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“Form is the argument.”
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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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The Seven-Ups
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Miss Marple: They Do It with Mirrors
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The Mask of Dimitrios
Crime · 1944
A mystery writer is intrigued by the tale of notorious criminal Dimitrios Makropolous, whose dead body was found washed up on the shore in Istanbul. He decides to follow the career of Dimitrios around Europe, in order to learn more about the man. Along the way he is joined by the mysterious Mr. Peters, who has his own motivation.
Where it lives
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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.