Chandler, Raymond

The Blue Dahlia. Hollywood: Paramount, 1945.



4to. (11 x 8 1/2in; 280 x 220 mm). 128 pp. mimeograph typed filmscript on white and blue stock in heavy black vinyl over card covers, "Raymond Chander" in white in ink bordered by blue rule to upper cover; very light toning to a few pages only.

Raymond Chandler (decoratively printed on upper cover).

Hiney, Raymond Chandler A Biography, pp. 153-157

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Raymond Chandler's legendary script for The Blue Dahlia, famously completed after contracting to be drunk in order to complete the film.

The circumstances of Chandler's work on The Blue Dahlia have become part of Hollywood screenwriting lore, a case of extreme writer's block that he claimed could only be cured by falling off the wagon, hard, and back into steady drinking.

H.N. Swanson, Chandler's agent had discussed getting Chandler to adapt Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby in late 1944, a work that Chandler had great admiration for. Instead, Swanson felt he could get a more lucrative agreement for his client by contracting a steady writing deal  and at the fee of $1,000 a week Chandler came to terms with Paramount studios. With the proposed leading man of an upcoming John Houseman film possibly being called up for a second Army tour of duty, the studio was thrown into a panic. Chandler took advantage and was able to negotiate the quick delivery of a finished script for $25,000. He began adapting his unfinished story for Dahlia immediately so filming could be completed before intended star Alan Ladd was returned to military service.

The accelerated shooting schedule began to catch up with Chandler and though his first draft was bought and paid for, he began having serious issues getting the final shooting script finished. He came to Houseman in a panic, telling him that the only possibility for getting the rewrites completed was to break his writer's block by relapsing into drinking, though it would likely damage him permanently. He had to be allowed to work at home in order to drink and create comfortably and asked for two limousines to be ready at all times for both he and his wife, six secretaries in three shifts of two for dictation and a direct phone line to the studio open at all hours. Houseman, having little choice, agreed and an additional $5,000 was added as a bonus for finishing on time.

Chandler completed the work, with lines of dialogue now appreciated as classic noir,  though many screenwriters claim it was a huge and successful scam, that he was already drinking and simply wanted to work at home, which was against studio policy. In either case, the film was a huge hit, though the Production Code at first refused the script for "excessive mention of alcohol."