The Blue Gardenia

 (1953)
Directed by Fritz Lang
Written by Charles Hoffman, from a novella by Vera Caspary
Starring: Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, Ann Sothern, Raymond Burr, Jeff Donnell, George Reeves, Nat "King" Cole
IMDB Entry

Like anyone who appreciates films of the 40s and 50s, I'm a fan of film noir. But the term has been overused and watered down over the years and nowadays it's used for any movie in black and white where a crime is committed. I'm going to be looking at some film noir films in the next few weeks, though I'm going to start with one that doesn't fit, even though it's often called noir: The Blue Gardenia.

Norah Larkin (Anne Baxter) is a telephone operator who lives with her friends Crystal (Ann Sothern) and Sally (Jeff Donnell). After she gets a "Dear Jane" letter from her boyfriend in Korea, she answers the phone to hear Harry Preble (Raymond Burr), a serial womanizer, who wants to ask Crystal out for a evening. Norah, on the rebound, takes him up on it. Harry gets her drunk and takes her back to his apartment where he tries to take advantage of her. She hits him with a fireplace poker and leaves.

The next morning, she remembers nothing and learns that Harry was found dead, killed by a fireplace poker. Norah can only remember parts of the evening and thinks she has killed him. The police have few clues, so newspaper columnist Casey Mayo (Richard Conte) writes a column asking the killer to turn herself in. Norah meets with him -- without admitting what happened -- and they develop a relationship.

Despite the noir label, the film doesn't fit the mold. The pervasive corruption in the genre is nowhere to be seen; the lead detective, Captain Haynes (George Reeve*) is an honest cop willing to give Casey a chance to help out Norah. Norah isn't corrupted, either -- she's just caught in a difficult situation and tries to fix it. It's ultimately a murder mystery where she thinks she might be the murderer.**

Baxter works well as Norah. She's already won an Oscar and Golden Globe at this point and is good as the troubled woman.  Burr makes an intriguing cad, though Richard Conte's performance is routine.  Nat "King" Cole shows up to perform the title tune in the nightclub that gives the movie its name.

The movie was directed by the great Fritz Lang.  It's not one of his major works, but still showed a sense of paranoia that was often a part of his films.

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*Yes, TV's Superman, though he's sporting a moustache here. He was not u

**If this were noir, she would have been guilty, dragging Casey down with her.