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44 out of 50 people found the following review useful:
Another masterpiece by Fritz Lang, 21 January 2005

Author: pbutterfly from United States

Really excellent film, elegant, well constructed and atmospheric. Beautifully written script, directing, photography, art direction, soundtrack editing, performances, etc. A real masterpiece. I am surprised that so many people who review it here seem not to grasp it. They complain about lack of suspense because it doesn't use hackneyed noir film devices, but the film is not about that. It's about Anne Baxter, the world through her point of view. Her life is a beautiful dream of hopes of love and happiness for the future, which turns into a horrible nightmare that spirals downward with sickening realism and pathos. Snappy characters throughout, but they are not "wasted", miscast or otherwise ill-used. They are perfectly balanced in a skilled script that is not about actors chewing the scenery, but is a real film, an art film, by the master Fritz Lang, whose every decision in creating this film up to the smallest detail seems to me to be highly intentional. Highly recommended.

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24 out of 31 people found the following review useful:
Nostalgic Melodrama, 31 December 2005
Author: Lechuguilla from Dallas, Texas

Norah, a young, attractive woman (played by Anne Baxter), gets a letter from her overseas boyfriend, informing her that he has found a new love. At just the moment she realizes she has been rejected, the phone rings. It's a dinner invitation from a womanizer who thinks he is talking to one of Norah's two female roommates. Depressed and vulnerable, Norah impulsively accepts the invitation, on her own behalf. This is the setup for "The Blue Gardenia", set in the early 50s, a film with a good beginning and some really high-powered Hollywood talent.

The screenplay, with its contrived plot, and director Fritz Lang's ambivalent direction render a flawed production. The film's tone, expressed both in the B&W cinematography and in the music, tends to seesaw back and forth between romance and mystery. But, the film can still be enjoyable to viewers looking for a murder-mystery/romance combo that is not overly complex. The easy to follow plot moves along unencumbered by the confusion wrought by multi-layered plot gimmicks so common in today's films.

The film's ending is one for the books. In all the mystery films I have watched, I don't recall a murder investigation being wrapped up so easily as this one. It's way too neat and too tidy to be credible. The film's 88-minute run time leaves a lot of room for additional material. Expansion of the film's final Act could have provided a more realistic and satisfying ending.

I really liked seeing Raymond Burr and Ann Sothern. The film also sports some clever dialogue. With its interesting premise, "The Blue Gardenia", despite a flawed script, will likely appeal to viewers looking for a melodramatic film with a nostalgic setting, wherein the plot is straightforward. Viewers looking for a topnotch script and/or a complex storyline with lots of plot twists and subtlety will need to look elsewhere.

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15 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Blue Gardenia, Now I'm Alone With You, 25 July 2006

Author: krorie from Van Buren, Arkansas

One thing this film has going for itself is atmosphere. Making it all seem relevant is the featured song, more than just a theme, an integral part of the movie, sung by the enchanting man with the melodious voice, Nat "King" Cole, who makes a much too brief appearance as the piano man in the club called The Blue Gardenia.

Besides the hypnotic melody, the interplay among the three room mates, Norah Larkin (Anne Baxter), Crystal Carpenter (Ann Sothern), and Sally Ellis (Jeff Donnell), represents the apex of this enjoyable Fritz Lang outing, not as dour as many of his films, wrapped in Sturm und Drang, tended to be. If "The Blue Gardenia" is to be classified at all, it would possibly be labeled lighter Noir.

Of the interplay between the room mates, Ann Sothern as Crystal with her biting wit and mock delivery, is the highlight. On the other hand, both Crystal and Jeff Donnell as Sally are sounding boards (sort of a Greek chorus) for troubled and tormented Anne Baxter as Norah.

In one of his final roles as a heavy, Raymond Burr as Harry Prebble shows the viewer what a versatile actor he could be. As womanizer, woman-hater Harry Prebble, he convincingly conveys to the audience the loathsome qualities of such a creature. Sex is power and domination, an ego enhancer, not pleasurable or loving in any way except to provide sweet loving lies to permit the conquest. Norah Larkin gives in to this sexual predator in a moment of weakness following the receipt of a Dear John letter from her sweetheart overseas. Prebble, true to form, proceeds to get Norah drunk at The Blue Gardenia as a prelude to seduction. In the process of attempting to woo her with words in his apartment, Prebble becomes more forceful when Norah revives long enough to realize Prebble's true intentions. When she awakes in the morning she finds Prebble dead. Norah has only a hazy recollection of a poker being swung and a mirror shattering. All else is blank.

