In 1965 Fritz Lang - responding to the assertion by Peter Bogdanovich that "The Blue Gardenia" was "a particularly venomous picture of American life" - recalled the film as "[Lang's] first picture after the McCarthy business and I had to shoot it in twenty days. Maybe that's what made me so venomous". Although Lang evidently recalled his career as being seriously hindered by the Hollywood blacklist, the interval between his being hired for "The Blue Gardenia" (announced October 1952) and the completion of Lang's precedent directorial assignment: "Clash by Night", was not objectively an overly protracted lapse lasting only about seven or eight months (Lang would be hired by a major studio - Columbia Pictures - in January 1953 some three months before "The Blue Gardenia" was released). The filming of "The Blue Gardenia" commenced 28 November 1952 and was completed Christmas Eve, Lang wrapping the movie a day earlier than its 21-day filming schedule.