The Blue Gardenia
Posted by martinteller on April 17, 2010
Another ho-hum film from Fritz Lang’s American years. With a story meant to evoke the “Black Dahlia” murder and a not-very-original story (see The Accused for a similar scenario, and also with a female protagonist) there are few surprises and very little tension. It also ends with a really dumb twist. Anne Baxter isn’t that great, and the references to “Mickey Mallet” detective stories (get it? Mickey Spillane, Mike Hammer, GET IT?) are cornball. There are a few inspired moments, and the Nat “King” Cole cameo was nice, but other than that it’s merely serviceable, and not terribly noir. It sort of gets the job done, but could use a whole lot more atmosphere and style. Rating: 6
