Laura

Rating:
Summary: Smoke and Mirrors
Review: A class act in film noir! "Laura" gloriously shot in black & white is a veritable showcase of long shadows, booze, and clouds of cigarette smoke. Gene Tierney was acceptably cast as Laura though her performance was hardly inspired. This Otto Preminger directed murder mystery largely succeeded on the strengths of an inspired supporting cast including a suprisingly likable Vincent Price as a vulnerable gigolo with Judith Anderson as the frustrated society matron who would crave his attention. But it was the physically slight persona and acerbic wit of would-be Svengali, Waldo Lydecker brillantly defined by Clifton Webb and his relationship with the hard-bitten, hard drinking police detective Mark McPherson portrayed in a career defining role by Dana Andrews that elevated this film to classic status. I am constantly amazed by the craft Webb displayed, notably as his character of Lydecker arose naked from his ritual bath in front of a perfect stranger in McPherson, dressing himself immaculately, and finally adorning his carefully tailored look with a fresh carnation all the while delivering clever lines of dialog perfectly timed to the moment. Obviously, the times and customs were far different in an urban America in the 1940's. With a world war raging but never mentioned in the film, who would nit-pick McPherson the worldly cop assigned to the murder case of Laura Hunt, a police detective who unabashedly consumed considerable amounts of alcohol on the job, in front of suspects and if the opportunity arose, before noon yet? Can you imagine the outrage today? Hollywood, of times long past also had a way of showcasing cigarette consumption and elevated its questionable use to high visual art. "Laura" certainly made full use of this handy device in scene after scene. The romantic "Laura" theme has been noted many times and with good reason. Its subtle variations lilting through out the film serve as a subtle point of focus. In these times of political correctness run amok, this film serves as a refreshing diversion to review and compare our contemporary behavior and mores to a generation past. "Laura" is a wonderfully crafted example of stylized film making to be enjoyed again and again. Pour yourself a scotch and soda, sit back and enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: The Face in the Misty Light
Review: This is the film that made me love the movies and become a film buff. When Otto Preminger was told to take over this project from another director who had barely begun filming it was a mess. David Raksin's famous score, so beautiful and haunting that it set the tone for the entire film, had not even been written yet. Preminger told Raksin to take the weekend and come up with something or he would use Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady" instead. The theme Raksin came up with was so cinematically perfect that Preminger used it as a framework for the entire movie and both this film and Raksin's score have become legendary.

Dana Andrews had his greatest role as Detective Mark McPherson, assigned the murder of society girl Laura Hunt due to office politics. Wlado Lydecker is also the role Clifton Webb will be remembered for. He is perfect as the deceased Laura's vain and famous benefactor. He uses his wit and intellect to destroy all of Laura's suitors in his weekly column as we see in flashbacks told to McPherson by Lydecker himself.

Vincent Price had his best non horror role as Shelby Carpenter, the one man Waldo could not drive away. Laura was to have been married to Carpenter, a heel with perfect manners. The more McPherson learns about Laura the more he wonders why such a sweet and down to earth girl ended up a society page murder mystery. She liked baseball and shares a favorite book with McPherson. Her portrait, painted by one of the suitors Lydecker destroyed in his column, hangs ominously above the chair where Mark McPherson reads her diary searching for the clue that will help him unravel the mystery of both her life, and her violent death.

Thelma Ritter turns in a fine performance as Laura's fiercely loyal maid, protecting Laura's reputation at every turn. McPherson wants to protect her reputation also as he has fallen for a ghost. David Raksin's haunting score and the opulant cinematography in conjunction with the wonderful performances of all involved turn this into the classic film that is every film buff's favorite murder mystery/romance. Halfway through this film everything is turned upside down on a rainy night in Laura's apartment.

This film was adapted from the terrific Vera Caspary novel of 1943 and is a literary classic as well. Both the novel and the film are timeless treasures to be cherished. This is one of the greatest films of the past century and hopefully 20TH Century Fox will release it on DVD soon. Don't miss this wonderful film. You will never feel the same about the movies after buying and watching this film. It will make you fall in love with the movies........

