Miss G.,
I like
The Blue Gardenia, but can't say that I really enjoy it as much as some other, more loopily inspired
Fritz Lang movies of the fifties, (i.e.
The Big Heat, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt).
![Image](http://www.geocities.com/thelmaeve14/blue.jpg)
I too have a problem with
Anne Baxter, but then, I usually do even when I like the movies that she appears in during her career. A very intelligent woman, Baxter's autobiography was a wonderful read, but her acting...well, every day is graduation day at the acting academy when Annie is around. That, over-the-topness and the breathiness of her intonations makes me wonder if she might have had asthma or something.
"Go ahead, have another Singapore Sling. They're small."
I honestly couldn't understand how
Richard Conte's character, (you nailed it--he's terribly underwritten and a walking cliche, even though normally I find
Conte one of the best), could not find
Ann Sothern infinitely more engaging as a possible playmate! She's intelligent, knows the score, is funny and self-sacrificing. Oh, and she never feels sorry for herself like
Anne Baxter's character, plus she's a comfy looking, warmhearted good looking woman. Also,
Richard Conte, who gave life and individuality to some great characters of Mediterranean heritage on screen, notably in
House of Strangers and
Thieves' Highway, is
not a guy named "Casey Mayo". What, they couldn't get
Pat O'Brien for the part or change the character's name to something closer to the ethnic heritage of the man who won the role?
Here's what I like about the movie:
As usual with ol'
Fritz Lang, he loves to show his audience the details of familiar yet esoteric jobs, especially when he can throw in some technological touches. He does a good job detailing the telephone company behind the scenes as well as the record shop.
Lang must've loved at least one thing about American life: the bars and restaurants, 'cause the attention he lavishes on that Trader Vic's type joint was a lot of fun, though who talked him into sticking the disjointed sequence with the talented
Nat King Cole into the mix singing
Blue Gardenia so beautifully is one of those fifties' touches that fails to thrill me, (and I love Nat King Cole normally).
Raymond Burr's bad guys are among the best. Though from what I gather, Ray was none too happy to be playing roles that might've gone to
Laird Cregar (had he lived longer than his '20s), Burr's uniquely sympathetic yet repellent villains always made his appearances in film noirs special. A fine actor, and truly an oily artist here. Too bad he didn't stick around in the picture longer.
Richard Erdman, as
Conte's Sancho Panza, is a wonderful actor, who can make any blandly written scene better with his inventive craftiness and humanity. I just love it whenever this guy shows up in a movie. Btw, if you ever listen to the commentary track for
Stalag 17, he is one of the contributors and very funny. One minute he's describing some incident 50 years ago involving
Otto Preminger's attempted hauteur on the set or a comment made by
Billy Wilder during shooting, and another moment he starts cracking up over how everyone wanted to hang around
William Holden on the set, 'cause all the Paramount starlets clustered around him, and he and his buds hoped to pick up a few of Holden's leftovers!
Erdman rules.
Ruth Storey (aka Mrs. Richard Conte) appeared in very few movies, but her singular presence always seems quite hauntingly effective. As the lonely girl in the record shop, I thought she was just right. She seemed to be a girl who people were used to overlooking for years on end. Btw, after their marriage ended, Storey became a psychotherapist out in the real, non-showbiz world. Smart and talented, I guess.