The Black Dahlia

[lallybroch]

Here go two raves and two mixed reviews. The L.A. Times has an archive of its stories about the case online.

[huntergrayson]

Since I've only seen a couple DePalma films, I dunno what a return to form is, but I am one of the few people on earth who loved Femme Fatale. So, there's that.

Interesting that even the rave mentions how short the movie is compared to the (sub)plots - that's my biggest concern. It doesn't need to be a 3-hour epic, but 2 hours is far too short to delve into the really intriguing stuff. I wonder if the running time was studio mandated.

And yeah, I really want to know why Swank was chosen. I hope the DVD doesn't skimp on the behind-the-scenes drama - the changing of directors, the cast, etc. Has DePalma ever done a commentary?

I'm just especially buzzed because I live in Los Angeles and love our past. I've already decided that my friend and I are taking off work, seeing Hollywoodland, going to dinner at the Formosa, seeing this and then wrapping it up with a signature Black Dahlia cocktail at the Biltmore (the last place Liz was ever definitively seen alive).

Did anyone else watch the 48 Hours Investigates episode? So Ellroy believes that the woman in the photos that set Steve Hoddell off on a search isn't Elizabeth (because really, it looks nothing like her) but that George Hoddell did do it. Ohhhhkay. The house is near me and is still gorgeous and creepy. Just driving by in the daytime, it's evident that horrible things occurred in that house (pimping out his own daughter, S6 of Top Model), but I don't know if her death was one of them.

Holy crap, the crime scene/corpse photos linked here are obscene. I knew it was graphic and brutal, but holy shit. Fair warning: don't click before bedtime.

<<---- Okay, I know I have a fresh obsession for the next few weeks. Is that so wrong?

Wow, Mia's bangs in Venice make her look AWFUL. And yes, I'm filled with longing since the one and only time I was in Venice coincided with the Film Fest. (none of my pictures turned out. boo!)

[marywebgirl]

Those photos are indeed gross, but the creepiest thing for me is that people thought the body was a mannequin. I saw a dead body before it was discovered when I was 9 or so, but I didn't think anything of it because I thought it was a mannequin.

[scarlet]

huntergrayson said:

I'm just especially buzzed because I live in Los Angeles and love our past. I've already decided that my friend and I are taking off work, seeing Hollywoodland, going to dinner at the Formosa, seeing this and then wrapping it up with a signature Black Dahlia cocktail at the Biltmore (the last place Liz was ever definitively seen alive).

Wow, that sounds like a supremely fun day!

Those pictures are creepy beyond belief, but this case is addictively fascinating. I wish I had seen the 48 Hours piece, but in typical fashion, I forgot all about it. I'll definitely be seeing this opening weekend, though.

[firstaid]

Did anyone else watch the 48 Hours Investigates episode? So Ellroy believes that the woman in the photos that set Steve Hoddell off on a search isn't Elizabeth (because really, it looks nothing like her) but that George Hoddell did do it. Ohhhhkay. The house is near me and is still gorgeous and creepy. Just driving by in the daytime, it's evident that horrible things occurred in that house (pimping out his own daughter, S6 of Top Model), but I don't know if her death was one of them.

I caught this episode a couple of months when it first aired when I was alone staying in a hotel room. It came on around 11 at night, and lets just say I didn't have restful night after watching that. I had never heard of this story before and I must say I am intrigued about the Black Dahlia case.

The part where Michelle Phillips was describing the way Hodel looked at her when she first meet him, freaked me out.

I don't think Short is the girl in the photos he found, but I the fact that the body was posed similar to the Man Ray's Minotaur photo is really suspicious.

[Deleted]

satellite said:

It's interesting that there's activity in the JonBenet case just before this movie is being released. The Dahlia is like the original Missing white woman syndrome tabloid story.

I don't think that the Dahlia case counts as MWWS. They found her nude in a field, cut in HALF. That's right up there with some of the worst Ripper murders. I think it's the brutality of the crime, and the fact that it was never solved, that lends to the fascination.



ETA:

marywebgirl said:

Those photos are indeed gross, but the creepiest thing for me is that people thought the body was a mannequin. I saw a dead body before it was discovered when I was 9 or so, but I didn't think anything of it because I thought it was a mannequin.

Holy shit, MaryWebGirl! You can't just drop a tidbit like that and then walk way-spill, girlfriend!

[marywebgirl]

I was sitting on the bus, which was waiting to turn off my street, on my way to school. There was an empty lot across the road that always had random junk in it, and I saw what I thought was a mannequin lying face down. When I got home that day I saw the paper (afternoon paper) that it was a 7th-grader who had been the victim of a hit-and-run while riding his bike the night before. His parents were truckers and were on the road, and his grandma lived next door but hadn't checked in on him the previous night, so nobody knew he was missing. Someone driving by later that morning saw him.

[Deleted]

marywebgirl said:

Those photos are indeed gross, but the creepiest thing for me is that people thought the body was a mannequin.

Apparently the body had been drained of blood so it was really white, between that and the fact it was in two separate pieces I can see where people thought it was a mannequin.

Plus this was in the 1940s back when horrible murders weren't everyday occurances. Or at least weren't reported on 24hour news channels ala Jon Benet.

[lallybroch]

I just saw the movie and...who in the what now? I have a rudimentary understanding of who did what (Aunt Petunia?!), but I'm sure it made much more sense in the book. I still can't figure out why Hilary Swank was cast when she looks nothing like Mia Kirshner and *casting a two-time Best Actress winner in a part like that is an almost instant giveaway that the character will be more important to the story than is first let on*. The biggest laughs from the audience came during *the sex scene (why did Bucky and Kay let a perfectly good chicken go to waste? Couldn't they have done it on the floor? Not as cinematic, I know.)* and whenever Fiona Shaw was onscreen. Mostly, I thought it was just boring and convoluted. Maybe film noir is just not my thing.

[jynni]

It seems to be getting mostly horrible reviews...

From what I've heard, I don't think I'll see it now. The story barely touches on the Dahlia murder, instead using it as sort of a back drop to several other confusing storylines. Myabe it'll be a netflix rental...