For all it's reputation The Blue Dahlia is a disappointing film noir particularly when one considers the talents involved. The story is overloaded with coincidences, the dialogue is flat & unmemorable, and the mystery is poorly plotted. The film had potential and evidence suggests a better story was torpedoed by the US Navy of all groups.
The tale concerns Navy veteran Johnny Marshall (Ladd) who returns to his unfaithful wife (Doris Dowling) and learns the death of his small child was due to his wife's drunkenness and not diphtheria as he had been told. After professing his desire to kill her he storms out of her bungalow and stupidly leaves his gun behind. After several more suspects emerge the wife is found shot to death in the morning and the rest of the narrative concerns solving that mystery.
Among the suspects are gangster Eddie Harwood (da Silva) who was having an affair with the victim while estranged from his wife Joyce (Veronica Lake) and Johnny's war buddy Buzz (Bendix) who is portrayed as a loose cannon permanently comprised by a wartime head injury. The story meanders around and really goes nowhere as we are introduced to some unsavory characters and ludicrously coincidental situations (i.e. Johnny running into Joyce and taking a long drive with her). Ultimately the enigma is resolved in the last 2 minutes when the killer loses his mind and blurts out a confession with absolutely no proof of his guilt having been presented.
Given the yarn was written by the legendary Raymond Chandler it is difficult to understand how disappointing the flick turned out. Evidently Chandler learned the hard way that writing novels is infinitely easier than churning out a Hollywood screenplay. The script underwent countless revisions and Chandler's original ending - which had Buzz unmasked as the murderer; committed while suffering from the effects of his wartime injury - was vetoed by the US Naval Office. Instead of the film making a statement about the debilitating and tragic effects of combat on returning veterans it devolves into a middling potboiler with a ludicrous conclusion.
Admittedly I'm not a fan of any of the stars in this film and I find most of the performances to be poor. Alan Ladd's work consists of him being impossibly cool most of the time and then suddenly breaking out in a childish fit of temper. In addition he contributes little to the resolution of the crime. Veronica Lake is wooden in a superfluous role and there are no sparks between her & Ladd. Other than them both being short and blonde I've never understood the mania over their supposedly legendary chemistry. William Bendix's character is unlikeable even considering the head injury he's suffering from. The guy is just a jerk even in his sane moments and then Bendix chews up scenery when he goes into crazy mode depicting his suffering. The best performance comes from Howard da Silva as a shady night club owner who is running from a hidden past that he knows he cannot escape. His performance is very subtle and ultimately very sympathetic.
The one area in which the film excels is establishing the film noir mood with seedy sets, pounding rain, and so many shady characters out to chisel each other. Interesting to note that the most trustworthy people seem to be the cops. Even our hero pistol whips a smarmy hotel manager in a fit of rage. Some of these scenes are compromised by terrible rear projection effects but in the overall the noir milieu is faithfully created.
Overall The Blue Dahlia is a disappointing movie particularly given its lofty reputation and legendary talent involved. Most unfortunately the dialogue doesn't crackle like one would expect coming from the typewriter of Raymond Chandler. I'm guessing fans of the stars will enjoy it but objective viewers with no dog in the fight probably won't.
The tale concerns Navy veteran Johnny Marshall (Ladd) who returns to his unfaithful wife (Doris Dowling) and learns the death of his small child was due to his wife's drunkenness and not diphtheria as he had been told. After professing his desire to kill her he storms out of her bungalow and stupidly leaves his gun behind. After several more suspects emerge the wife is found shot to death in the morning and the rest of the narrative concerns solving that mystery.
Among the suspects are gangster Eddie Harwood (da Silva) who was having an affair with the victim while estranged from his wife Joyce (Veronica Lake) and Johnny's war buddy Buzz (Bendix) who is portrayed as a loose cannon permanently comprised by a wartime head injury. The story meanders around and really goes nowhere as we are introduced to some unsavory characters and ludicrously coincidental situations (i.e. Johnny running into Joyce and taking a long drive with her). Ultimately the enigma is resolved in the last 2 minutes when the killer loses his mind and blurts out a confession with absolutely no proof of his guilt having been presented.
Given the yarn was written by the legendary Raymond Chandler it is difficult to understand how disappointing the flick turned out. Evidently Chandler learned the hard way that writing novels is infinitely easier than churning out a Hollywood screenplay. The script underwent countless revisions and Chandler's original ending - which had Buzz unmasked as the murderer; committed while suffering from the effects of his wartime injury - was vetoed by the US Naval Office. Instead of the film making a statement about the debilitating and tragic effects of combat on returning veterans it devolves into a middling potboiler with a ludicrous conclusion.
Admittedly I'm not a fan of any of the stars in this film and I find most of the performances to be poor. Alan Ladd's work consists of him being impossibly cool most of the time and then suddenly breaking out in a childish fit of temper. In addition he contributes little to the resolution of the crime. Veronica Lake is wooden in a superfluous role and there are no sparks between her & Ladd. Other than them both being short and blonde I've never understood the mania over their supposedly legendary chemistry. William Bendix's character is unlikeable even considering the head injury he's suffering from. The guy is just a jerk even in his sane moments and then Bendix chews up scenery when he goes into crazy mode depicting his suffering. The best performance comes from Howard da Silva as a shady night club owner who is running from a hidden past that he knows he cannot escape. His performance is very subtle and ultimately very sympathetic.
The one area in which the film excels is establishing the film noir mood with seedy sets, pounding rain, and so many shady characters out to chisel each other. Interesting to note that the most trustworthy people seem to be the cops. Even our hero pistol whips a smarmy hotel manager in a fit of rage. Some of these scenes are compromised by terrible rear projection effects but in the overall the noir milieu is faithfully created.
Overall The Blue Dahlia is a disappointing movie particularly given its lofty reputation and legendary talent involved. Most unfortunately the dialogue doesn't crackle like one would expect coming from the typewriter of Raymond Chandler. I'm guessing fans of the stars will enjoy it but objective viewers with no dog in the fight probably won't.