What the blue gardenia seems to signal finally is the demise of film noir a genre which lang helped establish m 1931 and refine women in the window 1944, scarlet street 1945 and its possibilities of nocturnal passion and existential striving. Nora is a pretty telephone operator engaged to a soldier overseas. The blue gardenia 1953 not rated 1h 30min crime, drama, filmnoir 28 march 1953 usa a telephone operator ends up drunk and at the mercy of a cad in his apartment. Jilted switchboard operator anne baxter accepts a date at the blue gardenia nightclub with womanizing artist burr a joint classy enough to employ nat king cole as house singer and after downing several exotic cocktails and a veritable banquet of food, agrees to accompany him to his apartment so the predatory painter can. The blue gardenia has a lot going for it, not least of which is that entire sequence with anne baxter and raymond burr at the asian restaurant. The blue gardenia is directed by fritz lang and adapted to screenplay by charles hoffman from the short story gardenia written by vera caspary. This movie, marketed as film noir, falls far short of the mark. After it was completed, lang signed a contract to work at columbia and his next picture would be one of his best known american films, the big.
She cant recall if she did but all the clues point to her direction as if she did. The artist is a sketchartist and a corpulent wolf raymond burr, his double is a slick columnist richard conte who wields the bachelors little black book like an amulet. Blue gardenia is the title of a torch song composed by lester lee and bob russell for the 1953 movie the blue gardenia in which a recording of the song serves as a crucial plot point. By 1926 he had completed 21 films, most of which are lost or exist in only. Classic hollywood film noir with a feminine twist, the blue gardenia stars anne baxter all about eve as norah larkin, a working girl who wakes up a murderess after passing out in the apartment of brutish playboy harry prebble raymond burr. Relatively minor but still gripping film noir, in which baxter, jilted by her soldier fiance, goes on a blind date with burr, gets drunk. The notes and intervals are played over and over in the movie. The blue gardenia 1953 letterboxd your life in film. Ruth lee jones born august 29, 1924 in tuscaloosa, alabama. A woman finds herself accused of murdering the stranger she went home with in this film noir.
When i first got into film noir i devoured as many of these dark films as i could based on what was available on dvd and on television. Directed by fritz lang, i thought this 50s thriller was a nobrainer especially after seeing scarlet street and woman in the window on tcm. A telephone operator ends up drunk and at the mercy of a cad in his apartment. Music is by raoul kraushaar and cinematography by nicholas musuraca. Norah larkin anne baxter, a telephone operator, goes out on a blind date, gets terribly drunk, and goes home with an artist and blacks out. The blue gardenia is a 1953 film noir directed by fritz lang. The blue gardenia marked sotherns return to films after a twoyear absence.
The composer obviously knew it, doubtless anne baxter knew it, and many in the original audience knew it. It stars anne baxter, richard conte, ann sothern, raymond burr and george reeves. It adds to ones appreciation of the film and to its dark character. An independent production distributed by warner bros. Knowing only that the killer, who beat the man to death with a poker, is a woman, a reporter posts an. The blue gardenia 1953 27x41 orig movie poster fff65326 anne. Fritz langs scathing critique of fifties americas hunger for bloodshed and scandal. Although their appearances in the completed picture have not been confirmed. On her birthday, she gets a dear john letter from him. Lang manages to make blue gardenia his own, and he does so not by transcending the banality of the material but by giving this banality a thematic dare i say, philosophical significance. Norah anne baxter, a young woman working as a telephone operator, gets a breakup letter from her soldier boyfriend and goes out for a night on the town. Believing her to be guilty, the reporter urges her to confess. With anne baxter, richard conte, ann sothern and special guset star. You, our heroine of the blue gardenia, are played by anne baxter.
