Gardenia Blues

The Blue Gardenia is a neat little 1955 semi-noir from Fritz Lang. Ann Baxter is a phone company operator, living in an LA apartment with 2 other women - divorcee Ann Sothern and mystery loving tomboy Jeff Donnell (a tall girl, the actress took her nickname from "Mutt and Jeff"). When she gets a Dear Jane letter from her boyfriend in Korea, she lets calendar girl artist Raymond Burr take her out. He meets her at the Blue Gardenia Chinese Restaurant, where they listen to Nat King Cole and drink Polynesian Pearl Divers.

He takes her home and attacks her when she passes out. She comes too for long enough to take a swing at him with a poker, and passes out again. When she comes to, he is dead.

Now she not only has a terrible hangover, but faces a murder charge. Newspaperman Richard Conte is one her trail, but since he knew Burr, he has a lot of sympathy for his murderer.

Lang gets a nice feeling for mid-50s LA life into this detective story. The three working woman aren't glamorous or especially man-crazy - Ann Sothern goes on dates with her ex. They share a bedroom and take turns making orange juice. Telephones are a minor theme, the way some Hong Kong comedies use cellphones. And of course, there's a happy ending.

In conclusion, a Polynesian Pearl Diver is not the modern Malibu/Midori poison, but more likely related to Don the Beachcomber's Pearl Diver Punch. I haven't found an authoritative recipe, but it includes Don's Grog Batter, which is honey, butter, cinnamon, vanilla and allspice, in the form of pimento dram. Butter in an iced drink may seem dangerous, but who knew it could lead to murder.