After spending April discussing Whistleblowers such as Karen Silkwood, Erin Brockovich, and Rob Billot, as well as Chernobyl (listen), Murder Made Fiction podcast has dedicated May to fictional adaptations of the notorious Black Dahlia case.
Born Elizabeth Short, the infamous LA murder from 1947 has been the subject of several films and TV shows, but these titles rarely focus on the woman herself. Usually it’s the gory/salacious details of her case, which Jenn unpacks in her mini-primer on the real life 22 year old.
The case was made into a made-for-TV movie called ‘Who is the Black Dahlia?’ in 1975.
Director Joseph Pevney and screenwriter Robert W. Lenski‘s film presents Elizabeth Short as an aimless, unknowable figure (possibly even to herself).
As played by Lucie Arnaz, the movie is well researched and actually gives Short much more screen time than we expected, but it doesn’t entirely satisfy. As a kick off, this is solid, but inessential.
Still, there’s something commendable about how interested the film is in giving Short the spotlight, in addition to focusing on attempts to solve her case following her death. The film also has a dark sense of humour, frequently contrasting dialogue that’s hopeful and optimistic with editing contradicts such sentiment by confirming that Elizabeth is about to die.
It’s unexpected, but reminiscent of how TV movies are often smarter and more subversive than anticipated. See also: NBC’s Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan movie that we covered back in February (listen).
Want even more Murder Made Fiction? Be sure to check out the pod’s Patreon feed, where Jenn and I have 150 hours of bonus content, including episode by episode coverage of Netflix’s 2019 limited series Unbelievable, starring Toni Collette and Kaitlyn Dever. C/W: Sexual Assault