Rating:
Summary: SAVVY'S picks
Review: One of the best movies I've ever seen. Outstanding supporting cast of Clifton Webb, Dana Andrews, Vincent Price and Judith Anderson. This is the kind of movie you can watch over and over again. I don't want to give the theme of the movie away, but when Gene Tierney looks up into the bright lights in the interrigation room, it will take your breath away!! I could go on and on, but talking about the movie makes me want to watch it again.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect Film Noir with Beautiful Gene Tierney
Review: Once again, PBS shows another great film. "Laura" was on, and I had been wanting to see it for awhile as I had loved Gene Tierney in "Leave her to Heaven".
Gene Tierney, who I think is the most beautiful woman to ever grace the movie screen, plays Laura Hunt. Laura works for an advertising agency, and she works her way up to the top of the corporate ladder just barely hitting the glass ceiling.
While working on a new sponsor for a new product, she meets Waldo Lydecker(what a great character name!), played by Clifton Webb. Who, by the way, is outstanding in this movie! What a performance! Her relationship with Mr. Lydecker is strictly platonic, at least she thinks it is. Waldo has other plans.
He falls for her hard and stalks her. He goes so far as to kill her! or does he?
The whole film is told in narration by Waldo, and after the supposed death of Laura. He tells the story of how they met and about their relationship to us and to Lt. Mark Macpherson(and we see it all unfold on screen), played by Dana Andrews, who also turns in a great performance.
Macpherson gets into Laura's apartment and starts snooping around to find information. There is a portrait of her hanging over the fireplace, and it is so engaging that he falls in love with her just from glaring at it for so long.
Vincent Price played lead romantic male roles before turning to the "House of Wax" and other old horror movie. He plays Shelby Carpenter, one of the other men who become entranced by Laura's beauty.
The movie is classic film noir. Filmed in black and white, it still makes Gene Tierney look so amazingly and utterly stunning to look at. She had a true classic look, and she was a great actress. She seemed to be in a class all her own. Webb delivers some of the wittiest yet devilish lines in the film, and he is just pure brilliance in the role of Walter Lydecker. I don't know who beat him to Oscar that year, but he was extremely deservant of it himself.
This is a great classic old movie. Worth watching!!!
I highly recommend this one!!!

Eileen Famiglietti

Rating:
Summary: It was Laura, But She's Only a Dream...
Review: What a super movie! A gorgeous young woman is killed and the detective assigned to the case becomes obsessed with her. The actors are all elegant, graceful, and beautiful, especially Gene Tierney as Laura. The theme music is, of course, very important to the movie. It's all handled with great style. You'll love it!

Rating:
Summary: Classic black&white movie, film noir but not quite...
Review: You can have a hundred arguments about whether this is film noir, but I don't think it is. It is however a well-directed and acted murder mystery. Clifton Webb incarnates the catty journalist Waldo Lydecker, and there are also excellent performances by Vincent Price (not a horror movie character for once--he's quite charming) Judith Anderson and Dana Andrews. The dialogue sparkles without simply being a collection of one-liners. Gene Tierney is a little vapid as Laura, but she is beautiful and you can understand why all these men are head over heels in love with her. The story apparently takes place DURING World War II, but you wouldn't know it. It's an interesting look at Manhattan high society of the time. It's also good to read the book by Vera Kaspary, on which the film is based, as well.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Poison
Review: I originally came to this film without any knowledge of it beyond having read that it was an exceptional film--and given that LAURA is at heart a noir mystery, that was perhaps for the best. So, if you prefer to skip the commentary and approach the film untainted, I give my recommendation now: buy it immediately.

Based on the popular novel by Vera Caspery, LAURA begins as a mystery pure and simple: Laura Hunt, a beautiful and successful young woman, has been found dead in her elegant New York apartment, murdered by a shotgun blast to the head. Tough and rough Detective Mark McPherson is assigned to investigate--and slowly, as he delves into her world of high society, gossip columns, business success, and personal glamour he becomes romantically obsessed with the victim. Much of the story is told via flashback as McPherson interviews Laura's friends and acquaintances: the waspish Waldo Lyedecker, an acid-tongued columnist who "discovered" Laura; her aunt Ann Treadwell, who envied Laura; her fiance Shelby Carpenter, who depended upon Laura. The device is extremely effective, and lures the viewer into the same fascination with Laura that Detective McPherson experiences.

The cast is extraordinary. Although generally admired more for beauty than acting ability, Gene Tierney delivers a first-rate performance as as Laura, seen early in the film in flashback; she is a remarkably attractive woman, and she plays with a perfect mix of coolness and innocence. While I have never much admired Dana Andrews, he is perfectly cast as the street-common detective who is gradually consumed by obsession with Laura. But the real standouts here are Clifton Webb as the posionously witty Waldo Lydecker, the powerful Judith Anderson (best remembered as Mrs. Danvers in REBECCA) as Laura's aunt, and Vincent Price as Laura's weakling fiance. The script is a pearl beyond price, running at a rapid pace and shot through with some of the most memorable dialogue (most going to Clifton Webb) in Hollywood history. Everything about the film strikes precisely the right chord: the cinematography that shifts between hard and soft, the subtle camera movements, the mysterious and memorable theme song, and the cast itself. A truly fascinating film that can be enjoyed again and again; dead or alive, LAURA remains as captivating today as she was a half-century ago. Strongly, strongly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary film at many levels.
Review: Almost everyone involved in this film was a second choice. It is curious. Rouben Mamoulian died and Preminger had to take it over. Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews and Clifton Webb were also second choices, others rejected their roles (Jeniffer Jones rejected to play Laura). Even that wonderful haunting score by David Raskin was the result of Bernard Herrmann rejecting to work for it (he concentrated in "Hangover Square" at the time) and also of the felicitous circumstance that Preminger couldn't get away with his intention of using jazz music.