Assigned to the investigation is Police Capt.Sam Haynes (George Reeves of TV "Superman" fame, showing all the earmarks of a great actor before being typecast on television), who seeks to wrap the case up quickly by apprehending the mystery lady who was seen with Prebble at The Blue Gardenia just before his death. A newspaper reporter, Casey Mayo (Richard Conte), sees a chance for a big story that might jump start his career as a journalist. The media begins to tout the mystery lady as the tantalizing "Blue Gardenia."

"The Blue Gardenia" has all the marks of a great murder mystery in the tradition of "Laura," written by the same person, Vera Caspary. But for some reason, lack of money, lack of time, Fritz Lang wraps the entire project up much too soon. The ending is so abrupt that it appears thrown together as if in the middle of a scene the director yells out, "Wrap it up," and leaves the set. Yet, that's the only major flaw in the film. Otherwise, watch and enjoy.

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23 out of 36 people found the following review useful:
Prelude and Liebestodt, 23 January 2005

Author: jotix100 from New York

Fritz Lang was pressed for time when he undertook to direct this movie. It shows! This film was based on a novel by Vera Caspary, the author of "Laura", but in comparison to her best known work, this story pales next to it. The screenplay by Charles Hoffman doesn't make it better, but it's far from a terrible movie.

If you haven't seen the film, please stop reading here.

First of all, this is not a movie that belongs to the film noir genre. Far from it, it is a movie with a mystery and perhaps some suspense. The only thing that might come close to being a noir is the a couple of sequences filmed during the night, but nothing else matches that category.

First of all, the heroine of the film is an ingenue. How else can we classify Norah, the young telephone operator from a small town near Los Angeles? She is in love with a G.I. that is serving overseas. Norah has received a letter from him, but waits until she is having a celebratory dinner by herself to read it. Well, she learns that she has been dumped. When the phone rings for her roommate, Chrystal, she answers and gets an invitation for dinner at the Blue Gardenia, a trendy eatery where "umbrella drinks" are served. Nat Cole is the entertainer singing a horrible little number that is repeated throughout the picture.

This is the beginning of Norah's downfall. She gets drunk and her date invites her to go to his apartment. Harry Prebble has other ideas of how to spend a relaxed night at home listening to Nat Cole's rendition of the song heard at the restaurant to put Norah into a romantic mood. She passes out, only to be awakened by an insisting Harry. We watch Norah reject his advances, a mirror is broken, and the next thing we know, he's dead.

To make matters worse, Casey Mayo, the local star reporter, takes an interest in the "Blue Gardenia" murder. Norah, who hasn't told anyone about her experience, is having pangs of anxiety. What to do? After all is investigated, everyone realizes Norah couldn't have done the murder herself. It's Mayo who discovers the secret because instead of Nat Cole in the record player, the LP they heard when they get to Harry's apartment is a Wagner opus. This in turn, solves the mystery in pointing to a minor character seen only for maybe a minute of screen time! That was the best example of true sleuthing.

"Blue Gardenia" shows us the young and beautiful Anne Baxter. Her Norah is a naive woman swimming in a sea full of sharks. Ms. Baxter does her best under the circumstances. Richard Conte, as Casey Mayo is sadly miscast in the movie. Sassy Ann Southern doesn't have much to do. Raymond Burr is effective as the lecherous Harry, but unfortunately he doesn't stay around too long.

The movie is a minor Lang.

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10 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
not one of Lang's best, but you could definitely find worse for a matinée thriller, 30 October 2007

Author: MisterWhiplash from United States

The Blue Gardenia might be the kind of picture that Fritz Lang might make if he were under contract by the Lifetime TV network. This isn't so much an outright put-down as it is a matter of fact, and it goes without saying the mark that Lang puts somewhat at least on every picture. It's a tale of a woman in trouble for doing what seemingly should've been the most logical thing to do- however criminal- under the circumstances. Poor Norah Larkin (Anne Baxter, sweet and scared and sad, and lots of expressions of being provoked), she's just been dumped by her man who's off at war, and so in a moment of frustration she goes for heavy playboy/artist Harry Pebble (Raymond Burr, even with certain bulky charms, is still reminiscent of his classic part in Raw Deal as the villain), who takes her to the club of the film's title. After serenading her with live Nat King Cole, and a bunch of hoity toity rum drinks, he takes her back to his place and tries to have his way with her. She goes foggy after that - next morning, Pebble is dead, and "The Blue Gardenia" is the only suspect.

Maybe it's a harsh conclusion to jump to with saying it's like one of these prototypical melodramas where all of the women have crappy men in their lives and the moment they fight back they're looked on as the sudden threat (or, maybe that's just my impression of those TV movies). But even in the so-called realm of noir, Blue Gardenia doesn't seem to pack the same punch of the many others in the field, despite Lang's attempts to valiantly add some bits of humor (I loved the one woman who was sincerely trying to dupe reporter Mayo with being the Blue Gardenia and then changing her tone when looking at her shoes: "they're 8 1/2, sometimes 8 if I try"). It's predictable to a fault - and I'm not spoiling anything here kids - that she can't be the killer. How it happens isn't so much of a surprise as it's an inevitable conclusion with the nice touch being how Lang directs the actress when she suddenly realizes the jig is up; one is briefly, sharply reminded of the gusto in one of Lang's silent pictures.

