The Blue Dahlia

Synopsis: When Johnny comes home from the navy he finds his wife Helen kissing her substitute boyfriend Eddie, the owner of the Blue Dahlia nightclub. Helen admits her drunkenness caused their son's death. He pulls a gun on her but decides she's not worth it. Later, Helen is found dead and Johnny is the prime suspect.
Director(s): George Marshall
Production: Paramount Pictures
 
IMDB:
7.2
Rotten Tomatoes:
100%
NOT RATED
Year:
1946
96 min
873 Views


Hey, fellas, give a look.

How about that good-bye drink, Johnny?

- Why not? One bar's just like another.

- So long as they got bourbon.

Or a reasonable facsimile.

- Yes, sir?

- Bourbon straight with a bourbon chaser.

- The same.

- Two separate glasses. Get it?

Why wouldn't I get it?

Got to have that monkey music in here?

- Somebody call me a monkey?

- Give that thing a rest, will you?

Pipe down. Beliini atm artk.

Somebody call me a monkey?

Nobody called nobody nothing.

Just forget it, will you?

- That thing gives me a headache.

- Well, ain't that a pity.

- I told you I had a headache.

- Put that back, but quick.

- You put it back.

- Why you...

Quit it, Buzz!

- Steady, Corporal.

- Get out of my way!

I said steady. You didn't get

those stripes from blowing your top.

Hey, cut that out. Cut it out. Do you hear?

You two guys want to fight so bad,

why don't you get into a uniform?

What do you figure I had

on when I got this? Huh?

What do you figure?

There's a plate in there as big as your brains.

Maybe bigger.

Well, I don't want no roughhouse in here.

Go on, get back to your bar before

you get a face full of knuckles.

Come on, Buzz.

- Hey, who's paying for that broken cord?

- Save it.

If it's long enough, you can hang yourself.

- Okay, now you got that out of your system.

- Thing was getting my goat.

- My mistake, fella.

- That's okay. Skip it.

- So long.

- So long.

Bye.

Hey, we better get going, too,

if we're gonna catch that bus.

Hey, look, dope, we already caught the bus.

- Yeah, that's right. We did, didn't we?

- Yeah.

I must be getting dumb.

Here's to you, Johnny.

Yeah, you lucky stiff, at least

you got a wife to come home to.

Boy, if I had a wife and kid to

come home to... What's the matter?

I must be getting old.

That stuff kicks me right in the teeth.

When do we get to meet her, Johnny?

Any time. The door will always be open.

We won't need no dress suit

to get in there, will we?

That Cavendish Court hotel and

bungalow sounds like a lot of dough.

- I...

- I, uh...

I got a lead on an apartment.

If it comes through, we'll give you a ring.

Good.

Well, here's to what was.

- Take care of our boy, George.

- You bet I will.

- See you soon.

- Okay.

- Johnny?

- Yeah?

Don't you think you ought to

call her before you go home?

Maybe.

- He don't sound very happy, somehow.

- No.

- Mrs Morrison, please.

- What name shall I say?

- Mrs Morrison's my wife.

- Oh, yes, sir.

Oh, would you mind if I surprised her?

No, of course not. Take

Mr Morrison to Bungalow 93.

- This way, please.

- Thank you.

Surprise is right.

- What did you say, honey?

- Nothing to you.

Some fun, huh?

I'll take it from here.

Thank you, sir.

Hi, beautiful! Looking for me?

- I'm afraid not. I'm looking for my wife.

- The place is full of 'em.

You are beautiful. What's your name, huh?

Morrison. Does my wife live here?

What's so funny?

Hey, hey! Look who's here.

Helen's got a husband!

Relax.

Hey, Helen, why didn't you tell

us you had something like this?

Johnny!

- Why didn't you let me know?

- I wanted to surprise you.

Well, take off your coat, Johnny.

You're home, you know.

- It's been a long time, Helen.

- Much too long.

- You're not in uniform.

- No, they decided I had enough for a while.

- So they put me on the inactive list.

- Oh?

Buzz and George are out, too.

Buzz was wounded,

and George's eyes went back on him.

- Buzz and George?

- My crew.

I used to write you about them.

Don't you remember?

Oh, sure. It's great to

have you back, Johnny.

- Come and meet my friends.

- Oh, must I now?

Well, certainly. Dick, hold

the piano a while. Hold it.

Please, everybody,

come and meet my husband.

This is lieutenant commander John

Morrison of the United States Navy.

He's just back from the South Pacific.

Johnny, this is Charlie and Beverly.

- How do you do?

- Rick and Carmen... Eddie! Eddie!

- We were based at Quadulan.

- What were you flying, sir?

- Liberators.

- Excuse me, Dick.

- Johnny, this is Eddie Harwood.

- I'm glad to know you.

I've heard a lot about you.

I guess you've had a rough time of it.

I'm afraid my experiences

are pretty dull.

I can't believe that.

Hey, wouldn't you like a drink?

Not right now, thanks.

I'd like to get cleaned up a little.

Oh, take your things in there, Johnny.

Excuse me.

- I think I better breeze.

- Why?

Pretty obvious why.

Oh, suppose there is.

So what? Pardon me...

Well, if it ain't my beautiful man!

You and I are gonna have a

little drink together right now.

Hey, where you going?

You've got the wrong lipstick on, mister.

Stop it!

You're entirely right.

Sorry.

Forget it.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I think you'd better leave.

My husband would like to be alone with me.

He probably wants to beat me up.

- Perhaps you want me to apologise.

- Apologise, darling?

But you don't have to. You're a hero.

A hero can get away with anything.

It seems I've lost my manners.

Or would anyone here

know the difference?

I don't care what she says.

I think you're wonderful.

What are you doing?

Looking at this photograph of Dickey.

I've never seen it before.

- Why didn't you send me one?

- I thought I had.

Let's talk this out, Helen.

Would you mind not drinking any more,

just...

Oh, for heaven's sakes, don't start preaching.

I take all the drinks I

like, any time, any place.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote

Raymond Chandler

Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was a British-American 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.  more…

All Raymond Chandler scripts | Raymond Chandler Scripts

0 fans

Submitted on August 05, 2018

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "The Blue Dahlia" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_blue_dahlia_19810>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Watch the movie trailer

    The Blue Dahlia

    Browse Scripts.com

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.