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| Genre: | Thriller |
| Year: | 1953 |
| Rating: | NR |
| Length: | 1 Hour 28 Minutes |
| Cast: | Fritz Lang, Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, Ann Sothern |
Less morally rigorous and fatalistic than Fritz Lang's better-known efforts, Blue Gardenia is essentially a lighter brand of film noir -- using the genre's typically darkened city streets and foreboding sense of dread for a few late-night thrills. After receiving a "Dear John" letter from her unfaithful GI boyfriend, heartbroken good girl Norah Larkin (Anne Baxter) indulges in an evening of drunkenness with sleazy painter Harry Prebble (Raymond Burr). She soon finds herself in the middle of a terrible mystery when Prebble turns up dead. The interplay between Norah and her gal-pal roommates (played by Ann Sothern and Jeff Donnell) adds enormously to the film's charm, and her eventual isolation from them -- as she desperately struggles to remember what happened -- contributes greatly to the tension. Lang's usual visual mastery is in evidence here; Blue Gardenia never looks anything less than stunning. And crooner Nat King Cole even puts in an appearance, stopping by long enough to play the film's lovely theme song. Amy Robinson
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