The Blue Gardenia

1953
Approved
1h 30m

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

6.4K

YOUR RATING

Anne Baxter and Raymond Burr in The Blue Gardenia (1953)

Play clip1:57

Watch The Blue Gardenia: Happy Birthday Nora

1 Video

29 Photos

Film Noir Crime Drama Mystery Thriller

A telephone operator ends up drunk and at the mercy of a cad in his apartment. The next morning she wakes up with a hangover and the terrible fear she may have committed murder.A telephone operator ends up drunk and at the mercy of a cad in his apartment. The next morning she wakes up with a hangover and the terrible fear she may have committed murder.A telephone operator ends up drunk and at the mercy of a cad in his apartment. The next morning she wakes up with a hangover and the terrible fear she may have committed murder.

Director
- Fritz Lang
Writers
- Charles Hoffman
- Vera Caspary
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

6.4K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Fritz Lang
Writers
- Charles Hoffman
- Vera Caspary
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Policeman
(uncredited)

Larry J. Blake

Music Shop Clerk
(uncredited)

Lela Bliss

Miss Stanley
(uncredited)

Gail Bonney

Policewoman
(uncredited)

Edward Clark

News Stand Dealer
(uncredited)

Papa John Creach

Violinist
(uncredited)

Mike Donovan

Fingerprint Officer
(uncredited)

Director
- Fritz Lang
Writers
- Charles Hoffman
- Vera Caspary
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

7.1

Human Desire

7.1

The Prowler

7.6

The Woman in the Window

7.0

House by the River

7.4

Hangmen Also Die!

6.9

While the City Sleeps

7.0

Clash by Night

7.1

Nightfall

6.9

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

7.0

Lured

6.4

Crime of Passion

7.9

The Big Heat

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
Director Fritz Lang and cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca developed a revolutionary dolly for the camera that allowed for sustained tracking shots and intimate close-ups while shooting this film. Lang preferred the practice of tracking into a close-up shot of an actor as opposed to cutting to a close-up in editing. He believed the tracking close-up captured more of the actors' intimacy and emotions.

Goofs
Perhaps unaware that his hands on the keyboard are visible in the mirror behind him, Nat 'King' Cole plays a strikingly different piano arrangement of "Blue Gardenia" than the one heard.

Quotes
Sally Ellis: I didn't like Prebble when he was alive. But now that he's been murdered, that always makes a man so romantic.

Connections
Featured in Noir Alley: The Blue Gardenia (2017)

Soundtracks
Blue Gardenia
Written by Bob Russell and Lester Lee
Performed by Nat 'King' Cole
Arranged by Nelson Riddle
[Nat King Cole performs the song at the Blue Gardenia during Norah and Harry's date, then the song is played frequently in the movie thereafter]

User reviews92

Review

Featured review

6/10

A Date with Anne Baxter

Los Angeles telephone operator Anne Baxter (as Norah Larkin) dresses up and celebrates her birthday with a photograph and letter from her handsome sweetheart in Korea. She expects they'll marry, when he returns to the USA. After receiving some startling news, Ms. Baxter accepts a date with lecherous sketch artist Raymond Burr (as Harry Prebble). He specializes in getting women drunk and taking sexual liberties. Events lead up to one character striking another with a fireplace poker. The killer called "The Blue Gardenia" is enthusiastically pursued by "Chronicle" newspaper columnist Richard Conte (as Casey Mayo). Baxter's roommates are chain-smoking Ann Sothern (as Crystal Carpenter) and paperback reader Jeff Donnell (as Sally Ellis). It helps that they are directed by Fritz Lang and photographed by Nicholas Musuraca. She doesn't really fit the role, but watching Baxter drown her sorrows and fend off Mr. Burr engages the viewer. A too tidy ending makes much of the preceding drama less interesting. Singing the title song beautifully, Nat "King" Cole makes a welcome appearance.

****** The Blue Gardenia (3/23/53) Fritz Lang ~ Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, Raymond Burr, Ann Sothern