The Blue Gardenia, original vintage half sheet
The Blue Gardenia, 1953, Directed by Fritz Lang
Based on the short story Gardenia , by Vera Caspary (Laura)
Fritz Lang, the monocle wearing “Master of Darkness” and director of the Steampunk masterpiece * “Metropolis” could also churn out some melodramatic clunkers.
Fritzy is SOOO Steam Punk!
After “fleeing” Berlin with all his moola intact, Fritzy decamped in Paris, then Hollywood in 1936. His first American film “Fury”, instantly cemented his auteur status.
In the years that followed, Lang, more than any other director, influenced the development of film noir style in America. Lang’s dour, depressing, dark depiction of life combined with the sheer volume of flickage set the mode. What set Lang apart from a lot of other dour, dark and depressing German directors was his ability to make his films suspenseful and watchable.
Laura, Book Club Edition
Ad Gal, Fortune Teller, Scriptwriter, Producer, Hit Novelist, Commie sympathizer Vera Caspary lived one hell of a roller coaster life — on her own terms.
Caspary was a natural storyteller and was driven to write, write, write!. At 17 Caspary dropped out of school and was soon writing ad copy and editing magazines. She even “created” mail order correspondence courses, such as the Sergei Marinoff School of Classic Dancing –and other topics she knew zilch about.
In the mid-1920′s she moved to Greenwich Village, quit her job, and began writing a “meaningful” novel. The White Girl in 1929 was about a southern black girl who moves north and passes as white (another expert topic for a nice Jewish girl from NYC). After this surprising hit, a stint editing an entertainment guide provided Caspary with an entree to the theater world and celebrities. Dazzled, Caspary set her sights on plays and short stories that could be sold to Hollywood.
Years after producing one of the great gritty noirs, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Otto Preminger was asked for his thoughts on the film. His response?
Avon 186, First Edition Paperback
His memories were similarly “blank” with regard to other 20th Century Fox noirs: Fallen Angel, “I can’t remember the picture at all”; and,Whirlpool ,” I cannot remember anything about this film.” Since his amnesia did not extend to Laura, or films after he left 20th Century Fox, OR to his life while at Fox, we can assume he didn’t suffer from a klunk on the head..
In his Autobiography, “Preminger“, published in 1977, he describes Fox as a “sausage factory” and then goes on to explain that after he finishes a film he basically forgets all about it*. Preminger went on to say that, “According to Freud, the ability to forget is the sign of a healthy mind.” ???????? Wow, nothing like reading an autobiography from a charter member of the hip-hooray amnesia club.
