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The Blue Dahlia
A previously unpublished work by Raymond Chandler. Raymond Chandler’s screenplay for The Blue Dahlia is a valuable addition to the published canon for the writer who has been called “the Shakespeare of hardboiled fiction.” Converted from a never-completed novel, this screenplay is all that survives of the novel Chandler worked on between The Lady in the Lake and The Little Sister. In 1944 Paramount Pictures, where Chandler was under contract, needed a rush script for Alan Ladd. Chandler agreed to cannibalize his novel-in-progress, but—as detailed in producer John Houseman’s memoir—he became stuck and decided that he could only complete his screenplay drunk. The Blue Dahlia was completed on schedule and was well received, earning Chandler his second Academy Award nomination. Although the writer’s screenplay is metamorphosed by other hands in the movie-making process, the screenplay as written has an independent existence, and may be read and judged as a literary work. Indeed, the movie studio archives are a valuable literary resource; and it is inevitable that many screenplays will be published as the study of movies expands. The Blue Dahlia is the story of a war hero who is suspected of having murdered his unfaithful wife. Although it does not involve a private-eye, the work utilizes familiar elements of Chandler’s world: the loner hero, the quest for justice, the sense of a corrupt society, and— above all—the theme of personal honor.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1946
About the author
Raymond Chandler
456 books5,822 followersRaymond Thornton Chandler was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Great Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in 1933 in Black Mask, a popular pulp magazine. His first novel, The Big Sleep, was published in 1939. In addition to his short stories, Chandler published seven novels during his lifetime (an eighth, in progress at the time of his death, was completed by Robert B. Parker). All but Playback have been made into motion pictures, some more than once. In the year before his death, he was elected president of the Mystery Writers of America.
Chandler had an immense stylistic influence on American popular literature. He is a founder of the hardboiled school of detective fiction, along with Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain and other Black Mask writers. The protagonist of his novels, Philip Marlowe, like Hammett's Sam Spade, is considered by some to be synonymous with "private detective". Both were played in films by Humphrey Bogart, whom many consider to be the quintessential Marlowe.
The Big Sleep placed second on the Crime Writers Association poll of the 100 best crime novels; Farewell, My Lovely (1940), The Lady in the Lake (1943) and The Long Goodbye (1953) also made the list. The latter novel was praised in an anthology of American crime stories as "arguably the first book since Hammett's The Glass Key, published more than twenty years earlier, to qualify as a serious and significant mainstream novel that just happened to possess elements of mystery". Chandler was also a perceptive critic of detective fiction; his "The Simple Art of Murder" is the canonical essay in the field. In it he wrote: "Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. The detective must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor—by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it, and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world."
Parker wrote that, with Marlowe, "Chandler seems to have created the culminating American hero: wised up, hopeful, thoughtful, adventurous, sentimental, cynical and rebellious—an innocent who knows better, a Romantic who is tough enough to sustain Romanticism in a world that has seen the eternal footman hold its coat and snicker. Living at the end of the Far West, where the American dream ran out of room, no hero has ever been more congruent with his landscape. Chandler had the right hero in the right place, and engaged him in the consideration of good and evil at precisely the time when our central certainty of good no longer held."
Chandler had an immense stylistic influence on American popular literature. He is a founder of the hardboiled school of detective fiction, along with Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain and other Black Mask writers. The protagonist of his novels, Philip Marlowe, like Hammett's Sam Spade, is considered by some to be synonymous with "private detective". Both were played in films by Humphrey Bogart, whom many consider to be the quintessential Marlowe.
The Big Sleep placed second on the Crime Writers Association poll of the 100 best crime novels; Farewell, My Lovely (1940), The Lady in the Lake (1943) and The Long Goodbye (1953) also made the list. The latter novel was praised in an anthology of American crime stories as "arguably the first book since Hammett's The Glass Key, published more than twenty years earlier, to qualify as a serious and significant mainstream novel that just happened to possess elements of mystery". Chandler was also a perceptive critic of detective fiction; his "The Simple Art of Murder" is the canonical essay in the field. In it he wrote: "Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. The detective must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor—by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it, and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world."
Parker wrote that, with Marlowe, "Chandler seems to have created the culminating American hero: wised up, hopeful, thoughtful, adventurous, sentimental, cynical and rebellious—an innocent who knows better, a Romantic who is tough enough to sustain Romanticism in a world that has seen the eternal footman hold its coat and snicker. Living at the end of the Far West, where the American dream ran out of room, no hero has ever been more congruent with his landscape. Chandler had the right hero in the right place, and engaged him in the consideration of good and evil at precisely the time when our central certainty of good no longer held."
