Desc: Who Is the Black Dahlia?: Directed by Joseph Pevney. With Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Ronny Cox, Macdonald Carey, Lucie Arnaz. In Los Angeles in 1947, a police detective tries to solve the shocking and grisly murder of 22-year-old aspiring actress Elizabeth Short, whose nude body was dumped in a lot after being bisected with surgical precision. The detective interviews people who knew Short, who was called "The Black Dahlia" because of the black outfits she wore.