The Blue Dahlia Overview:

The Blue Dahlia (1946) was a Crime - Drama Film directed by George Marshall and produced by John Houseman and George Marshall.

The Blue Dahlia (1946)

SYNOPSIS

When Johnny Morrison returns home at the end of the war, he expects to receive a warm welcome from his wife. Instead, he discovers that she's been unfaithful to him with the owner of the Blue Dahlia nightclub. After a heated argument, he storms out of their house. Later that night, she's murdered - and Johnny winds up the prime suspect. Joyce Harwood, the estranged wife of the club's proprietor, lends Johnny a hand and the two fall in love while tracking down the killer. This film noir classic was Chandler's first original story written directly for the screen.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

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Academy Awards 1946 --- Ceremony Number 19 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best WritingRaymond ChandlerNominated
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BlogHub Articles:

Review of “The Blue Dahlia” at #NoirCityChicago

By Stephen Reginald on Aug 19, 2018 From Classic Movie Man

Review of “The Blue Dahlia” at #NoirCityChicago I went to see The Blue Dahlia, at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave, Chicago, last night. The 1946 Paramount release, directed by George Marshall was presented in a clean 35mm print. The original screenplay from detective st... Read full article


The Blue Dahlia (1946)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Jun 15, 2017 From 4 Star Films

Soldiers returning home from war is a recurring theme in films such as The Best Years of Our Lives and Act of Violence and given the circumstances it makes sense. This was the reality. Men returning home from war as heroes. But even heroes have to re-acclimate to the world they left behind. Blue Dah... Read full article


The Blue Dahlia (1946)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Jun 15, 2017 From 4 Star Films

Soldiers returning home from war is a recurring theme in films such as The Best Years of Our Lives and Act of Violence and given the circumstances it makes sense. This was the reality. Men returning home from war as heroes. But even heroes have to re-acclimate to the world they left behind. Blue Dah... Read full article


Raymond Chandler's "The Blue Dahlia"

By Rick29 on Jan 7, 2016 From Classic Film & TV Cafe

The Blue Dahlia nightclub. "As pictures go, it is pretty lively. No classic, but no dud either." That's how Raymond Chandler described the movie made from his only original screenplay in a 1946 letter. Chandler was typically critical of his work. In fact, The Blue Dahlia is a very good film noir. ... Read full article


The Blue Dahlia (1946)

By Beatrice on Jul 1, 2014 From Flickers in Time

The Blue Dahlia Directed by George Marshall Written by Raymond Chandler 1946/USA Paramount Pictures First viewing/TCM Dark Crimes DVD Raymond Chandler famously wrote his original screenplay for The Blue Dahlia at home during shooting while he was on a drunken bender. ?The plot doesn’t make m... Read full article


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Quotes from

Eddie Harwood: Half the cops in L.A. are looking for you.
Johnny Morrison: Only half?


Johnny Morrison: [after being picked up] You gotta have more sense than to take chances with strangers like this.
Joyce Harwood: It's funny but practically all the people were strangers when I met them. I'm going to Malibu. Is that any use to you?
Johnny Morrison: What's in Malibu?
Joyce Harwood: Houses, people. I have some friends there.


Johnny Morrison: I'm sorry, but nothing seems funny to me tonight. It all blows up in your face sometimes.
Joyce Harwood: What does?
Johnny Morrison: Whatever you're doing, whereever you're going.


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Facts about

Originally Raymond Chandler intended Buzz, the character played by William Bendix, to be the murderer of Helen Morrison. But the U.S. Navy reacted so strongly against the depiction of a service member becoming homicidal due to brain injuries suffered in combat that they threatened never again to cooperate with ANY Paramount production if that ending was left in the film, so Chandler reluctantly rewrote his script to make another character the killer.
When Alan Ladd was called up for military service, production on the movie (then still in the screenplay stage) had to be rapidly stepped up. According to a near-legendary story, screenwriter Raymond Chandler offered to finish the screenplay by working drunk: in exchange for sacrificing his health to produce the requisite pages on time, Chandler was permitted to work at home (a privilege rarely granted to screenwriters) and was provided two chauffeured cars, one to convey the completed pages to the studio and the other for his wife. Chandler turned the script in on time. Many now believe the "drunkenness" was simply a ruse by Chandler to wrangle extraordinary privileges from the desperate studio.
Many of the cars in the film have a "B" sticker on the windshields. This is a reflection of the wartime rationing of gasoline. Gas was rationed primarily to save rubber, because Japan had occupied Indochina, Malaysia, and Indonesia. (There was a shortage of gas on the East Coast until a pipeline from Texas was constructed to replace the transport of crude oil by sea.) The B sticker was the second lowest category, entitling the holder to only 8 gallons of gas a week.
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