The Blue Dahlia

film by Marshall [1946]

Written by Lee Pfeiffer

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Article History

The Blue Dahlia, American film noir, released in 1946, that featured the popular pairing of actors Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. The screenplay was written by novelist Raymond Chandler, who earned an Academy Award nomination.

Johnny Morrison (played by Ladd) is a no-nonsense American navy veteran who returns home from World War II to find his wife, Helen (Doris Dowling), in the midst of a torrid affair with the owner of the Blue Dahlia nightclub, Eddie Harwood (Howard Da Silva). Johnny and Helen have a fight, and Johnny leaves after threatening her with a gun. He is offered a ride by a beautiful and mysterious woman (Veronica Lake). Meanwhile, one of Johnny’s war buddies, Buzz (William Bendix), comes looking for him. He encounters Helen in a bar, and though the two do not discover each other’s identities, they have drinks together. The next morning Helen is found dead, and Johnny is named the top suspect for her murder. He must fight to clear his name and to find the real killer, who he comes to suspect is Eddie Harwood after finding a message from Helen that claims Eddie was wanted for murder in another state. When Johnny goes to confront him, he discovers that the mysterious woman who had offered him a ride is actually Eddie’s estranged wife, Joyce. Johnny is later visited by Eddie’s thugs, and in the ensuing scuffle Eddie is killed. Johnny subsequently reports to the police station and finds Buzz, who has difficulty with his memory because of a war injury, being prodded to confess to Helen’s murder. The killer is eventually discovered to be the house detective at the hotel where the Morrisons had lived, and Johnny and Buzz’s names are cleared.

Chandler originally intended for Buzz to be Helen’s murderer, but the U.S. Navy objected to a wounded veteran being portrayed as a killer, and the ending was changed. Less than a year after The Blue Dahlia was released the body of a young woman was found nude and cut in half in a grisly murder in Los Angeles. The victim’s nickname, “the Black Dahlia,” had been inspired by the popular film, which was set in Los Angeles. That murder remains unsolved.