The Second World War played an important role in the creation of film noir as a genre, mainly by making the world look much darker than before and making it easier for audiences to accept “black films”. It also provided an interesting background for plots and general atmosphere in some of the most successful or iconic films of the genre. Among these, one of the best known is The Blue Dahlia, a 1946 crime thriller directed by George Marshall.
The plot begins as a number of recently demobilised US military servicemen return home from the battlefields. These include Lieutenant Commander Johnny Morrison (played by Alan Ladd), a US Navy aviator who comes to Los Angeles accompanied by two members of his crew – Buzz Wanchek (played by William Bendix) and George Copeland (played by Hugh Beaumont). Johnny wants to reconnect with his wife Helen (played by Doris Dowling), but when he arrives to surprise her, he is shocked to see that she is throwing large parties and living in a bungalow, kept as a mistress by Eddie Harwood (played by Howard da Silva), the wealthy owner of the Blue Dahlia nightclub with connections to organised crime. The reunion ends very poorly, but things get even worse for the embittered Johnny when Helen is found murdered the next day and he becomes the police's prime suspect.
Johnny believes he can clear his name only by finding the real killer, and during his quest he encounters all kinds of shady characters who want to take advantage of him. Apart from his two loyal war comrades, the only help he receives is from a mysterious beautiful woman, Joyce (played by Veronica Lake), who happens to be involved in the case in unexpected ways.
The Blue Dahlia had its film noir credentials established mainly on account of being based on an original screenplay by Raymond Chandler, the famous author of hard-boiled detective novels, some of which would later be adapted into screen classics. Despite having some film noir elements, The Blue Dahlia can also be characterised as a more generic “whodunnit” crime mystery. The reason for this can be found in the solid, but unremarkable, direction of George Marshall, a prolific veteran director whose true speciality was light comedies. Chandler would later criticise Marshall’s work, with much of his animosity being caused by frustrating circumstances on set.
The Blue Dahlia was rushed into production during the last months of the war, with Paramount Pictures fearing that their most lucrative star, Alan Ladd, could be mobilised. Producer John Houseman hired Chandler to write the script, which he couldn’t complete on time, facing serious writer’s block which he would ultimately deal with through heavy drinking. The most frustrating thing for Chandler was the ending, which he delivered while shooting was still going on, but which he had to change as it was not in line with the guidelines of wartime propaganda and heavy censorship.
Despite the scriptwriter’s objections, The Blue Dahlia is a good film. Its beginning gives an interesting glimpse into the emerging world of prosperous post-war America, seen from the perspective of returning veterans who suddenly realise that the people they left behind are having a much easier life than they would have imagined beforehand. The film also works well as a crime mystery by having many potential murder suspects from the shady underbelly of sunny California, and there is even some heavy action in a couple of scenes.
The reuniting of Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, who were such a formidable couple in This Gun for Hire a few years earlier, doesn’t work that well. While Ladd is good in his role as the protagonist, Lake appears too late in the film for her character to have a meaningful relationship with Johnny. Both actors are overshadowed by a small army of capable character actors like Howard da Silva, Ben Costello in his last role as a gang boss, and Will Wright as an elderly house detective. But nobody could match the intensity of William Bendix, who plays Buzz as an amnesiac, overemotional and occasionally violent veteran with a metal plate in his head. Bendix gives an excellent performance portraying what was at the time known as “shell shock” or “battle fatigue” and what is nowadays known as PTSD.
Great acting and solid direction are more than enough for The Blue Dahlia to be forgiven for not living up to the high standards associated with its scriptwriter. The audience and critics, on the other hand, loved this film at the time, making it one of the most successful film noirs. Later, it contributed to popular culture by inspiring the nickname of Elizabeth Short, a.k.a. the “Black Dahlia”, victim of the most infamous unsolved murder in the history of Hollywood.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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