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 21, 2025
The Blue Dahlia is a big mess. Chandler was hamstrung by the war department but even without the influence of censors the story hinges on coincidence again and again. The “romance” between Lake and Ladd’s characters never gets off the ground and makes no sense. Chandler famously wrote the ending while drunk and it shows. Kudos to the introduction and afterward for providing the proper context for this turkey.
October 18, 2022
Johnny vuelve de la guerra un poco antes de la cuenta, no ha avisado a su mujercita porque quiere darle una sorpresa. Y, evidentemente, el que se lleva la sorpresa es él. En su apartamento hay montada una buena juerga y, a esta moderna Penélope, no le ha hecho ninguna ilusión el "retorno de Ulises". Johnny sopesa la situación, hace la maleta y sale zumbando. Eso sí, que no se crea que por haberse ido se va a librar de esa relación...
Curioso volumen. Aviso que no es novela, es el guión de la película. Te enteras de la historia y la "ves" por así decirlo, pero no busquéis la "prosa". Quizá sea este uno de los futuros caminos de la literatura (aquí vendría el emoji pensativo, el de la mano en la barbilla, pero creo que no existen en esta red). Viene de aquella minicolección que encontré al lado del contenedor, la de la viuda (echadle un vistazo a mi reseña de "El advenimiento de la República" de Pla). Lo empecé sin muchas ganas. Principalmente porque me quedé sin el e-book y, rebuscando en... esto no os lo puedo decir, jejeje, lo hallé junto a otros. Pues mira tú por donde que he encontrado una de las lecturas más "simpáticas" del desafío. Dos personas encargadas de la producción de la película escriben, años después del rodaje, acerca de las circunstancias que conllevó hacer "La Dalia azul", especialmente para su guionista Raymond Chandler. John Houseman relata en el prólogo su relación con Chandler, durante su carrera y particularmente en el rodaje de "La Dalia". La tensa relación del literato con la industria cinematográfica, que le obliga a volver a uno de sus "demonios" personales con tal de finiquitar el encargo. En el epílogo Matthew J. Bruccoli nos cuenta la visión que Chandler tenía sobre la industria del cine, su relación con directores, actores o productores, de los que el escritor sacó mucho dinero, pero poca realización personal al tener que supeditar su pasión, las palabras, a un lenguaje, el cine, que podía o debía prescindir de estas palabras cuando lo estimara oportuno. El libro nos muestra a un Chandler desencantado con casi todo. Especialmente su vida profesional. Quizá fue su matrimonio lo único que le hizo feliz "La mayor parte de los escritores son canallas frustrados, con una desdichada vida personal a cuestas. Yo fui feliz durante demasiado tiempo, quizá. Nunca pensé que lo que escribía fuese más que una llama en la que Cissie (su mujer) pudiera calentarse las manos".
Hace ya un tiempo que decidí no intentar saber de cine. Y eso que mi memoria de licenciatura (los que sepan qué es eso se imaginarán lo viejo que soy) la dediqué a David Fincher. Hay ya muchos expertos en "intrahistoria" cinematográfica. Al principio los leo o escucho con placer, pero al poco rato me aburren. Por eso no veo series (y ojo, que si no ves series, estás perdiendo un 40% de probabilidades de conversación hoy en día). O estrenos. La última película que vi fue "Pesadilla en Elm Street III", ayer, y más que nada porque en la banda sonora hay dos canciones de Dokken. Pero tengo que reconocer que esta "pildorita" sobre historia del cine me ha gustado mucho. Quizá siga este camino si encuentro algún libro parecido. Viudas del barrio que sacáis las colecciones de vuestro difunto marido al contenedor, haced la magia...
Leído en papel.
