The Blue Dahlia
Directed by George Marshall
Written by Raymond Chandler
1946/USA
Paramount Pictures
First viewing/TCM Dark Crimes DVD
Leo: Just don’t get too complicated, Eddie. When a man gets too complicated, he’s unhappy. And when he’s unhappy, his luck runs out.
Raymond Chandler famously wrote his original screenplay for The Blue Dahlia at home during shooting while he was on a drunken bender. The plot doesn’t make much sense but the hard-boiled dialogue makes it nearly as enjoyable as The Big Sleep, which was released the same year.
Three buddies, ace Navy pilot Lt. Cmdr. Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd), Buzz Wanchek (William Bendix) and George Copeland (Hugh Beaumont), have just been discharged from the Navy. Buzz is volatile by nature and also has a steel plate in his skull. “Monkey music” (basically any fairly loud music with a beat) causes his head to throb and he goes into a frenzy. Buzz and George head off to a shared bachelor pad and Johnny goes to the apartment of his wife Helen. There, he finds a noisy, drunken party and Helen in the arms of Eddie Harwood (Howard DaSilva) owner of the Blue Dahlia nightclub. After taking a slug at Harwood and breaking up the party, Johnny tries to start over with his alcoholic wife but when she admits their son died while she was drunk driving, Johnny pulls a gun on her, then drops it and storms out of the apartment. Their argument is overheard by house detective “Dad” Newell (Will Wright).
After this, the viewer needs a high tolerance for coincidences and a keen state of alertness. Helen calls Buzz and George at their apartment to report that Johnny has left her. Buzz takes off for the apartment where no one is home. He goes to the bar where he meets a lush, who is of course Helen, and who invites him up to her place. While they are in it, Helen calls Harwood to say that Johnny is out of the picture but Harwood wants to call off the relationship.
Johnny leaves the apartment in driving rain and is picked up by good Samaritan Joyce Harwood (Veronica Lake), who naturally just happens to be the estranged wife of the man Helen has been having an affair with. Joyce is immediately smitten with Johnny but he still considers himself a married man. They end up spending the night in the same hotel and in the morning she hears Helen’s murder reported on the radio and sees Johnny behaving suspiciously.
Many double and triple-crosses follow, along with a number of fistfights and shoot-outs. All the characters aside from the military men seem to have their hands out for a bribe. Red herrings abound until the murderer emerges at the very end.
The U.S. Navy vetoed Chandler’s chosen ending so the plot makes even less sense than it would have originally. But The Blue Dahlia illustrates that plot is less important that attitude, dialogue, and strong performances. You don’t get much more hard-boiled than this. And the supporting performances are wonderful. I am more impressed with Bendix with each role I see him in. He is just a volcano of explosive energy. And Howard Da Silva shines as a mild-mannered, self-controlled gangster. Ladd is no Bogart but I think he is even more convincing when it comes to fisticuffs. Recommended.
Raymond Chandler was nominated for an Academy Award for his original screenplay for The Blue Dahlia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiPaRNkckW0
Trailer – cinematography by Lionel Linden
