The defence The Cool Ironist
“Form is the argument.”
Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.
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The Blue Gardenia
Crime · Mystery · 1953
Upon waking up to the news that the man she’d gone on a date with the previous night has been murdered, a young woman with only a faint memory of the night’s events begins to suspect that she murdered him while attempting to resist his advances.
Movie details
The Blue Gardenia
“There was nothing lily-white about her -- the clinch-and-kill girl they called: The Blue Gardenia”
1953 Crime · Mystery 1h 29m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.5 / 10
Community rating
Upon waking up to the news that the man she’d gone on a date with the previous night has been murdered, a young woman with only a faint memory of the night’s events begins to suspect that she murdered him while attempting to resist his advances.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Blue Gardenia?
For the defence
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Limbo
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Travis, a jaded detective, arrives in the remote outback town of Limbo to investigate the cold case murder of local Indigenous girl Charlotte Hayes 20 years ago. As truths about the murder begin to unfold, the detective gains a new insight into the unsolved case.
The Vanishing
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The boyfriend of an abducted woman never gives up the search as the abductor looks on.
The Seven-Ups
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The Mask of Dimitrios
Crime · 1944
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Murder She Said
Comedy · 1961
Miss Marple believes she's seen a murder in a passing-by train, yet when the police find no evidence she decides to investigate it on her own.
Winged Creatures
Crime · 2009
A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an experimental medical procedure on his wife, while a gambler believes he's on a lucky streak. A waitress begins engaging in promiscuous sex, and a young girl whose father is among the dead gains unexpected fame.
The Quiller Memorandum
Thriller · 1966
After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Fritz Lang
Written by
Charles Hoffman · Vera Caspary
Anne Baxter
Norah Larkin
Richard Conte
Casey Mayo
Ann Sothern
Crystal Carpenter
Raymond Burr
Harry Prebble
Jeff Donnell
Sally Ellis
Richard Erdman
Al
George Reeves
Sam Haynes
Court is in session
Put The Blue Gardenia on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Technique in search of a pulse.”
Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.