From my favorite movies..

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This 1975 TV movie brilliantly portrayed the tragic true story of an young aspiring actress and her brutal murder in 1947, which has never been solved.The story told in flashbacks with some style for an old TV movie. Very good acting and well written screenplay mostly based on facts. Although Elizabeth Short's murder scene was one of the most disturbing crime scenes ever recorded in history, this movie never tried to exploit it by using unnecessary gore, which may disappoint a few fans of the genre. Here the focus is on the characterization of Elizabeth Beth.Lucie Arnaz did well playing the innocent yet mysterious young and gorgeous Beth. It was very sad at times and depressing as well. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was superb as the detective who was obsessed and frustrated with the mystery beauty. The co-stars did their parts okay.A true hidden gem. Probably one of the best TV movies made in the 70s.

****SPOILERS**** On the morning of January 15, 1947 the dissected and mutilated body of 22 year old Elizabeth Short, Lucie Arnez,was found in pieces in Los Angeles's Limert Park. That soon causes a frenzy of newspaper and magazine headlines all over the country about the beautiful woman who suffered such a grizzly death. Dubbed the "Black Dahlia" by the press Short's background reviled that she was a young girl from New England looking to make it big in the movies who came up short or dead in doing it. Elizabeth didn't make it big when she was alive but became an Hollywood as well as major murder mystery after her death. It's the two LA policemen Sgt. Harry Hansen, Efrem Zimbalist Jr, & Sgt. Finis Brown, Ronny Cox, who were assigned to the case who came up with a number of suspects who all proved to be innocent. Both Hansen & Brown found it very difficult in finding Elizabeth's killer in that as many as 50 people, all BS artists, came forward claiming credit for it. The one person who in fact did murder Elizabeth by providing the LA police a number of items only she could have had on her at the time of her murder. As well as being able to answer correctly the three questions, that's still after all these years kept from the public, concerning her murder but was never seen or heard from again. That's after he got in touch with an LA newspaper editor by phone a week after, January 23, 1947, her body was found. The futile search for Elizabeth's murderer has gone on for almost 70 years with no results in sight. It's very possible that whoever murdered Elizabeth is dead himself but the fact that he got away with it makes her death more disturbing. He may well have murdered other victims as well and even if he were caught and punished for those other crimes her murder is still an open not closed case.It was sad that beside being brutally murdered and mutilated Elizabeth found the fame as well as movie stardom that she so desperately was seeking not in life but sadly in death. Dozens of books and magazine articles were written about her as well as a half or so dozen, including this made for TV movie, films which she never lived to see. And in being dubbed the "Black Dahlia" a name which she in fact gave herself made her over the years one of the biggest real life, not phony, legends in all of Hollywood & movie history.

"This is about a murder that really happened. Nobody made it up. As far as I know, there's never been another one before or since, quite like it --- ever!" Those ominous words, spoken in VO by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., open this 1975 docudrama that chronicles a real life murder mystery that has never been solved.Elizabeth Short moved to California in the 1940's, in search of show-biz stardom. The fact that this beautiful young woman wore mostly black clothes to match her black hair led others to nickname her "The Black Dahlia". On January 15, 1947, her mutilated and exsanguinated body was found in a vacant field in Los Angeles. The homicide immediately created national interest. And in the fifty-plus years since her death, this unsolved murder has evolved into a major legend.The screenplay for "Who Is The Black Dahlia?" is factual, well written, sensitive, and thankfully low-key. The story, told in flashbacks, is riveting. In one chilling scene, a man stands in a telephone booth and, with his back to the camera, conveys to the newsman on the other end of the line crucial details about the murder that only the killer could know. The man's face is never shown.Playing the role of Elizabeth Short, Lucie Arnaz gives a credible and sympathetic performance. Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. convincingly plays Sgt. Harry Hansen, the frustrated, lead detective. The support cast is equally effective. The film's music is appropriately downbeat and depressing.Some viewers may find the plot to be slow. Certainly, the film's lack of in-your-face violence and gore will disappoint the tabloid crowd. But for thinking people, for viewers who can appreciate a thoughtful and insightful analysis of a horrible crime, I recommend this film most highly.In the film's final VO, Sgt. Hansen reflects: "We never found anybody who saw Elizabeth Short the last six days of her life ... In Los Angeles police files, The Black Dahlia murder case is still open."

Literate, well-told, consistently excellent review of the events leading to the disappearance of the Black Dahlia? Marvelous performances, especially by Zimbaliest, Beckman, Mills, and DeHaven. Mystery buffs and crime drama enthusiasts alike should find this one as excellent exercise for the mind.