It's about Anne Baxter, the world through her point of view. [2] The Gardenia first appeared in the February–March issue of Today's Woman magazine:[3] however the film rights for the novella had been acquired almost a full year earlier, it being announced in April 1951 that its filmation - purportedly entitled Gardenia - would be a production of the Howard Welsch-helmed Fidelity Pictures, who originally negotiated with Dorothy McGuire to play the female lead,[4] which was subsequently offered to Linda Darnell, Joan Fontaine,[5] and Margaret Sullavan (had Sullavan played the film's female lead, [The Blue] Gardenia would have been her final movie rather than No Sad Songs for Me in 1950; Sullavan, who died in 1960, would have three television roles in the 1950s, one of them later than 1953). Mae Doyle comes back to her hometown a cynical woman. They go to the Blue Gardenia Club, and Norah drinks six strong cocktails Polynesian Pearl Divers and gets completely drunk. Newspaper columnist Casey Mayo (Richard Conte) dubs the presumed killer the "Blue Gardenia murderess." Alex Gottlieb, the independent producer of Blue Gardenia, is best known for having produced the first ten Abbott and Costello films for Universal at budgets and production schedules on a par with Blue Gardenia. Since the focus is the lighter valued front … On the next morning, she wakes-up in her apartment with her two roommates, but she can not remember what happened. The next morning, Norah is awakened by Crystal; she has suffered a blackout as to the events of the previous night. No shock—it became Ground Zero for the Alphabet War. A deranged writer murders a maid after she resists his advances. When she reads in the ... friendly waking up Al in the backseat of his car, Passport to Summer: Perfect Tiki Movies and Tiki Drinks Pairings. Finally grasping the significance of the fact that the records on the machine had been changed, Casey realizes it's possible that Norah was not the killer. She convinces him that she is actually speaking for a friend, not herself, and Casey tells Norah that he is willing to pay for top legal representation if her friend agrees to surrender. Norah has a vague flashback of the wielding of a fire poker and the shattering of a mirror. The Blue Gardenia (1953) "There was nothing lily-white about her -- the clutch-and-kill girl they called: The Blue Gardenia" TMDb Score. Well, there's no particular reason, I just consider these two updates … Check out our editors' picks for the movies and shows we're excited about this month, like Mortal Kombat, "Them," and Stowaway. Ground zero was an Italian restaurant on Empire Boulevard in Irondequoit called the Blue Gardenia, named after the 1953 film noir. In Los Angeles, on the day of her birthday, the telephone operator Norah Larkin decides to celebrate dining alone at home, with the picture of her beloved fiancé, a soldier overseas, and reading his last letter to her. In WW2, the Allies race against time to persuade two nuclear scientists working for the Germans to switch sides. 1 talking about this. The joint was part of the Empire Plaza strip mall, a well-known Mob hangout where the clam sauce was squisito, as long as there wasn’t a body in your linguine. 66. Casey receives many bogus phone calls from local women, but when Norah calls, he realizes she is genuine. Chills - … From a hospital bed, Rose confesses that while Norah was passed out at Harry's apartment, she herself arrived, demanding that he marry her. Vis 5. So why was she here? Realizing the police are closing in, she attempts suicide. If you love Anne Baxter ("All About Eve", "The Ten Commandments"), chances are you'll most certainly appreciate her bravura performance in THE BLUE GARDENIA, directed in 1953 by Fritz Lang. (1953). The Blue Gardenia - a cynical take on press coverage of a sensational murder case - was the first installment of Lang's "newspaper noir" movie trio, being followed in 1956 by both While the City Sleeps and Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. A conservative middle aged professor engages in a relationship with a femme fatale, he's plunged into a nightmarish world of blackmail and murder. Title: A … That same night, at her apartment, Sally reads the newspaper report that the suspect wore a black dress at the time of the murder. Bitter and confused, she mistakenly believes that Casey is the one who turned her in. The Blue Gardenia is a 1953 film noir directed by Fritz Lang and starring Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, and Ann Sothern. Maybe that's what made me so venomous". (That record being Toscanini conducting Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.) Harry takes her to his apartment and tries to force Norah to have sex, and she uses a poker to hit Harry on the head. Casey wants her as well, and tosses his "little black book" to his buddy Al. The Blue Gardenia is a 1953 film noir directed by Fritz Lang and starring Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, and Ann Sothern. [11] Another key role – although uncredited – was played by Celia Lovsky, a long-time associate of Fritz Lang who had been instrumental in Lang's casting Peter Lorre – for a time Lovsky's husband – in M, Lang's 1931 sound film break-through. In Los Angeles, California, Norah Larkin (Anne Baxter) is a single woman who works as a switchboard operator along with her roommates, Crystal Carpenter (Ann Sothern) and Sally Ellis (Jeff Donnell). They go to the Blue Gardenia Club, and Norah drinks six strong cocktails Polynesian Pearl Divers and gets completely drunk. This beauty can be yours. After the murder of his fiancée, a Wyoming ranch hand sets out to find her killer. It is based on a novella by Vera Caspary. Certificate: Passed Norah, everyone