Curioso volumen. Aviso que no es novela, es el guión de la película. Te enteras de la historia y la "ves" por así decirlo, pero no busquéis la "prosa". Quizá sea este uno de los futuros caminos de la literatura (aquí vendría el emoji pensativo, el de la mano en la barbilla, pero creo que no existen en esta red). Viene de aquella minicolección que encontré al lado del contenedor, la de la viuda (echadle un vistazo a mi reseña de "El advenimiento de la República" de Pla). Lo empecé sin muchas ganas. Principalmente porque me quedé sin el e-book y, rebuscando en... esto no os lo puedo decir, jejeje, lo hallé junto a otros. Pues mira tú por donde que he encontrado una de las lecturas más "simpáticas" del desafío. Dos personas encargadas de la producción de la película escriben, años después del rodaje, acerca de las circunstancias que conllevó hacer "La Dalia azul", especialmente para su guionista Raymond Chandler. John Houseman relata en el prólogo su relación con Chandler, durante su carrera y particularmente en el rodaje de "La Dalia". La tensa relación del literato con la industria cinematográfica, que le obliga a volver a uno de sus "demonios" personales con tal de finiquitar el encargo. En el epílogo Matthew J. Bruccoli nos cuenta la visión que Chandler tenía sobre la industria del cine, su relación con directores, actores o productores, de los que el escritor sacó mucho dinero, pero poca realización personal al tener que supeditar su pasión, las palabras, a un lenguaje, el cine, que podía o debía prescindir de estas palabras cuando lo estimara oportuno. El libro nos muestra a un Chandler desencantado con casi todo. Especialmente su vida profesional. Quizá fue su matrimonio lo único que le hizo feliz "La mayor parte de los escritores son canallas frustrados, con una desdichada vida personal a cuestas. Yo fui feliz durante demasiado tiempo, quizá. Nunca pensé que lo que escribía fuese más que una llama en la que Cissie (su mujer) pudiera calentarse las manos".
Hace ya un tiempo que decidí no intentar saber de cine. Y eso que mi memoria de licenciatura (los que sepan qué es eso se imaginarán lo viejo que soy) la dediqué a David Fincher. Hay ya muchos expertos en "intrahistoria" cinematográfica. Al principio los leo o escucho con placer, pero al poco rato me aburren. Por eso no veo series (y ojo, que si no ves series, estás perdiendo un 40% de probabilidades de conversación hoy en día). O estrenos. La última película que vi fue "Pesadilla en Elm Street III", ayer, y más que nada porque en la banda sonora hay dos canciones de Dokken. Pero tengo que reconocer que esta "pildorita" sobre historia del cine me ha gustado mucho. Quizá siga este camino si encuentro algún libro parecido. Viudas del barrio que sacáis las colecciones de vuestro difunto marido al contenedor, haced la magia...
Leído en papel.
October 16, 2025
"Hollywood doesn't want it good, they want it Wednesday."*
As a business/artistic practice this credo has catastrophe written all over it. However, the suits in the land of surf and silver screens have made it work hundreds of times (although not always with great success).
And Raymond Chandler's "The Blue Dahlia" is a prime example of the move-fast-and-break-things ethos in action.
A little backstory: In 1945 Alan Ladd, Paramount Studio's most lucrative box office draw, was scheduled for recall by the U.S. Army. Unfortunately for Paramount, there was no screenplay ready to be filmed for Ladd to star in before his recall.
Enter Raymond Chandler.
He had an abandoned novel that just might fit the bill and save the day. And save the day he ultimately did. But there were obstacles along the way. Obstacle #1: Although Chandler was able to convert the first part of his novel into 45 pages of screenplay in three weeks time the going quickly became appreciably slower, mainly due to: Obstacle #2: The movie had no ending, at least not one that all the powers that be could agree upon. But Chandler had a unique, not to mention brave, solution to propose to John Houseman, the producer of the film. There was only one way, Chandler said, that would enable him to finish writing the screenplay: And that was to do it drunk. This was no small sacrifice for Chandler was a recovered alcoholic and a journey back to the bottomless pit of a bottle could lead to his own demise. But, as a man of honor (he'd signed a contract), he felt it was a journey he was duty bound to take.
All of this is documented in "Lost Fortnight," John Houseman's memoir of the making of "The Blue Dahlia." A memoir which is included at the start of the book. It's also quite frankly, the real star of the show here, because, to be honest, the screenplay, which constitutes roughly 85% of the book, is a bit of a snooze. I mean, it's great if you enjoy reading classic film noir era screenplays but, if you're like most people, you'll find the style and format of a screenplay less than compelling. So read the memoir and the "Afterword," together they provide a fascinating insight into the world of moviemaking in the mid-1940s.
*Quote most frequently credited to Robert A. Heinlein.
As a business/artistic practice this credo has catastrophe written all over it. However, the suits in the land of surf and silver screens have made it work hundreds of times (although not always with great success).
And Raymond Chandler's "The Blue Dahlia" is a prime example of the move-fast-and-break-things ethos in action.
