The Black Dahlia

[ScarletAirelle]

I agree. It was a horrible movie with horrible acting. I am currently reading The Black Dahlia Files by Donald H. Wolfe and was surprised to read that according to the author Elizabeth Short actually crossed paths with Marilyn Monroe before she became famous. Interesting . . .

 

[DanielJones]

I caught this one last night on Cinemax. I thought it was, for the lack of a better word, bizarre. The costuming was hit & miss. Some if not most of the character actors & extras seemed to fit where the main cast was out of place. The acting was lack luster with the emotional range of a pet rock, akin to Battlefield Earth. They didn't even try. One shining point though, the cars were quite lovely to look at. It's too bad, the story could have been so much better instead of leaving you scratching your head and asking, "What just happened?", you don't even care when people die off. Nothing worse than a movie or story that doesn't pull you in emotionally.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Worst movie I've ever seen. Period.
It doesn't even get the honour of being one of my beloved "so-bad-it's-good" movies. It was just BAD.

 

[goldwyn girl]

It was beyond bad, I also went opening night expecting to see an interesting murder mystery in the noir style and to be drooling over the costumes. Neither came to fruition.

 

[cookie]

It was beyond bad, I also went opening night expecting to see an interesting murder mystery in the noir style and to be drooling over the costumes. Neither came to fruition.

It could have been worse like - The Good Shepherd!

 

[zaika]

Black Dahlia???

There is probably a thread about this...can't find it at the moment.

Who has seen the "Black Dahlia" film? and what did you think of it?

I couldn't pay attention to it...I'll have to watch it again, I guess. But I just couldn't buy into it aside from the cool hair and costumes.

Tell me what you thought...or direct me to another thread...

 

[Diamondback]

Dear lady, you might try:
(Thank you, Diamondback! Links removed as not to cause confusions, since the threads were merged. -HJ)

Hope these help!

 

[Not-Bogart13]

To put it bluntly... it's ain't worth your time. Watch a rerun of a documentary on Court TV or something. It'll leave you better entertained and better informed.

 

[zaika]

Diamondback - Thank you very much! Just what I was looking for.

Not Bogart - Yeah, I wasn't too into it beside the visuals. Oh well. LA Confidential was much more captivating.

 

[Diamondback]

Always glad to help a lovely lady out when I can...

 

[Solid Citizen]

Black Dahlia

When this film first came out I think the thread opinion here @ the FL pretty much nuked :eusa_doh: this film

Solid Citizen [huh]

 

[MrNewportCustom]

I am currently reading The Black Dahlia Files by Donald H. Wolfe and was surprised to read that according to the author Elizabeth Short actually crossed paths with Marilyn Monroe before she became famous. Interesting . . .

I've read but one book on The Black Dahlia, so far: Steve Hodel's Black Dahlia Avenger. Steve Hodel was with the LAPD for almost twenty-four years, and for many of those he was a detective. In his book he says that the murderer was Dr. George Hill Hodel. . . . His own father.

I found James Ellroy's forward rather intriquing. In it he says, in part: "Two questions cut through the drama: How could one woman constellate such hatred, and who could perpetrate it?
"Now we know.
"Betty Short and I go back. My mother was murdered on 6/22/58. I was ten years old then. The crime remains unsolved. My father got me a book for my eleventh birthday. It was called The Badge. Actor-auteur Jack Webb wrote it. The book detailed the Black Dahlia case. I got obsessed. Betty Short and my mother merged. I entered the world of vivisected women. My 1987 novel, The Black Dahlia, attempted to answer these two questions. Fictional embellishment supplied versimilitude. (Emphasis mine) Another man [Steve Hodel] gave me the hard truth sixteen years later.
"Now I know."

I haven't seen the movie, and from what I've read here I probably won't. But I found this book rather dificult to put down.


Lee

 

[Benny Holiday]

It's frustrating when you look at LA Confidential and see what a great job Curtis Hanson, the production crew and the cast did with that story, and then see The Black Dahlia by contrast. It makes me think it could have been so much better. It simply misses the mark on every level.

Did any of your other fedora wearers notice that the extras wore all the best hats? I can't quite pick what it is about Hartnett's hat that just looks so wrong. And the whole colour scheme looks drab and off costume-wise. Where were the wardrobe people from Tucker when we needed them? lol

 

[BegintheBeguine]

I've been crazy about information on the beautiful Black Dahlia since I saw the Efram Zimbalist, Jr. TV movie while I was babysitting one lonely night. I've even read the Jack Webb book. I'll repeat that I liked this movie. No one else I know liked it. I also find unwatchable many movies and shows that people love.

 

[Doh!]

Begin, is The Badge the Jack Webb book of which you speak? Looks interesting...

http://www.amazon.com/Badge-Terrify...4244459?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188967053&sr=1-1

 

[Mr. Sable]

Finally got around to seeing it. I was prepared to like it and to give it a chance, but it really was awful. The only thing I liked was the police station interior set. Not enough to see a movie for to be sure.

 

[Rooster]

oddly enough, I thought it was a good film.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Begin, is The Badge the Jack Webb book of which you speak? Looks interesting...

http://www.amazon.com/Badge-Terrify...4244459?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188967053&sr=1-1

Sorry, Doh!, I missed this. Yes, it's the same book. I got it from the library several years ago when I was on another grisly murder kick. I don't think Jack Webb really wrote it, but I'm often wrong. Anyway, the author really lambastes Elizabeth Short as a practically worthless, leeching roundheel. Hm, I just might have to read it again!
When I re-watch the movie I'll see if I enjoyed it as much as I did the first time.

 

[Feraud]

I cannot get through this film!

 

[A.R. McVintage]

We walked out of the showing when we first saw it, then rented it and forced ourselves to see it.

It's a bizarre film, with out-of-place sequence-homages to films like Dark Passage without it working in story context and the end delves into the most ridiculous of camp with the mother character entering into hysterics.

A terrible film, made all the worse by coming out after the well done Hollywoodland.