The Blue Dahlia (1946) on Netflix
Passed19461h 36mCrimeFilm-NoirMystery
Navy veteran Johnny Morrison returns home to surprise his wife Helen and finds her at a party with Eddie Harwood, who runs the Blue Dahlia nightclub. He leaves after their quarrel.
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- Netflix4.3/5
- IMDb7.1/1010,710 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
Three Navy men arrive in Hollywood after the war: Johnny Morrison, Buzz Wanchek, who has shell shock and a metal plate above his ear, and George Copeland, who was discharged over his eyesight. Johnny has not told his wife Helen that he is back. He walks in on her party and learns she is involved with Eddie Harwood, who runs the Blue Dahlia on the Sunset Strip. Helen admits their son Dickie died in a car crash she caused while drunk, not of diphtheria. Johnny draws a gun on Helen, then drops it and walks out. In the rain he accepts a ride from Joyce Harwood, a stranger separated from Eddie. Helen is found dead, Johnny is the suspect, and he goes into hiding to find the real killer.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Blue Dahlia (1946)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Raymond Chandler's original plan was for Buzz Wanchek, the shell-shocked ex-sailor, to be the killer, but the Navy objected to a serviceman shown as a murderer, so Paramount made Chandler write a new ending.
- Raymond Chandler told producer John Houseman he could finish the script only if he resumed drinking, and Houseman agreed to his demands: two Cadillac limousines with drivers standing by day and night, six secretaries and an open phone line.
- The film's title has been speculated to be where the "Black Dahlia" nickname for Elizabeth Short, the 1947 murder victim, came from.
- Veronica Lake had never read Raymond Chandler, so she listened closely to a publicity director's analysis of his work to impress reporters; Chandler disliked her and called her "Moronica Lake".
- Alan Ladd was unhappy that Doris Dowling, cast as his wife Helen, was half a foot taller than he was, so the height difference was disguised during their scenes together.
- Alan Ladd had been reclassified 1-A for the military draft and was due for induction in May 1945, so Paramount kept applying for deferments so he could go on making films.
