The Blue Dahlia was the first completely original screenplay written by famed crime novelist Raymond Chandler.

Raymond Chandler wrote the screenplay for The Blue Dahlia under the gun for Paramount Pictures. Paramount had found out that their leading male star, Alan Ladd, was being called back into service by the Army and were thrown into a panic when they realized that they had no new Ladd film to release during his absence. Chandler stepped in and pounded out a screenplay in a matter of weeks.

The Blue Dahlia was the third film in which Alan Ladd co-starred with Veronica Lake. The pair had previously worked together on This Gun For Hire and The Glass Key (both 1942).

One of the reasons that Alan Ladd was paired with Veronica Lake was because he was short and she was one of the few actresses in Hollywood who didn't tower over him.

Alan Ladd was reportedly not happy about actress Doris Dowling playing his wife in the film because she was several inches taller than he.

According to producer John Houseman, Raymond Chandler had a great deal of trouble completing the screenplay for The Blue Dahlia. Director George Marshall had already started shooting the film without the finished screenplay. Chandler, a known alcoholic, felt that in order to finish it he had to start drinking again. It was a "sacrifice" he had to make for the good of the picture-drinking, he said, made him a better writer.

Raymond Chandler had to change his original ending for The Blue Dahlia due to pressure from the U.S. Navy. The original killer was going to be a Navy man who suffered from post-traumatic blackouts from his service in the war. However, the Navy Department objected to one of its officers being represented as a murderer. As a result, Paramount insisted that Chandler change the identity of the killer.

The actor who plays Harwood's sidekick Leo broke his toe in real life, so his injury was incorporated into the screenplay.

Writer Raymond Chandler sometimes referred to Blue Dahlia actress Veronica Lake as "Moronica" Lake. In a letter to his friend, critic James Sandoe, Chandler wrote, "The only times she's good is when she keeps her mouth shut and looks mysterious. The moment she tries to behave as if she had a brain she falls flat on her face."

Paramount offered Raymond Chandler a $5,000 bonus incentive to finish the screenplay for The Blue Dahlia.

When Paramount consented to allow Raymond Chandler to work on The Blue Dahlia from home, Chandler issued a list of requirements to help him finish which included two Cadillac limousines with drivers available around the clock, six secretaries ready to work for him at any time and a direct phone line open to the studio switchboard at night.

Famous Quotes from THE BLUE DAHLIA

"Just don't get too complicated, Eddie. When a man gets too complicated, he's unhappy. And when he's unhappy, his luck runs out." –- Leo (Don Costello)

"Am I under suspicion?"

"I don't know. How do you feel about it?"
-- Eddie Harwood (Howard Da Silva)/Captain Hendrickson (Tom Powers)

"I take all the drinks I like, any time, any place. I go where I want to with anybody I want. I just happen to be that kind of a girl." –- Helen Morrison (Doris Dowling)

"You gotta have more sense than to take chances with strangers like this."
"It's funny, but practically all the people were strangers when I met them."
-- Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd)/Joyce Harwood (Veronica Lake)

"Bourbon straight with a bourbon chaser." –- Buzz Wanchek (William Bendix) to Bartender

"Seems I've lost my manners, or would anyone here know the difference?" –- Johnny

"Clean sheets every day they tell me."
"How often do they change the fleas?"
-- Man recommended cheap motel (Frank Faylen)/Johnny "You still want that room?"
"You sure nobody's dead in it?"
"Right back this way. You live in San Francisco"
"Yeah, when I'm there."
– Corelli, Motel Operator (Howard Freeman)/Johnny

"Drink?"
"Don't mind if I do, but easy on the water."
-- Eddie Harwood/"Dad" Newell (Will Wright)

"Well, don't you even say, 'Good night'?"
"It's goodbye, and it's tough to say goodbye."
"Why is it? You've never seen me before tonight."
"Every guy's seen you before somewhere. The trick is to find you."
-- Joyce/Johnny

"It takes a lot of lights to make a city, doesn't it?" -- Joyce

"Let me see. I seem to have misplaced your name for the moment."
"Where were you keeping it?"
-- "Dad" Newell/Buzz

"I know I've got lots of faults, but being in love with you isn't one of them, is it?"
- Eddie Harwood

"Half the cops in L.A. are looking for you."
"Only half?"
-- Eddie/Johnny

Compiled by Andrea Passafiume