The Blue Dahlia

The first screenplay Raymond Chandler wrote directly for the screen. Johnny Morrison, played by Alan Ladd, comes back from the war to find his wife inside another life; she is found dead shortly afterwards and he becomes the first suspect. Veronica Lake plays the woman he meets on the road. The famous story concerns the ending. In Chandler's plan the killer was Buzz, who blacks out from a head wound sustained in the war, which made the murderer a veteran. By the usual account the Navy objected to one of its own being shown as a killer and Paramount forced Chandler to make the culprit a civilian. The film historian Alan K. Rode says the account cannot be substantiated from documents, so the story may itself be a legend. Either way the film is an early instance of placing the alienation of returning servicemen inside the noir frame. George Marshall directed. Who it is for: viewers who like classic noir and Chandler's dialogue. Who it is not for: anyone seeking airtight detective logic, since the solution is deliberately weak.