Terms of activation by activating, you agree that you want to enable cloud technology to access your xfinity stream subscription on additional supported devices like computers and tablets, as well as the tv connected to your settop dvr via comcasts network. Released december 12th, 2004, the blue gardenia stars anne baxter, richard conte, ann sothern, raymond burr the movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 30 min, and received a score of out of 100 on. A stock story and handling keep the blue gardenia from being anything more than a regulation mystery melodrama, from a yarn by vera caspary. The blue gardenia is a 1953 film noir directed by fritz lang and starring anne baxter, richard conte, and ann sothern. The best view of the blue gardenia is that it is also a womans picture with anne baxter as the disillusioned heroine and murder suspect. The blue gardenia 2004 stream and watch online moviefone. With anne baxter, richard conte, ann sothern, raymond burr.
Sep, 2014 the blue gardenia 1953 directed by fritz lang. Director fritz lang and cinematographer nicholas musuraca get busy when creepy artist harry raymond burr forces himself upon inebriated norah anne baxter, whom hes taken on a rebound date, in the blue gardenia, 1953. Winners best picture winners golden globes emmys san diego comiccon new york comiccon sundance film festival toronto intl film festival awards central festival central all events. The blue gardenia 1953 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Oct 12, 2015 a telephone operator kills in selfdefense but cant remember the details of the encounter. Yes, there is a murder and there is a mystery but the plot and screenplay keep the veiwer rather bored. Camille deadpan this movie is so special that a fan of fritz lang should watch it more than once. The blue gardenia 1953 fritz lang cast and crew allmovie. The blue gardenia is a really good film noirmurder drama with norah larkin anne baxter being unable to remember if she killed harry prebbleraymond burr. In the letter he tells her that he met an army nurse stationed in japan and plans to marry her. The blue gardenia cast and crew cast photos and info fandango. Advice to fritz lang heroine cary grant wont eat you. May 19, 2018 unlike langs other, more canonized film noirs such as the big heat 1953 and while the city sleeps 1956, the blue gardenia was filmed in only twenty days and didnt set the film world on fire.
The tabloid headline letter to an unknown murderess is just the jest to be passed between emigre auteurs in hollywood. To optimize your experience with your screen reading software, please use our website, which has the same tickets as our and websites. Peter bogdanovich, director classic hollywood film noir with a feminine twist, the blue gardenia stars anne baxter all about eve as norah larkin, a working girl who wakes up a murderess after passing out in the apartment of brutish playboy harry prebble raymond burr. Some of the longest scenes in the blue gardenia take place in the apartment shared by the movies three heroines, norah anne baxter, crystal. The name reportedly came from the title of mannings favorite movie, a 1953 film with anne baxter and richard conte. The blue gardenia 1953 aficatalog american film institute. Feeling despondent, she agrees to a date with a wolf from her.
The blue gardenia us 1953 the case for global film. She and the reporter meet each other at the blue gardenia several times and gradually fall in love. The blue gardenia is a 1953 film noir directed by fritz lang and starring anne baxter, richard. Unlike langs other, more canonized film noirs such as the big heat 1953 and while the city sleeps 1956, the blue gardenia was filmed in only twenty days and didnt set the film world on fire. The song blue gardenia was written by bob russell and lester lee and was first recorded and released by nat king cole with orchestra conducted by nelson riddle in 1953. A telephone operator kills in selfdefense but cant remember the details of the encounter. Le budget pour ce film est tres faible, enterinant qua cette epoque le. Find movie and film cast and crew information for the blue gardenia 1953 fritz lang on allmovie. The blue gardenia 1953 flickers in timeflickers in time.
The actress, having shredded every scheming expression from three years before, is now you, the dewy fiancee of a soldier abroad who works at the phone company. Nov 02, 2015 the blue gardenia directed by fritz lang written by charles hoffmann. As you celebrate your birthday on your own with his absent and hers present. The song was recorded for the blue gardenia by nat king cole who also performs the song in the film as a lounge singer. The film doesnt have to stay there for long, since the point of the scene is mostly to show how intoxicated baxters norah becomes. The next morning she wakes up with a hangover and the terrible fear she may be a murderess. Not rated 1h 30min crime, drama, filmnoir 28 march 1953 usa. Pity you couldnt point this out to those who watch the movie but dont know the music. The blue gardenia directed by fritz lang written by charles hoffmann.
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