The Blue Dahlia

Based on the only original screenplay penned by hard-boiled novelist Raymond Chandler, George Marshall’s The Blue Dahlia tells the tale of Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd), a Navy officer just home from the war to an unfaithful, alcoholic wife (Doris Dowling) and a dead child. When his wife ends up murdered in her bungalow the same night she and Johnny have a nasty fight, Johnny becomes suspect number one; also under suspicion are Johnny’s Navy comrade Buzz Wanchek (William Bendix), who suffers occasional blackouts from a head injury and ended up in Helen’s company the night of her death, and Helen’s lover Eddie Harwood (Howard Da Silva), who may be living under an assumed name. Veronica Lake play’s Harwood’s estranged wife Joyce who meets Johnny by coincidence and ends up helping to prove his innocence. Despite the patriotism and heroism we associate with Allied victory and the return of American soldiers, Marshall’s film, released just months after peace was declared, presents an alternative narrative in which returning soldiers are mocked, betrayed, and accused of murder; even Wanchek’s head injury, rather than earning sympathy, becomes a source of suspicion. The film entertains through its compelling whodunit set-up, rapid pacing, and, of course, the chemistry between Ladd and Lake, while cinematographer Lionel Linden, a relatively unknown name to noir fans, delivers the shadowy aesthetic and angular compositions we love.