A little backstory: In 1945 Alan Ladd, Paramount Studio's most lucrative box office draw, was scheduled for recall by the U.S. Army. Unfortunately for Paramount, there was no screenplay ready to be filmed for Ladd to star in before his recall.
Enter Raymond Chandler.
He had an abandoned novel that just might fit the bill and save the day. And save the day he ultimately did. But there were obstacles along the way. Obstacle #1: Although Chandler was able to convert the first part of his novel into 45 pages of screenplay in three weeks time the going quickly became appreciably slower, mainly due to: Obstacle #2: The movie had no ending, at least not one that all the powers that be could agree upon. But Chandler had a unique, not to mention brave, solution to propose to John Houseman, the producer of the film. There was only one way, Chandler said, that would enable him to finish writing the screenplay: And that was to do it drunk. This was no small sacrifice for Chandler was a recovered alcoholic and a journey back to the bottomless pit of a bottle could lead to his own demise. But, as a man of honor (he'd signed a contract), he felt it was a journey he was duty bound to take.
All of this is documented in "Lost Fortnight," John Houseman's memoir of the making of "The Blue Dahlia." A memoir which is included at the start of the book. It's also quite frankly, the real star of the show here, because, to be honest, the screenplay, which constitutes roughly 85% of the book, is a bit of a snooze. I mean, it's great if you enjoy reading classic film noir era screenplays but, if you're like most people, you'll find the style and format of a screenplay less than compelling. So read the memoir and the "Afterword," together they provide a fascinating insight into the world of moviemaking in the mid-1940s.
*Quote most frequently credited to Robert A. Heinlein.
November 2, 2022
"Converted from a never-completed novel, this screenplay is all that survives of the novel Chandler worked on between 'The Lady in the Lake' and 'The Little Sister.' In 1944 Paramount Pictures, where Chandler was under contract, needed a rush script for Alan Ladd. Chandler agreed to cannibalize his novel-in-progress, but -as detailed in producer John Houseman's memoir- he became stuck and decided that he could only complete his screenplay drunk. For two weeks he dosed himself with alcohol while relays of secretaries and drivers stood ready to deliver his pages to the studio."
"The Blue Dahlia" as a film has been somewhat under appreciated by film noir critics. I think it works pretty well, no masterpiece but good solid entertainment with an excellent cast: Alan Ladd. Veronica Lake, William Bendix, Doris Dowling and Howard da Silva. Critic Steven H. Scheuer described it as "A caustic murder melodrama full of that postwar disillusionment that the Hollywood film noir exhibited. When Ladd returns to hearth and home, he finds it occupied by other men, thus making Alan a prime suspect when his trampy wife is iced. Glamorous Lake stands by Ladd, and their screen chemistry enlivens this sharp thriller."
Chandler was nominated for the 1946 Best Original Screenplay Academy Award for "The Blue Dahlia."
The original Southern Illinois University edition contains 'Lost Fortnight' a memoir by John Houseman in which he writes about his experience with Chandler. The complete screenplay with a few explanations: "it is clearly a conflation of several revises; there are inconsistencies and contradictions, as well as repetitions." An Afterword by editor Matthew J. Bruccoli: 'Raymond Chandler and Hollywood." There are also a few black and white stills and lobby cards interspersed with the script.
"The Blue Dahlia" as a film has been somewhat under appreciated by film noir critics. I think it works pretty well, no masterpiece but good solid entertainment with an excellent cast: Alan Ladd. Veronica Lake, William Bendix, Doris Dowling and Howard da Silva. Critic Steven H. Scheuer described it as "A caustic murder melodrama full of that postwar disillusionment that the Hollywood film noir exhibited. When Ladd returns to hearth and home, he finds it occupied by other men, thus making Alan a prime suspect when his trampy wife is iced. Glamorous Lake stands by Ladd, and their screen chemistry enlivens this sharp thriller."
Chandler was nominated for the 1946 Best Original Screenplay Academy Award for "The Blue Dahlia."
The original Southern Illinois University edition contains 'Lost Fortnight' a memoir by John Houseman in which he writes about his experience with Chandler. The complete screenplay with a few explanations: "it is clearly a conflation of several revises; there are inconsistencies and contradictions, as well as repetitions." An Afterword by editor Matthew J. Bruccoli: 'Raymond Chandler and Hollywood." There are also a few black and white stills and lobby cards interspersed with the script.
