Overrated

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Blistering performances.

All right, so this is not a perfect film by any means but it does make for a pretty good film noir. In parts, the film does seem a bit rushed and chaotic. However, that all makes when you read the trivia section of the film on IMDb- the production of the film itself was rushed due to several factors, including Alan Ladd's expected induction back into the military service.After seeing several of her films, including this one, I can honestly say Veronica Lake is a fascinating screen presence in all of her scenes. She and Ladd,whatever their differences may have been in real life, did have real chemistry on-screen.Lake may not be the best actress there ever was, but she had a certain charisma about her in all of her roles, and although this role doesn't demand very much, she makes the most of her time in the role. She was also very beautiful, and my eyes always go right towards her whenever she is on-screen (no offense to Ladd.) Hers is a very sad story of how quickly a film career can go south, and I find it kind of sad that she was branded so difficult to work with by many of her co-stars.Fortunately, a lot more is understood about mental illness these days, and some actors (Catherine Zeta Jones is one example) who suffer from it can still enjoy a successful career. Lake had a truly outstanding role in "So Proudly We Hail!" and you can really see how talented she actually was in that film. It's hard to believe she was so young both when when her career started and ended.The supporting cast of this film is also great. It's nice to see Hugh Beaumont play a role other than Ward Cleaver, and Doris Dowling is a stunning woman, even as Alan Ladd's nasty wife. All in all, it's a fun movie and I'm glad I discovered it.

War hero Alan Ladd returns home to find out his wife (Doris Dowling) has been cheating on him with sleazy nightclub owner Howard DaSilva. When she ends up dead, Ladd is the chief suspect. Foxy Veronica Lake (DaSilva's estranged wife) helps him figure out who the real killer is. Full of eccentric dialog and MANY eccentric characters, George Marshall's noir classic is immensely entertaining with a very clever script by none other than Raymond Chandler. Ladd & Lake have dynamite chemistry and the supporting cast is first rate. Dowling is great as a bitchy barfly and Hugh Beaumont, Howard Freeman and William Bendix are in it too. Bendix steals the film as a very damaged war vet. The great cinematography is by Lionel Lindon.

THE BLUE DAHLIA (Paramount, 1946), directed by George Marshall, reunites the popular trio of Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake and William Bendix from a Dashell Hammett mystery tale of THE GLASS KEY (Paramount, 1942), in another mystery tale, this one by author, Raymond Chandler. With the opening titles superimposed over the glittering dahlia over a nightclub, a viewer's first impression was to be seeing a nightclub melodrama casting Ladd as its proprietor, Lake the sultry blonde singer and mistress, and Bendix a rough and tough bouncer/ bodyguard. With that in mind, it's always fun after the completion of the opening credits to expect the unexpected, one of many reasons why THE BLUE DAHLIA has turned out so well upon its initial release. In later years, it's become one of Ladd's most televised movies in the sixties, seventies and part of the 1980s, and it's easy to see why.The story starts off with an introduction of three war buddies from World War II coming out of a Hollywood bus in the city of Los Angeles, California, to face a new world of civilian life: Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd), a Navy lieutenant commander; "Buzz" Wenchek (William Bendix), a shell-shock victim with great sensitivity towards loud juke box "monkey" music; and George Copeland (Hugh Beaumont), an attorney by profession. As Buzz and George return to the apartment building they once lived before the war, Johnny comes to Cavendish Court, Bungalow 93, to surprise his wife, Helen (Doris Dowling). Upon his arrival, Johnny is shocked to find his wife drunk, hosting an all-night party for her drunken friends, and finding Eddie Harwood (Howard Da Silva), proprietor of The Blue Dahlia night club, kissing his wife. After the guests leave, Johnny comes to more bitter shock learning how his son, Dickie, actually died. During a quarrel, Johnny takes out his gun with the intent of killing Helen, but comes to the conclusion she's not worth it. Dropping the gun on the couch, he takes his belongings, leaving the hotel bungalow in disgust. While walking in the rain down the dark streets, a young blonde (Veronica Lake), driving to Malibu, offers him a ride. Before the night is over, Johnny and the blonde part company while Helen, having already entertained three separate visitors in the course of a few hours, is found dead the next morning by Jenny, the housemaid (Mae Busch) with a gun nearby. With Johnny the prime suspect, and Captain Hendrickson (Tom Powers) of the Los Angeles police questioning his friends, Johnny and the blonde continue to meet on different paths after several goodbyes. This time the blonde, believing Johnny innocent, helps him in his search for the real killer. Before coming upon evidence leading him to The Blue Dahlia, Johnny is surprised to find the blonde married to the man with possible motives for his wife's murder.Although the seems to be full of clichés and coincidences throughout, THE BLUE DAHLIA is still first-rate forties-style entertainment. With the Ladd-Lake combination working so well here as it did in their two previous screen efforts, it's a wonder how THE BLUE DAHLIA might have turned out had it starred Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall (Warner Brothers); Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell (20th Century-Fox); Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer (RKO Radio); or John Hodiak and Gloria Grahame (MGM) in their place. With fate on their side, it's hard to imagine anyone other than Ladd-Lake in the leads. With THE BLUE DAHLIA being Ladd's film throughout (94 minutes), there's a brief time out for nightclub singer vocalizing to an old tune, "Easy to Remember" (by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart). Of the supporting players, William Bendix stands out where he realistically goes through spells of mental blackouts, and gets some laughs where he gives a "copper" a hard time in the police department. Fans of the "Leave It to Beaver" TV series (1957-1963) should enjoy seeing Hugh Beaumont years before his legendary TV Dad role of Ward Cleaver. Let's not overlook Howard Da Silva's performance, along with other shady characters as Will Wright (The House Detective) and Don Costello (Leo).Distributed to home video (1998) and DVD (2014), notable cable TV broadcasts consist of American Movie Classics (1995-1999) and Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: December 15, 2001). With SHANE (Paramount, 1953) labeled as Ladd's best screen performance, THE BLUE DAHLIA comes a close second, thanks to his confident tough guy image. Though not as well-known as some of the other notable film noir contemporaries from that era, THE BLUE DAHLIA is recommended without hesitation, even for not being a full-fledged nightclub melodrama as the opening credits promised. (***1/2)

Bomber crew Buzz Wanchek (William Bendix), George Copeland, and Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd) return home after fighting in the war. Johnny finds his hard drinking wife Helen partying with her boyfriend Eddie Harwood who owns the Blue Dahlia nightclub. She makes a show of how he's going to beat her to everybody at the party. She confesses that she was drunk when she crashed her car killing their son. He pulls out his gun but throws it on the chair instead of shooting her. He walks out on her. She calls Buzz and he comes over to the hotel. They meet without knowing each other. Buzz is suffering from war trauma. Meanwhile Eddie's estranged wife Joyce (Veronica Lake) happens to picks up Johnny out walking in the rain. Later, Helen is found killed with Johnny's gun and he is the prime suspect.Veronica Lake is great. The movie needs more of her in the movie. The wife played by Doris Dowling is also great but she's gone pretty quickly. The story has one unbelievable coincident. Other than that, this is a fine noir crime drama. Although it spends too much time with the investigation. It would have been better staying with Alan Ladd and keeping Veronica Lake with him. The two of them together is the best thing in the movie and there is not nearly enough time with the pair.