Blue Gardenia

Lester Lee / Bob Russell

"The Blue Gardenia" was what got me into Noir in the first place.  A marvellous Fritz Lang affair about a Femme-Fatale who doesn't realise that she is one.  What I love about it is that there really isn't that much to choose between Richard Conte as the "hero" and Raymond Burr as the "villain" and it's that ambiguity which makes Noir so hard-hitting even today.

Note - I used to thread-up the film in my college projection room and replay the bit where - Nat King Cole sings the title track - so many times that eventually the caretaker came to see if I was ok.  It is a rare film (has never been seen on British TV due to legal wrangles) but if you do get to see it, watch out for the guitar neck which seems to be sticking out of Nat's head as he sings.  Most Disconcerting.

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