August 5, 2026
K dílu Rudé žně o Raymondu Chandlerovi jsem (mimo jiné) přečetl i tenhle jeho scénář k filmu Modrá Dahlia. Asi nejzajímavější jsou na tom okolnosti vzniku. Studio potřebovalo bleskově natočit film se svou hvězdou, Alanem Laddem, ale neměli žádný scénář – tak zaplatili Chandlerovi, aby zkanibalizoval svou nedokončenou knihu do filmové podoby. Což bylo docela v pohodě, akorát se těsně před koncem autor totálně zasekl a nebyl schopný to nijak uzavřít. A když už byla situace opravdu zoufalá, musel se Chandler uchýlit k zoufalému kroku: I když už nějakou dobu abstinoval, aby byl schopný scénář dokončit, rozhodl se znovu začít chlastat. Obvykle je autorův alkoholismus příčina toho, proč není dílo dokončené – tady je to naopak, díky alkoholu byl scénář skutečně dokončený a vrah odhalený. Jo, je to na tom trochu poznat, finále nedává extra velký smysl, ale to je Chandlera dost obvyklé.
POLDA: Chcete dělat problémy?
BUZZ: Jasně. Jakej bys chtěl?
Ono, ani ten příběh není z nejzajímavějších – hrdina se vrací z války s dvojicí kámošů, zjistí, že se se mu mezitím manželka poněkud spustila, sebere se a odejde od ní - ovšem než stihne vyřídit rozvodové papíry, je manželka zabitá a on podezřelý z její vraždy. Snaží se utíkat před policií i před gangstery (protože s někým se ve filmu hrdina servat musí) a zkouší vypátrat vraha (což se mu nakonec nepodaří a všechno místo něj vyřeší policie). Ale aspoň na útěku stihne najít novou ženu.
JOHNNY: Máte na tváři nesprávnou rtěnku, pane.
Jak už jsem zmínil, nejzajímavější je úvod od Chandlerova spolupracovníka, Johna Housemana. A to, že je to něco dost vyjímečného, zajímavý pohled do autorovy tvorby, přepis jediného zachovaného scénáře, kde sice byly opravené překlepy, ale zůstaly tam kupříkladu duplicitní scény. A především ryzí Chandlerovské dialogy.
POLDA: Chcete dělat problémy?
BUZZ: Jasně. Jakej bys chtěl?
Ono, ani ten příběh není z nejzajímavějších – hrdina se vrací z války s dvojicí kámošů, zjistí, že se se mu mezitím manželka poněkud spustila, sebere se a odejde od ní - ovšem než stihne vyřídit rozvodové papíry, je manželka zabitá a on podezřelý z její vraždy. Snaží se utíkat před policií i před gangstery (protože s někým se ve filmu hrdina servat musí) a zkouší vypátrat vraha (což se mu nakonec nepodaří a všechno místo něj vyřeší policie). Ale aspoň na útěku stihne najít novou ženu.
JOHNNY: Máte na tváři nesprávnou rtěnku, pane.
Jak už jsem zmínil, nejzajímavější je úvod od Chandlerova spolupracovníka, Johna Housemana. A to, že je to něco dost vyjímečného, zajímavý pohled do autorovy tvorby, přepis jediného zachovaného scénáře, kde sice byly opravené překlepy, ale zůstaly tam kupříkladu duplicitní scény. A především ryzí Chandlerovské dialogy.
August 14, 2023
📙This book was published in 1945.
🖋️ Book review: A husband returning from military service is the key suspect in the murder of his cheating wife. With masterful twists and turns, the real killer is revealed. I enjoyed this noir story immensely.
🔵 The e-book screenplay version can be found at Internet Archive.
🎥 1945 movie version with Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, William Bendix, Hugh Beaumont, and Howard Da Silva, and Will Wright.
🖊 Movie review: Of course, the movie followed the screenplay. The acting is top shelf, I despised the cheating wife, I suspected everyone in her murder, and the dénouement was perfection.
📙+🎥 = 🖊 Comparing short story to movie: Excellent storytelling, no matter which media you choose.
📽 ●▬● 📙 ●▬● 📽
🖋️ Book review: A husband returning from military service is the key suspect in the murder of his cheating wife. With masterful twists and turns, the real killer is revealed. I enjoyed this noir story immensely.
🔵 The e-book screenplay version can be found at Internet Archive.
🎥 1945 movie version with Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, William Bendix, Hugh Beaumont, and Howard Da Silva, and Will Wright.
🖊 Movie review: Of course, the movie followed the screenplay. The acting is top shelf, I despised the cheating wife, I suspected everyone in her murder, and the dénouement was perfection.
