the blue dahlia

With my television and DVD collection packed for the move to St. Louis I am left with a small stack of film noir discs, a box of Saltines and a PC with a 15" screen... cool.

Up first in my noir marathon is The Blue Dahlia (1946). This noir of high repute features Alan Ladd as a war vet, Johnny Morrison. Veronica Lake is Joyce, the wife of Eddie Harwood, a shifty nightclub owner who is involved with Morrison's wife. When Morrison's wife is found murdered Morrison goes on the run with the help of Joyce Harwood and two of his war buddies, one of whom is highly unstable.

The script of The Blue Dahlia was written by the great pulp writer Raymond Chandler. Chandler is at the top of his game with characters full of paranoia, machismo and shady pasts. Unfortunately the studio rewrote the ending, relieving the picture of its potent conclusion and replacing it with an implausible cop-out. The ending felt more appropriate for a Thin Man movie, where the story is secondary to the rapport of the characters. It is a shame that the original ending wasn't shot and canned somewhere only to be rediscovered and restored as it would turn a good noir into a great noir. The original script might be worth a read.

On a side note: There is something totally infectious about Howard Da Silva as Eddie Harwood, in fact I think he steals the film. Its a shame he was blacklisted as he was on his way to becoming a prolific character actor. I'd love to see a TCM evening of his films.