finally understands, was simply an intoxicated and confused bystander. Was this review helpful to you? A telephone operator ends up drunk and at the mercy of a cad in his apartment. They complain about lack of suspense because it doesn't use hackneyed noir film devices, but the film is not about that. Prior to filming The Blue Gardenia, Sothern had signed with CBS to star in the sitcom Private Secretary, filming the first episodes in the latter half of December 1952 immediately after her eight days of filming on The Blue Gardenia:[9] Sothern's focus would remain focused on television roles with occasional cinematic forays, her next cinematic credit subsequent to The Blue Gardenia being the 1964 film The Best Man. Use the HTML below. The Blue Gardenia It plays as an unimaginative newspaper melodrama that takes jabs at the middle-class and how neurotic and fearful they are about romance. Norah agrees and returns home, where she confesses to roommate Crystal, who is sympathetic. Her brother Joe fears that his love, fish cannery worker Peggy, may wind up like Mae. (Although she does not say that she is pregnant, the audience of that time would assume that that was the reason for her desperate demands.) The Blue Gardenia is a 1953 Film Noir directed by Fritz Lang. The Blue Gardenia Motown & R&B Wedding Band would love to perform for your upcoming event. Formula development has an occasional bright spot, mostly because Ann Sothern breathes some life into a stock character and quips ... Baxter and Conte do what they can but fight a losing battle with the script while Burr is a rather obvious wolf. The Blue Gardenia (1953) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. The Blue Garden today has been reinterpreted into a palette of lower maintenance blue, purple, and white flowering perennials, annuals, shrubs, and vines - all of which ensure that the garden's unique design intent will be sustained. Harry takes her to his apartment and tries to force Norah to have sex, and she uses a poker to hit Harry on the head. Get To It - Prod. Table For 1 - Prod. Norah passes out on Harry's couch, and he makes a sexual advance. Fernando F. Croce CinePassion. Written by [6], In September 1952 the rights for Gardenia were sold to independent producer Alex Gottlieb[3] with the film henceforth referred to as The Blue Gardenia: despite reports of the female lead role being assigned to Darnell[7] and also to the little-known Vicky Lane,[8] Anne Baxter was announced for the role in November - The Blue Gardenia being considered the second of Baxter's two-picture pact with Warner Bros. as that studio signed to distribute the film - with the film's two other top-billed stars announced the same month. 239 likes. When she reads the newspaper, she finds that Harry is dead and the police has her handkerchief, her high heels and her blue gardenia and is chasing the woman that killed the famous wolf Harry. Full Review. This update is going to be a two-parter, as quite a bit happened in this playthrough. At an airport, Casey, with his colleague Al (Richard Erdman), notices that the piped-in music—the love theme from Tristan und Isolde—is identical to the music the maid found playing on Harry's phonograph. Blue Gardenia, in fact, was even more bargain basement than Lang was used to, an emblem of Lang’s decreasing prestige. After one botched attempt, he meets her in his office. The Blue Gardenia (1954) was her film debut and she was 40 at the time. 69 of 84 people found this review helpful. The filming of The Blue Gardenia commenced 28 November 1952 and was completed Christmas Eve, Lang wrapping the movie a day earlier than its 21-day filming schedule. Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. "[15], A Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of The Blue Gardenia aired 30 November 1954, with the lead roles taken by Dana Andrews – in the role Fritz Lang had wanted him to play in the film – and Ruth Roman: Andrews would later play the male lead in both the 1956 movies: While the City Sleeps and Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, which were the second and third installments of the "newspaper noir" movie trio Lang began with the movie The Blue Gardenia (Lang was not involved in the Lux Radio production). Our booking coordinator will work with you to help make your event flow smoothly without the 'stop and start' and the disorganization that most events experiences. While there are precious few of these throughout the classic Hollywood era, these movies are out there. [14] Critic Dennis Schwartz gave the movie a mixed review, writing: "A minor film noir from Fritz Lang (Clash by Night/The Big Heat) that never has a chance to bloom because of its dull script. She admits to cleaning the poker, which would have removed any fingerprints, and placing the shoes in the closet, so valuable evidence has been compromised. [3], When the film was first released, the staff at Variety magazine gave The Blue Gardenia a lukewarm review: "A stock story and handling keep The Blue Gardenia from being anything more than a regulation mystery melodrama, from a yarn by Vera Caspary. Frightened, Norah wraps her own black dress in a newspaper and burns it in an outdoor incinerator. The Blue Gardenia - a cynical take on press coverage of a sensational murder case - was the first installment of Lang's "newspaper noir" movie trio, being followed in 1956 by both While the City Sleeps and … When Norah asks her colleague about the questioning, she is startled and goes to read the Los Angeles Chronicle newspaper's account of the slaying. When she arrives at the Blue Gardenia restaurant and nightclub, Harry is surprised to see Norah, since he was expecting Crystal. 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