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The Blue Gardenia

starring: Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, Ann Sothern, Raymond Burr, Jeff Donnell
directed by: Fritz Lang

: The Blue Gardenia
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Image Entertainment
EAN: 0014381904222
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC
Label: Image Entertainment
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Image Entertainment
Region Code: 1
Release Date: April 11, 2000
Running Time: 88 minutes
Sales Rank: 20737
Studio: Image Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: March 23, 1953



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Editorial Review:

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.

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



Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - 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 ... Read More


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - Fritz Lang, Anne Baxter, a fireplace poker and a blue gardenia...plus a cost-of-living lesson
Fritz Lang's The Blue Gardenia is not just a minor noir, it's a minor film. The story is so simple and ... Read More


Rating: 2 out of 5 stars - Lang's weakest noir
The Blue Gardenia is a rather disappointing noir from Fritz Lang, and easily the weakest of his tabloid ... Read More


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Good film, Bad transfer.
Performances by Anne Baxter and Raymond Burr and Fritz Lang's direction make this a top drawer noir. Unfortunately ... Read More


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - spellbinding noir gem with Anne Baxter
If you love Anne Baxter ("All About Eve", "The Ten Commandments"), chances are you'll most certainly appreciate her ... Read More

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Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.