The Blue Gardenia

The Blue Gardenia
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Fritz Lang
Screenplay by	Charles Hoffman
Based on	The Gardenia 1952 novella by Vera Caspary
Produced by	Alex Gottlieb
Starring	Anne Baxter Richard Conte Ann Sothern Raymond Burr Jeff Donnell Richard Erdman George Reeves Nat King Cole
Cinematography	Nicholas Musuraca
Edited by	Edward Mann
Music by	Raoul Kraushaar
Production company	Blue Gardenia Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release dates	March 27, 1953 (1953-03-27) (Los Angeles) March 28, 1953 (1953-03-28) (United States)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Blue Gardenia is a 1953 American film noir starring Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, and Ann Sothern. Directed by Fritz Lang from a screenplay by Charles Hoffman, it is based on the novella The Gardenia by Vera Caspary.^[1]

An independent production distributed by Warner Bros., The Blue Gardenia – a cynical take on press coverage of a sensational murder case similar to the real-life Black Dahlia killing – was the first installment of Lang's "newspaper noir" film trio, being followed in 1956 by While the City Sleeps and Beyond a Reasonable Doubt.

The song "Blue Gardenia", performed in the film by Nat King Cole, was written by Bob Russell and Lester Lee and arranged by Nelson Riddle. The director of cinematography for The Blue Gardenia was RKO regular Nicholas Musuraca, then working at Warner.