History Film / TheBlackDahlia

* FanService: The dancers in the lesbian night club.

* DiesDifferentlyInTheAdaptation: [[spoiler: Blanchard went down to Mexico in the book and was killed by the corrupt cops down there for flashing too much cash as well as raising a ruckus. Here, he's killed by Madeline in retaliation for his blackmail.]]

* BigScrewedUpFamily: [[spoiler: The Linscotts. Aside from their mental health problems, secrecy, corruption, both sides of committing infidelity and incest, they're very much responsible for the manipulation, torture and death of Elizabeth Short and they even blackmail an officer in getting away with it.]]
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Lee is murdered, Dwight has now killed Madeleine and appears to still be haunted by Elizabeth's murder but him and Kay have a chance at a new life now]].

* FemmeFatale: Madeleine Linscott.

* GuyOnGuyIsHot: Kay says of the boxing match, "I hope both of you look good with your shirts off".
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Dwight and Lee.

''The Black Dahlia'' is a 2006 neo-noir crime film directed by Creator/BrianDePalma and starring Creator/JoshHartnett, Creator/AaronEckhart, Creator/ScarlettJohansson and Creator/HilarySwank, based on [[Literature/TheBlackDahlia the novel of the same name]] by Creator/JamesEllroy. The film tells a fictional story based around the real life murder of actress Elizabeth "Betty" Short (played by Creator/MiaKirshner) who came to be nicknamed The Black Dahlia. Hartnett and Eckhart play two boxers-turned-police detectives who are called on to investigate Short's murder and end up uncovering a (fictional) conspiracy around the whole thing.

** Madeleine hangs out at the lesbian bars and admits to sleeping with a woman, yet she clearly enjoys sex with Dwight.

* AwfulWeddedLife: Madeleine's parent's marriage is far from a happy one as her mother Ramona drinks and pops pills and argues with Emmett at the dinner table. [[spoiler: The couple also have affairs on the side, Ramona with Emmett's friend Georgie and Emmett with Madeleine]].

* CountryMatters: When Dwight interrogates one of the prime suspects ([[spoiler: and Kay's abusers]]), the man he catches makes a lewd comment using this word about his time first spent with Kay sexually which is enough to make Dwight ''[[MyGirlIsNotASlut want to pummel the man]]''.

* LecherousStepparent: [[spoiler: Emmett]] is revealed to be this toward his own daughter [[spoiler: Madaleine]] who is revealed to not biologically be his daughter.

* LargeHam: Madeleine's mother (again) in [[spoiler: the scene where she confesses to killing Elizabeth and commits suicide immediately afterward]].

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Lee is murdered, Dwight has now killed Madeleine and appears to still be haunted by Elizabeth's murder and the person who murdered Elizabeth is never caught but him and Kay have a chance at a new life now]].

* KarmaHoudini: Just as in real life, the murder is never solved and the killer never brought to justice.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Lee is murdered, Dwight has now killed Madeleine and appears to still be haunted by Elizabeth's murder but him and Kay have a chance at a new life now]].

* ButchLesbian: Elizabeth and Lorna were seen chatting with one, which points Dwight in the direction of lesbian bars. A female bartender of the lesbian bar Dwight investigates gives him an alibi.

* AffairBlameTheBastard: [[spoiler: Subverted. Ramona had an affair with Georgie and thus Madeleine was born. Instead of blaming his daughter however, Emmett saw himself as being a loving responsible father to her and instead took his anger out on Ramona's lover (and Madeleine's real father) Georgie by horribly disfiguring his face]].

* DaddysGirl: Madeleine is this with her father Emmett. [[spoiler: A little bit too close, as revealed later by Dwight]].

* LecherousStepparent: [[spoiler: Emmett]] is revealed to be this toward his own daughter [[spoiler: Madaleine]] who is revealed to be not biologically his daughter.

* SamusIsAGirl: [[spoiler: Lee was murdered by Madeleine dressed as a man]].

* StuffedInTheFridge: Elizabeth Short. For a movie named for her famous moniker and allegedly revolving around solving her murder, she's very much in the background (even taking into consideration that for most of the movie, she's dead), serving only as a way to link the main cast.

The film is largely remembered as one of the most confusing and incoherent stories of all time with the ShockingSwerve popping up big time.[[note]] Though putting the subtitles on ''really'' helps in keeping track of things. A LOT.[[/note]] This is at least partially due to several scenes being cut; Ellroy himself loved the original edit and refuses to say a word about the final version.

** Madeleine hangs out at the lesbian bars and admits to sleeping with a woman, yet clearly enjoys sex with Dwight.
** Lorna Mertz, who enjoyed making the video with Elizabeth more than the other did.

* ComfortingTheWidow: [[spoiler: Bucky and Kay.]]