But the fact that the Blue Gardenia is about what you'd expect doesn't mean it's not worth watching, especially if you're already getting into Lang's films or want to check out another noir with 'Blue' in the title (sans Chandler unfortunately). I liked Norah's roommates/co-workers, who had little bits of conversation early on that seemed a lot more natural than would normally come out of a melodrama (leaning more towards the sarcastic), and the whole aspect of the song itself, with that old-time melody crooning over as a marker of a crime and the attraction of one to the other in the dead of night. Respectable movie-making, though nowhere near brilliant, fix yourself a drink with a long, poetic description, and enjoy Baxter's descent into existential crisis 101.

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8 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
The Jilted Woman, a Poker, and The Blue Gardenia, 15 January 2007

Author: BaronBl00d (baronbl00d@aol.com) from NC

Slightly better than average yet engaging mystery/film noir about a telephone operator opening a Dear Jane letter then deciding to go out with a wolf(Raymond Burr of all people) only to return home not knowing what happened and hearing about the wolf's ugly homicide. Anne Baxter plays Nora the lead role as the Blue Gardenia - a name given to the murderess by a famous reporter from the local newspaper. In fact, the script, while maybe not overly imaginative in the conclusion of the film, has some snappy dialog and interesting points. The Blue Gardenia actually means at least four things in the movie: the murderess's newspaper's title, the name of the night club where Burr and Baxter go that fatal evening, a hit" song by Nat King Cole(who sings it in person at the club), and lastly as the flower of the night club sold by a blind woman. The film was directed by Fritz Lang and though effective in many ways - not up to what one might expect from that legendary director. Lang has some marvelous scenes. Two particularly jump out when Nora was at Burr's apartment and then when Baxter starts to feel pressure from all over - over her possible guilt. Lang manages to bring some real angst to these scenes, but more often than not - much of the film seems pedestrian by his standards. Nonetheless, The Blue Gardenia is entertaining. Baxter, Burr, Richard Conte as the newspaperman, George Reeves as a cop, and Ann Sothern all do good jobs acting and bringing their characters some depth. The ending is decidedly weak as some solution to the film's problems comes way too readily and unconvincingly ala deus ex machina.

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Cinderella Murder, 5 November 2008

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

In The Blue Gardenia, Anne Baxter's feeling low and depressed because her GI fiancé in Korea has given her the brushoff. Against her better judgment she goes out with Raymond Burr, full time artist and full time wolf. A few Polynesian Pearl Divers in the local bar which might have been spiked and Anne's not doing so good. But good enough to hit Burr with a fireplace poker and somehow make her way home like Cinderella with both shoes missing.

George Reeves taking a break from Superman plays the Los Angeles homicide detective gets a little unwanted help from Richard Conte, a Walter Winchell like newspaper columnist who's no doubt thinking of the black dahlia murders in LA a few years because a Blue Gardenia's been left at the crime scene and Nat King Cole both sang it live and on record in the film.

In the meantime Baxter's mood swings are being noticed by her roommates Ann Sothern and Jeff Donnell. And Conte's got his own investigation going into the Blue Gardenia murder. It all makes for one interesting and murky film in the tradition of Fritz Lang.

Anne in a sense does a reprise of her Oscar winning performance from The Razor's Edge as a woman being trapped in tragedy. She blamed herself for her family's death in The Razor's Edge and she may or may not have killed Burr. The only difference is that an arrest might lead to an expiation of sin of a sort.

Fritz Lang made a specialty in harassed and harried protagonists getting themselves into some real jackpots whether it was Henry Fonda in You'll Only Live Once, Edward G. Robinson in Scarlett Street and The Woman In the Window, and we can even count Peter Lorre in M. These are people who in fact were guilty. For the first time however Lang's harried protagonist is a woman and Anne gives a great performance.

One scene I really loved is one with Almira Sessions as a brain dead housekeeper who finds Burr's body and then proceeds to clean up the crime scene. After all as she explains to Reeves this is her job and what she's paid to do. The fact she's destroyed all forensic evidence doesn't seem to impress her in the slightest.

On the other hand had she done like a normal person would have and not touched anything, the forensics would have cleared the whole thing up and we wouldn't have a movie.