📙+🎥 = 🖊 Comparing short story to movie: Excellent storytelling, no matter which media you choose.
📽 ●▬● 📙 ●▬● 📽
July 14, 2019
This is one of the occasions that I’m truly grateful that books are released with a foreword, as this one shed light upon two bits of information that made sense of the frankly scrambled affair that was The Blue Dahlia. The first was the fact that the screenplay was written under a tremendous time crunch as the main actor the studio wished to cast was on the verge of deployment - the second was that the directors objected to Chandler’s choice of murderer and he was thus forced to shift tracks in the last thirty pages of the script to satisfy their demands. Together these facts colluded to produce a story that, though filled with action, is essentially aimless.
January 22, 2020
As an audiobook, in Spanish.
I like the classic Chandler. But there were a few a bit jarring things going on in this one: first, a lot of background info and history, which probably is probably a good thing, then the format - a movie script (painful). And third, the most irritating of these: how the names were pronounced in Spanish. Were they kept in original or rendered to a localized version? I can't even tell. With English spelling of what the names sounded like, so help me if you've read a print version in English: Yórsch, Yoni, Vás...
I like the classic Chandler. But there were a few a bit jarring things going on in this one: first, a lot of background info and history, which probably is probably a good thing, then the format - a movie script (painful). And third, the most irritating of these: how the names were pronounced in Spanish. Were they kept in original or rendered to a localized version? I can't even tell. With English spelling of what the names sounded like, so help me if you've read a print version in English: Yórsch, Yoni, Vás...
August 19, 2025
Es una lectura entretenida, pero no deja de ser el guion de una película que apenas transmite emociones de los personajes, solo se intuyen por sus movimientos en la escena. Por otro lado, refleja un cine de miradas, cigarros, copas y varios apoyos en las vainas de las puertas. Lees y estás viendo la película en tu cabeza, hasta ves al actor que lo representa si no la has visto aun, como es mi caso. Cine de los 40-50 en estado puro. Hay algunas escenas de acción interesantes. Me ha gustado mucho la explicación de los sucesos que rodearon a este relato, que son explicados junto con la obra.
November 10, 2023
Interesante
April 30, 2025
está bien pero se nota que es el guión de una película antigua típica americana
September 13, 2025
Una curiosa versión de una novela que no fue y del guión de una película que sí fue.
January 25, 2016
This was the screen play, produced by George Marshall and written by Raymond Chandler. It's one of a handful of screenplays I've read recently, the other favorite being Double Indemnity, which Chandler also co-wrote with Billy Wilder.
These screenplays are interesting, as they write in scenes, with plenty of stage directions on the side and in between. It's definitely a different form of writing, and takes things down to the essence. Forget about backstory, there is no room for it on the stage. It's all about the action, happening, here, and now, and dialog,, dialog, dialog.
I can see how honing this craft would be similar to writing poetry...you have to get the most bang for you buck with each and every word uttered, and action is paramount!
I will be reading more of these to be sure, as an added element of upping my game on the page!
These screenplays are interesting, as they write in scenes, with plenty of stage directions on the side and in between. It's definitely a different form of writing, and takes things down to the essence. Forget about backstory, there is no room for it on the stage. It's all about the action, happening, here, and now, and dialog,, dialog, dialog.
I can see how honing this craft would be similar to writing poetry...you have to get the most bang for you buck with each and every word uttered, and action is paramount!
I will be reading more of these to be sure, as an added element of upping my game on the page!
July 31, 2026
This one is Chandler's first screenplay and is written on a similar pattern with his stories involving Marlowe and other of his heroes. It matters less what you are and what you're doing, there is more important to show honor.
Johnny Morrison, the main character, is a former US Navy aviator who has problems with his wife Helen, as she's having an affair with the owner of a night club, the eponymous Blue Dahlia.
Someone will die soon and other ones will be in peril. Even our unsung hero...
Johnny Morrison, the main character, is a former US Navy aviator who has problems with his wife Helen, as she's having an affair with the owner of a night club, the eponymous Blue Dahlia.
Someone will die soon and other ones will be in peril. Even our unsung hero...
January 5, 2011
Anything by Chandler is worth reading!
July 16, 2014
One of Chandler's only original screenplays. The interplay between Johnny & Joyce, and the cool semi-bad guy Eddie Harwood are the highlights.
April 16, 2015
It's a trying read.
March 10, 2010
Well written and informative.
April 29, 2016
Not a great argument (and full of holes), but the writing is pure Chandler
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