MovieChat Forums > Who Is the Black Dahlia? (1975) Discussion > better than the latest movie

better than the latest movie

posted 18 years ago by thewitchclan
13 replies | jump to latest

I saw this movie on TV and remember it still as a very good film. The latest Brian De Palma film called "Black Dahlia" was one of the worst films I have ever seen. The TV version should be shown again!

[–] cobalt_s 18 years ago

This TV movie is far superior than the recent film. I saw the TV movie as a child and it scared the hell out of me. And there were no shots of the body or violence. It was all imagined. That's how good it was. This Brian DePalma film was a huge disappointment. The book was great but things were just lost in the translation.

[–] cbickley46 18 years ago

I too have followed this story for many years and saw the film made for tv; wasted good $$ this past Thursday nite to go and see the new one, hoping that maybe it had info I had not learned of. What a waste. And I gave up Survior for that??????

[–] urvivified 15 years ago

I TOTALLY AGREE!!!

[–] ComfyMama 13 years ago

I learned about the Black Dahlia case
from watching this movie which came out when I was a teen and it has held a fascination for me ever since. Elizabeth Short's death was horrific and so sad because it has never been officially solved. I also liked this movie and thought Lucie Arnaz did a fab job portraying Elizabeth, and Efraim Zimbalist Jr. was a very sympathetic detective. I wonder if this movie is or will be on DVD?

"I'm eating junk and watching garbage; you better come stop me!"

[–] borg1005-1 11 years ago

I also liked this movie and thought Lucie Arnaz did a fab job portraying Elizabeth,
Hear, hear! I just downloaded this version via YouTube and spent an interesting 1 1/2 hours. All of their cast held their own, but IMO Lucie was the standout.

She was particularly effective when she shows up, unannounced, at her father's home and gets blown off. Watch her face. The disappointment, followed by her rationalization of such treatment, was particularly affecting.

(sidebar) Get ye the Samsung (or any brand) DVD player that has a USB port. Download all kinds of neat seldom-seen movies from YouTube to a USB flashdrive, plug it in to the DVD and away you go. No more burning DVDs or hooking up a computer to a TV. My DSL is too slow for on-line streaming (another feature of that Samsung) so this is a great alternative. I can freze-frame, slo-mo, etc. just as with a DVD disc input.

[–] dfc99 11 years ago

I've been doing just that with my LG Blu-ray player. Downloaded a bunch of 70s TV horror and suspense movies to a flashdrive. Quality is fair to poor but it's better than nothing. Download of 'Who Is the Black Dahlia?' was decent enough, haven't seen it since 1975. Shame films like this have never had a legitimate video release.

This guy has a lot of these films for download:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TVTERRORLAND/videos

[–] borg1005-1 11 years ago

So far, even with the (low) quality flag on YouTube, I get pretty crisp movies with various brands of USBs. It would be interesting to see what they look like coming from a flash card like those used in the MP3 players, though who would want to mess with such a small screen?

And thanks for the link, will check it out.

[–] shemp56 13 years ago

I just watched this movie again. Although a low budget Made-For-TV movie it has an excellant cast and sticks close to the true story (with a few exceptions). Well worth seeing. Only available on bootleg. Far superior to Brian DePalma's crapfest.

[–] Doctor_Mabuse1 13 years ago

Brian De Palma's 3-hour director's cut, highly praised by original novelist James Ellroy, was studio-slashed by an entire HOUR. The result was to render a complex story nearly incomprehensible.

Doctor Mabuse, Evil Genius, King of Crime

[–] MrBelette 8 years ago

You can't do a serious movie about the Black Dahlia by trying to solve the case at the end even if you take 3 hours to do it.

[–] dingduder 10 years ago

Definitely better than the recent movie though the James Ellroy book it's based on is excellent.

[–] DorianGray502 8 years ago

___The De Palma movie was a huge disappointment, and also incomprehensible. They simply do not know how to make films anymore. You would think out of hours of film,they could piece together something that made sense. Like a modern day Cleopatra.
____On the other hand Lucie Arnaz was really outstanding. Her constant lieing to others and to herself to keep her dream alive was absolutely believable, plus she really looked like her. I wonder why her mother Lucille Ball would object? Perhaps because she was around in Hollywood when it happened, and Lucy had heard all the underground stuff about the Black Dahlia.
___I read a book years ago by the son of George Hodell who claimed it was his father. It was a pretty compelling story, I have never forgotten that name.
___Also wierd how Elizabeth Short achieved world wide fame and legend. Not the way she was seeking those accolades.

[–] 8 years ago

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