The Blue Dahlia (1946)
(George Marshall, US 1946, 96 min., 16mm)
Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake’s third and final noir for Paramount finds them each dealing with unfaithful spouses. When Johnny Morrison (Ladd) returns from World War II, he is hesitant to see his wife, Helen (Doris Dowling), for the first time after the death of their son. When he shows up at their bungalow and finds her in the arms of Eddie Harwood (Howard Da Silva), it sets off a string of events that finds Helen dead. Suspected of her murder, Johnny is on the run from the police when he gets a ride from Joyce (Lake), a beautiful woman (and Harwood’s wife!) on her way to Malibu. Johnny tries to solve the murder with help from Helen and his Navy buddies George (Hugh Beaumont), an attorney, and Buzz (William Bendix), who suffers from PTSD. The investigation takes them all across Southern California while everything points back to the nightclub where it all began: The Blue Dahlia.