Who Is the Black Dahlia?

I watched the film when it was first broadcast and I remember actually being really frightened by it. It was the eerie, atmospheric setting of the movie and good acting that gave the movie it's frightening aspects not the gore and carnage that movies made today depend on. Also, after watching her for years in "The Lucy Show" it was a very pleasant surprise to see Lucy Arnez playing a sexy young woman. Her acting career was really hampered by being the daughter of the famous woman. I wish that the film would be shown again on a cable telvision channel such as TCM or AMC so I could tape it. The recent big screen movie version of "The Black Dahlia" was a major disappointment especially compared to this well done made-for-television version.

I too was frightened the first time I saw this TV movie. It tells the story of the short life, and gruesome, unsolved 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short, whose nickname was the Black Dahlia, a type of flower. There is a certain creepiness that pervades this low-key period story, told in flashbacks of Short's brief Los Angeles existence before her slaughter. Efram Zimbalist, Jr., portrays the detective who becomes obsessed with the young, attractive woman's story. The period details feel right, for I am too young to have any first-hand experience of the time, and Lucie Arnaz's performance as the doomed title character adds emotional weight to what could have been an exploitive picture. This is another example of how superior, in general, '70's made-for-television movies were to future endeavors.

There's only one thing more sensational and fascinating than a gruesome murder case, and that's an unsolved gruesome murder case! Why are authors and filmmakers still inspired by Jack the Ripper, the Zodiac Killer, and - of course - the Black Dahlia? Well, probably because we can't stand the idea that someone capable of committing such cruel and gruesome crimes is still walking around free and unpunished (even though that's highly unlikely since these cold cases are almost a century old).

Black Dahlia is the nickname given to the unfortunate Elizabeth Short. She was a young girl who moved from Maine to California to find success and happiness, but - during the turbulent WWII years - all she got were a few difficult years and ultimately a tragic death. Elizabeth's corpse was so barbarically mutilated that the case deployed a huge police investigation and massive media attention, but the culprit was never identified.

"Who is the Black Dahlia" is something between a documentary and a fictional crime/thriller, but rest assured, it's an excellent film and absorbing from start to finish. The narrative structure is sublime with, told in parallel, sequences revolving around the slow-moving police search and flashbacks showing Elizabeth's daily struggles. The letters to her grandmother, in which she writes that everything is going swell in LA even though she's suffering, are harrowing. The film isn't entirely accurate or truthful, but it's respectful, overall well-researched, and - do I daresay - hundreds of times better than Brian De Palma's 2006 effort.

Elizabeth Short was a beautiful woman,who desperately wanted to become an actress.She went to Los Angeles and met her terrible destiny there.Her dismembered body was found discarded in two sections like a shattered doll on a vacant lot in LA on 15th January 1947.She had been tortured while being drained for her blood,before the killer hacked her torso in two.A beautiful woman in black killed by unknown slayer."Who Is the Black Dahlia?" is a terrific mystery thriller with excellent acting and some eerie overtones.Lucie Arnaz is perfect as a desperate Liz Short.Her dreams of becoming a film star never materialised.Her fate was more than horrible.The tragic story of Black Dahlia haunts me since my childhood.8 out of 10.

This is by far the best-told, best-acted and best-produced of all the many movies about Elizabeth Short's story.

Lucie Arnaz's restrained performance succeeds in presenting Short as a woman of thwarted ambition, floating in a vacuum of failure, just hanging on by a thread. She should have received an Emmy for it.

This version of the Black Dahlia story has more in-depth characterization of Elizabeth Short than other versions, which go more for sensationalism.

I don't understand why "Who Is The Black Dahlia?" isn't out on DVD, especially considering its cult following.