Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

This film was merely distributed by Warner Bros. One feels that had it been produced in-house, 15 years earlier, it would have been a snappy 65 minute number and all the better for it. The movie opens with some wide, exterior shots of Los Angeles traffic, and doesn't get a lot more interesting, except for a nice turn by Raymond Burr as a Lothario. The rest is a predictable, leisurely TV-type 'thriller' with Anne Baxter at her most simpering, waking up beside the dead body of a man she got drunk with. Ann Sothern tries to inject some fun, (fun wasn't Lang's strong suit) as does Jeff Donnel, while Richard Conte looks almost bored. (He's a curious actor, his eyes seem to betray a kind of constant sadness and anxiety, while here, he's at pains [!] to appear cool). The storytelling is adequate and there are a couple of excitingly edited moments, during a struggle, but Mr Lang did so much better in some of his other films. Who knows what pressure he was under to make this into bland entertainment, but bland it is.

Blue Gardenia (1953)The likable Richard Conte makes a great news reporter here, and Anne Baxter as the woman in trouble is pitch perfect. In fact, Baxter's two sidekicks are also right on, Jeff Donnell (a woman, really sharp) and Ann Southern. It's a good story, a little forced, but with lots of atmosphere at the right times (including a scene with the real Nat King Cole playing and singing). What holds the movie back is a mixture of basic story line, which lacks velocity and credibility equally, and direction, which doesn't heighten what is really strong here. That is, a great cast, and some great situations (including murder). Fritz Lang, the director, is accountable, of course, for some judgements that let things loosen up too much, and for the cute but abrupt ending. There are some characters that got developed in the beginning that don't get a chance to blossom. If we just focus on the two leads (no counting Raymond Burr, who has a brief and different kind of presence), there is a chemistry not quite clicking. Nice, regular guy Conte and slightly sophisticated Baxter don't quite match up, even though both are convincing individually.There is some talent behind the scenes here worth mention, especially cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca, who has done a whole slew of great small movies with astonishing visuals. Lang uses him well, though with a studied restraint that almost implies this was a throwaway effort. It comes between two of his greatest American movies, however: Clash by Night and The Big Heat. It's worth a look, a good movie not quite a noir by usual measures, but filled with intrigue and a little touch of welcome romance.

Blue Gardenia, The (1953) *** (out of 4) Telephone operator Norah Larkin (Anne Baxter) has her heart broken by the man she loves so she decides to go out with another (Raymond Burr) just to forget. She ends up drinking too much and going back to his apartment and the next morning he's dead. Norah can't remember what exactly happened but she seeks the help of a reporter (Richard Conte) who can hopefully piece everything together. This is a far cry from director Lang's greatest film but it does offer up some light entertainment and the cast is good enough to carry the thing through to the end. This is certainly pretty light material as everything is pretty straight-forward and you just know there's eventually going to be a twist that pops up. The twist here is something I won't give away but I personally didn't buy it too much but I guess you had to have some sort of mix-up to throw the viewer. I'm sure they could have thought of something better but this happens at the very end of the film so it doesn't hurt things too badly. The film actually never tries to piece together what happened but instead it's more of a character drama as Baxter is constantly being tormented by thinking she has killed a man. There's no question that they were going for some sort of psychological drama and for the most part everything works, although, at the same time, I can't help but think a stronger story might have helped things. Speaking of Baxter, she's very good in her role and we actually believe her as she struggles to remember what happened in the apartment. A lot of times the forgotten motive is just a gimmick in this type of film but here it actually works and the actress makes us believe she really has forgotten and is struggling to remember. Conte is also very good as the reporter, although one could argue that he should have had more to do in the story. Burr is fine in his small role as is Ann Sothern and George Reeves. Fans of ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN will notice Frank Ferguson (McDougal) playing a drunk reporter here. We also get Nat 'King' Cole doing the title track and he too appears in the film. I love Cole and the song here isn't too bad but having him appear in the restaurant singing was just too much and really wasn't needed in the film. This here is certainly far from a classic movie but there's enough here to keep one entertained from start to finish.

Was expecting more from the list of credits, including Fritz Lang as Director and from a story by Vera Caspary, who wrote "Laura". Also Anne Baxter, who had an Oscar and a nomination to her credit. Ann Sothern was her sassy self and Raymond Burr was an excellent heavy. In retrospect, he would be an unlikely candidate for his role if the picture were made today, as his homosexuality would have made him an unlikely "lounge lizard", the lounge being 'The Blue Gardenia'.One of the highlights was the great Nat 'King' Cole singing the title song. The solid but uncharismatic Richard Conte was miscast as the reporter looking for a scoop. A disappointing effort all around from a film that starts out strong but falls flat with a contrived ending. A pseudo-film noir, it is more of a melodrama and a routine one at that.