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
While not perfect, this is excellent entertainment, 21 November 2007

Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This is a very simple sort of Noir-like film that director Fritz Lang did so well in the 1940s and 50s. Sadly, since his earlier career in Germany had been so successful, his work in Hollywood is generally seen as the director's decline. This is really a mistake because while these later films aren't earth-shaking like METROPOLIS or M, they are still very entertaining and hold up very well today. Try watching SCARLET STREET, BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT, THE BIG HEAT or THE BLUE GARDENIA and you'll see what I mean--excellent dramas that are well-directed and very entertaining. Why this is seen as his "slow period" of creativity is beyond me.

Anne Baxter plays a nice young lady who is unknowingly caught in the web of a master lecher, Raymond Burr. Because she is upset about her fiancé dumping her, she wants to have a night out and forget about her troubles--all the while Burr is plying her with liquor in order to be able to force himself on her more easily. Essentially, he's a very accomplished date rapist and Baxter is his next victim. However, despite being very drunk, Baxter is able to fight off Burr's rough advances using a fireplace poker.

The next morning, the events of the previous night are a blur to Baxter and she's surprised to learn that Burr is dead. Then, bit by bit, she comes to remember some of the events--as well as whomping Burr with the poker. As a result, she is quite scared and doesn't dare go to the police.

While today many might see the film's central quandary one that is a "non-issue" since she was about to be raped, in the 1950s it is NOT a foregone conclusion that she would have been found innocent in using deadly force to stop the attack. Nowadays, I assume it would have been much easier for her to be exonerated and she probably would have not done so much to try to cover up her actions. Because of this, I felt that Baxter's reaction to the incident wasn't necessarily that hard to believe.

As to what's next, I don't want to say more because there are several twists and turns that make this an interesting drama indeed. So interesting, I almost gave the film an 8.

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8 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Fritz Lang Made a Great Classic, 21 January 2005

Author: whpratt1 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Always enjoy the great talents of Fritz Lang and especially,"M",1931 starring Peter Lorre, which gave Peter the break which launched his career. In this picture Fritz Lang also gave Peter Lorre's wife a small role as (May), Celia Lovsky,(The Blind lady who gave out the Gardenia's), he was married to Celia from 1934 to 1945. Ann Baxter,( Norah Larkin),"The Spoilers",'55, received a 'Dear John' letter from her boyfriend who was a soldier in Korea and decided to go out on a quick date with Raymond Burr,(Harry Prebble),"Tomorrow Never Comes",'78, and woke up the next morning with a big Hang Over and simply forgot everything she did with Harry during the evening and morning. Richard Conte,(Casey Mayo),"Tony Rome",'67, was a reporter for the L.A. Chronicle and decided to help Norah Larkin out of a bad situation and help her remember just what happened on her wild date. Ann Southern,(Crystal Carpenter),"Shadow on the Wall",'50, gave a great supporting role and plenty of laughs as a switchboard operator who worked with Norah and lived in the same apartment, which was shared by three gals. Fritz Lang did have to work on a tight budget in 1953, however, he managed to make this film into an all time Great Classic Film.

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9 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
"Not much of a story...just the truth", 2 November 2007

Author: stalker vogler from Xanadu

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This is the fourth Lang noir on my list and my hypothesis that Hollywood has made a mockery of one of the greatest men in cinema seems to gain more and more ground. It's not that this movie is bad by whatever standards. Come to think of it, it's quite enjoyable with its blend of romance and mystery under the general heading of noir. But this is the problem, I would have liked an amazing failure of catastrophic proportions that could have balanced the genius in M. Instead you have a movie whose only hint that it was directed by the same man who directed M is the name on the credits.

"Slight spoilers below" The screenplay is sooo predictable. It is so obvious that the main character couldn't be guilty, even if the scene of the blackout is well done, you ask yourself why they did it and the only answer is that the plot is going to end up favourably. The evolution of the character in the film suggests nothing to make her even for a moment appear guilty. The classic noir would have the main character do something bad, against his good nature, fall in a trap by falling in love with a dangerous woman etc. There was usually something the man did that eventually lead to his downfall. But our character here is a plain woman doing nothing wrong... The ending is bad even for B-movie standards because it doesn't manage to hold suspense. It's so obvious that when the character is caught by the police something MUST happen in the remaining 12 minutes and the only thing that could happen is the revealing of the real killer. And what a surprise! The killer is another plain woman who had some affair with the playboy victim. Really I would have liked it better if the guy committed suicide with a poker... I would have believed it too!...

The movie is worth watching for the well done camera work, there is enough movement overall that gives some edge to the average plot making the viewer interested in what's going on. There is also some nice music from Nat King Cole and a good deal of Tristan and Isolde near the end (apparently chosen for the combination of love and death). The above average Anne Baxter is at least fun to watch even if she doesn't have much to work on in terms of script.

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