It was, then, a film rather casually made that has achieved legendary status (a similar case as "Casablanca") and deservedly so.

A good deal of the merit pertains to the writer, Vera Caspary. I'll point our here only a particular aspect of this film that makes it very interesting, one more of the many layers that every good work of art has.

We see the film through the eyes of Waldo (Clifton Webb), then through those of MacPherson (Andrews). But this is a device. This is a "woman's" film. It is Laura who actually shapes and reshapes the reality around her. This is a film about the choices a woman has in life, professionally and personally. I bet that Caspary wrote from inside Laura's mind, and not from inside Waldo's or MacPherson's, even though she puts more words in their lips than in hers.

Laura is a precursor in the sense that she is a woman with a career, as she tells MacPherson: "my mother encouraged me about a career, but then she gave me just another recipe...". Laura achieves professional status and independence, choosing clearly her own autonomy in front of being subservient to a husband. So she can follow her own inclinations as to what kind of personal attachments does she see fit.

There are three men who desire Laura. Here Caspary depicts a triad of male figures that possess particular attractions to a woman, but different attractions that come from differents sources. Waldo (Clifton Webb) is an older mand, cultured and established, with intellectual allure and clearly also a paternal figure. ( Carpenter) Vincent Price is a kind of gigolo, whose charms are his good looks and his glibly tongue, but who is also unscrupulous a deceitful. And sargeant MacPherson is "earthy, muscular and handsome in a cheap way" as Waldo puts it. A no-nonsense character, an unimaginative but reliable man.
Who does Laura choose? Guess it!

Apart from the aproach I have developed above there are many extraordinary fine points in the film almost in every range: interpretation, direction, technical. This is an enjoyable film throughout. Dont'miss it!

Rating:
Summary: Some kind of Magic!
Review: The movie has magic woven in it. The way it was filmed looked sumptuous even in black and white. I am not sure why the film got to me so much except that it seemed so mysterious that the main charzcter had been dead for almost half the movie and that comes back to life. It just struck a chord in me and when the handsome Dana Andrews seems to be having a date with the dead woman also intrigued me, a different storyline than other films. I think the best thing was the acting, of course everybody loved Clifton Webb and Vincent Price. And I to liked the way Price acted in the film with his ever so slight Kentucky accent and smooth manners! It was more Gene Tierney who caught my imagination. Why, I am not sure except I liked the slow way she moved and talked. I am not even sure it that is what I want to say, she just had a charisma about her. The way she acted like a little child that needed protecting and than like a nurturing mother, it really made alot of the movie for me. I can't really place it bit I definately felt like she fit the part for Laura. I never saw her in any other movies but I think I will check out some more that she acted in. A note of interest, she suffered from emotional problems in her thirties and underwent shock therapy for depression. How sad! This is a must see for anyone interested in film noir.

Lisa Nary

Rating:
Summary: "I'm not kind, I'm vicious. It's the secret of my charm."
Review: With a well-rounded cast, Oscar winning cinematography and a beautiful but haunting music score, Laura is one of the best film noirs ever made, a definite classic (Possible plot spoilers ahead).

Laura Hunt (A beautiful Gene Tierney) is a manager at an advertisement agency. Famous, talented and of course attractive, she is adored and respected by everyone. But when she is murdered, everyone who was close to her is suspected. Detective Lieutenant Mark McPherson (A dull but effective Dana Andrews) is put on the case. Throughout the film, we are given the impression that McPherson doesn't think too well of women, referring to them as 'Dames' or 'Dolls'. As he delves further, he finds he falling in love with Laura's portrait. As it turns out, Laura is very much alive. The problem now is for McPherson to find out who was murdered and, more importantly, who was the murderer.

Clifton Webb gave the film's best performance as columnist/ writer Waldo Lydecker (Murder is his favorite subject). He never admits it, but seems to be in love with Laura. He has given her many gifts and gave her the boost to become the success that she was. He also believes that only he is right for her, though considerably beyond her age. But maybe Laura just was using and manipulating him to rise to the top. Waldo never seems to believe this and prevents Laura from having other relationships with men. He also is a smart alec, claiming that he writes not with a pen, but "...with a Goose Quill, dipped in venom". He is definitely the most colorful character in the movie and got an Oscar nomination for his work.

What ever you do, don't give away the ending. It is revealed who the murderer was. It is both the most likely and the least likely suspect. But it doesn't matter who it is, really. For this is still a must see movie. It's also, for the MTV generation people, rather short (88 Minutes).

Since this movie is not yet out on DVD, fans will have to go with the VHS edition, which includes the Original Theatrical Trailer.