"The Blue Dahlia" is a flower and a nightclub, both of which figure in the plot of this 1946 film starring Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, William Bendix and Howard da Silva. There's plenty of the busy, somewhat chaotic post-war atmosphere in this movie as war pals Johnny Morrison (Ladd), Buzz Wanchek (Bendix) and George Copeland (Hugh Beaumont) return from service. While the brain-damaged Buzz and Copeland get an apartment together, Morrison returns to his beautiful wife (Doris Dowling) whom he finds has been living a wild, party-filled existence and cheating on him with club owner Eddie Harwood (da Silva). Hurt and angry, Morrison, trying to get a cab in the rain, is picked up by none other than a beautiful blond named Joyce, who he does not know is actually Mrs. Harwood. After parting company, they both stay at the same inn without realizing it. The next morning, Morrison hears on the radio that his wife is dead, and the police are looking for him. On the run, and with some help from Joyce, Morrison tries to find out who really killed his wife.
This is a pretty good noir with a solid, effective performance from Ladd and excellent work by both Bendix and da Silva. There are plenty of suspects, too - viewers will have their pick. Though "The Blue Dahlia" is a decent noir, it's the frenetic post-war energy that makes it watchable rather than the story, which as one reviewer here pointed out, has the strange coincidence of Johnny being picked up by Mrs. Harwood. The other odd thing to this viewer, anyway, is the fact that the Bendix character is so obviously brain-damaged from the war (he has a plate in his head), yet no one seems to really pick up on it, or at least acknowledge it, until later in the film. He's told to pull himself together and allowed to drink. Meanwhile, loud music drives him nearly insane, and he suggests getting on a bus, not remembering he just got off of it.
The Veronica Lake role is criticized - it's true she doesn't have much to do; it's also true that not many people liked working with her; and that she wasn't the world's greatest actress (Raymond Chandler called her Moronica), but she and Ladd made a great, if short, team, and she was always beautiful to look at and listen to.
All in all, worth watching for one of the great noir teamings and some good performances.
