months ago by River rose
"The Blue Gardenia (1953) ... Fritz Lang ... WB/Image (2000)"
Warner Bros. Pictures and Image Entertainment presents "THE BLUE GARDENIA" (1953) (90 min/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- After learning that her boyfriend, a... Read more
Published 17 months ago by J. Lovins
Not bad
I watched this film with interest but a couple of hours later I had a hard time remembering what it was. (like the old joke about a Chinese dinner)
The cast is good. Read more
The cast is good. Read more
Published 19 months ago by R. Swanson
A nostalgic, elegant film noir
I am writing this brief review mainly for Angelinos. If you are one and watch this movie without tears, there is something wrong with you. Here we have L.A. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Esar Shvartz
Solid but unspectacular and fairly predictable noir is one of Lang's...
Raymond Burr's Harry Prebble is an artist with an eye for the ladies. He calls up sarcastic Crystal (Ann Sothern), a switchboard operator that he's just met, but her friend and... Read more
Published on October 1, 2009 by Muzzlehatch
Falls short of classic film noir
The DVD transfer is second rate. Some of the scenes appear washed out and much of the grey detail has been muddled over. Read more
Published on June 15, 2009 by William R. Ray
Very good Noir Murder Drama by Fritz Lang
The Blue Gardenia is a really good film noir/murder drama with Norah Larkin (Anne Baxter) being unable to remember if she killed Harry Prebble(Raymond Burr). Read more
Published on April 2, 2009 by D. Steigman
Blue Gardenia is a hit
I thought "The Blue Gardenia" was a great movie. I loved the acting. I loved the music. I loved the atmosphere. Anne Baxter is a personal favorite. She never disappoints.
Published on August 14, 2008 by H. Shaw
Fritz Lang, Anne Baxter, a fireplace poker and a blue gardenia...plus...
Fritz Lang's The Blue Gardenia is not just a minor noir, it's a minor film. The story is so simple and linear, and the final revelation so ordinary, that it's difficult to get much... Read more
Published on July 13, 2008 by C. O. DeRiemer
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