* JailBait: One of the suspects Lorna Mertz, who was associated with Elizabeth Short before her death, is revealed to be just 15 years old.

* EverybodyHasStandards: The bartender in the lesbian bar Dwight investigates is familiar with Elizabeth Short and Lorna Mertz but doesn't offer services to Lorna due to her being underage. As she puts it, "we don't truck with underage stuff".

* IncestSubtext: A disturbing example, [[spoiler: in which reveals that Ramona Linscott's lover Georgie Tilden was so obsessed with Elizabeth Short that he desired to have sex with her despite the object of his affection [[{{Squick}} resembling his own daughter]]. This being the reason why Ramona was disturbed by it so greatly that she sought to prevent it from happening...]]

** Implied with [[spoiler: Georgie Tilden towards his own daughter, who is revealed to be Madeleine.]]

* VillainousIncest: [[spoiler: Emmett and Madeleine Linscott]] are discovered one night almost kissing and having a private intimate conversation on the stairs before they are caught by [[spoiler: Dwight]] who interrogates them about the murder of Elizabeth Short.

* ButchLesbian: Elizabeth and Lorna were seen chatting with one, which points Dwight in the direction of lesbian bars.

[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theblackdahlia_7079.jpg]][[caption-width-right:260:''[[TagLine Inspired by the most notorious unsolved murder in California history.]]'']]

* AmbiguouslyBi: Madeleine hangs out at the lesbian bars and admits to sleeping with a woman but yet clearly enjoys sex with Dwight. Also Lorna Mertz who enjoyed making the video with Elizabeth more than the other did.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Elizabeth Short and her friend Lorna liked to hang out with lesbians in a time where such things were taboo. [[spoiler: Elizabeth also slept with Madeleine]].

::Bucky when he asks Kay who is Bobby [=DeWitt=] and her facial expression and demeanor changes.
--> '''Bucky''': Kay, who's Bobby [=DeWitt=]?
** When [[spoiler: Kay]] catches Bucky and Madeleine together.
--> '''[[spoiler: Kay]]''': She looks like that dead girl! How SICK are you?!

* CountryMatters: When Dwight interrogates one of the prime suspects ([[spoiler:and Kay's abusers]]), the man he catches makes a lewd comment using this word about his time first spent with Kay sexually which is enough to make Dwight ''[[MyGirlIsNotASlut want to pummel the man]]''.

* DevelopingDoomedCharacters: A non slasher film example. Despite being a movie about Elizabeth Short's murder, that part of the plot doesn't kick off until 20 minutes into the film.
* FanDisservice: The lesbian pornographic film starring a reluctant Elizabeth Short and an 15-year old Lorna Mertz. The kisses between Short and Mertz are titillating but the rest is uncomfortable to watch as Mertz is underage, and Short cries and gets sodomized and painfully humiliated onscreen.

* FileFatale: Lorna Mertz. She's an emancipated minor who looks and acts older than her real age and wasn't afraid to act promiscuous towards men.

* InterruptedIntimacy: [[spoiler: Madeleine and her father]] are shown getting close to intimate on the stairs before they are intterupted by Dwight.

* LargeHam: Madeleine's mother (again) in [[spoiler: the scene where she confesses to killing Elizabeth and commits suicide immediately afterwards]].

* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: Kay is the light, Madeleine is the dark. Also Elizabeth was dark while Lorna was light.

* RescueRomance: [[spoiler: Lee and Kay was this, Lee having saved Kay from Bobby De Witt]].

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Elizabeth's real life murder was never solved and is still a mystery to this day. The film offers a conclusion.

** Implied with [[spoiler: Georgie Tilden with his own daughter, who is revealed to be Madeleine.]]

* JailBait: One of the suspects Lorna Mertz, who was associated with Elizabeth Short before her death, is revealed to be just 15 years old. Yet she's an emancipated minor who looks and acts older than her real age and wasn't afraid to act promiscuous towards men.

** [[spoiler: Emmett Linscott with his daughter Madeleine Linscott]].
** Implied with [[spoiler: Georgie Tilden with his own daughter, who is revealed to be truly Madeleine.]]

* VillainousIncest: [[spoiler: Emmett and Madeleine Linscott]] who are discovered one night to be almost kissing on the stairs and having a private intimate conversation on the stairs before they are caught in the act by [[spoiler: Dwight]] who interrogates them about the murder of Elizabeth Short.

Bucky when he asks Kay who is Bobby [=DeWitt=] and her facial expression and demeanor changes.

%% * BigScrewedUpFamily: [[spoiler: The Linscotts. Aside from their mental health problems, secrecy, corruption, both sides of committing infidelity and incest, they're very much responsible for the manipulation, torture and death of Elizabeth Short and they even blackmail an officer in getting away with it.]]

* ChecovsGun: The clown paintings in the Linscott manor.