Laura

Rating:
Summary: A Surprise Masterpiece
Review: "Laura" was to Twentieth Century Fox what "Casablanca" was to Warner Brothers. Both forties' films started out as jinxed B movie projects where seemingly everything that could go wrong did, as in the basic principle of Murphy's Law. For awhile it appeared that neither film would ever be cast, much less filmed, but when all the smoke cleared Hollywood had two of its most enduring classics and the B labels were long forgotten.

Even though it was filmed entirely on Twentieth sound stages in Beverly Hills, "Laura" has the definite ring and feel of a Park Avenue New York City drama, as faithfully adapted from the novel by New Yorker Vera Caspery. Twentieth Century Fox boss Darryl F. Zanuck had to be talked into hiring former career stage actor Clifton Webb for the part of egomaniacal New York columnist and commentator Waldo Lydecker by director Otto Preminger. Zanuck can be thankful he listened to Preminger as Webb delivers a priceless performance, his cutting one-liners resonating throughout. When he is told at a party that Shelby Carpenter, played by Vincent Price, comes from an old Kentucky family, Webb replies, "Sharecroppers, no doubt." When reminded of the blatant manner in which he heaps self-praise, the unruffled Webb assures, "It is completely justified."

"Laura" has been cited as one of filmdom's most voyeuristic films along with Hitchcock's masterpiece "Vertigo". At a time when detective McPherson, played by Dana Andrews, believes that the beautiful young Park Avenue advertising executive Laura Hunt, played by hauntingly lovely Gene Tierney, has been murdered, he becomes haunted by her memory. He isolates himself in her apartment, paces the floor as he nervously chain smokes, and stares at her painting on the wall. The wily Webb sees what is happening, declaring tartly, "This is the only time I have seen a detective fall in love with a corpse." Andrews also enjoys taunting the egomaniacal Webb. Knowing that he expects total attention at all times, Andrews rankles Webb by playing with a hand held baseball pinball game. Finally Webb takes the bait, erupting with the admonition, "Can't you ever stop playing with that infernal game?"

When it turns out that another girl, model Diane Redfern, was the actual victim of the fatal shooting in Laura's apartment, Andrews turns in every direction of Laura's inner circle to find the killer. In the process he falls head over heels in love with Laura.

The brilliant dialogue retains its clever Upper East Side Manhattan ring throughout. The film has a mystical quality recognized by viewers, especially Andrews' fixation with a presumably dead woman. As Tierney noted in her autobiography, the role she was identified with more than any other was that of Laura Hunt.

Rating:
Summary: View it several times and patterns start to show.
Review: This movie is all that they say it in and then some. Naturally it is not the book "Laura" by Vera Caspary ISBN: 089244066X. And due to media constraints some things are implied. The characters do not match the book description.

They could not have picked better actors for the parts in the film. First time viewing give you the impression that Clifton Webb as Waldo Lydecker, is the manipuative person. Yes I know most of the characters are. But second time through, low and behold. Who manipulates Waldo from the very beginning and uses his connections to clime the corporate latter? Then pretty much snubs him.

Look how confident Dana Andrews as Detective Lieutenant Mark McPherson, is in this movie. Also notice his high heal shoes. See him as a completely different character in "In Harm's Way" (1965) ASIN: 0792102320, as Admiral 'Blackjack' Broderick. Also directed by Otto Preminger.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT SUSPENSEFUL MOVIE!!
Review: Dear reader,
This movie was one of the best movies ever made! It was very suspenseful, and threw some unexpected curves at you, making Laura (pretend that's italicized) a very unpredictable movie. Gene Tierney is magnificent, Dana Andrews remarkable, and the rest of the cast makes this movie picture perfect! My only complaint is that this movie isn't on DVD!!

Rating:
Summary: Laura-A Movie Masterpiece
Review: If I had been a woman of the right age in the 1940s, I'd have daydreamed of Dana Andrews. The most handsome of all of them from that era, I think, and what an actor! And then, Clifton Webb. His dry, sarcastic wit outshines anyone on the screen today, or since. His biting tongue, never better. Jean Tierney, beautiful, sexual, confident as Laura. Then first, middle and last, the haunting music of the theme of LAURA. If you haven't seen it, you must. It you have, and it's been a long time, rent it, buy it, but please see it again.

Rating:
Summary: A great mystery, an entertaining film!
Review: I highly recommend this film. I really enjoyed it. It
was very entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: fascinating crime-thriller
Review: A truly classic crime/thriller, LAURA was nominated for 5 Acamdemy Awards and was based on the novel by Vera Caspary.
A wealthy and acid-tongued columnist (Clifton Webb) becomes entranced with a beautiful young advertising agency worker, Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney). But entrancement leads to possessiveness and shortly before her wedding to a dashing playboy (Vincent Price), she is found "murdered".
Stirred by her portrait and adoring descriptions by her admirers, the detective assigned to the Laura Hunt case (Dana Andrews) finds he, too, is falling under her spell.
With it's haunting, celebrated score by David Raskin, this Otto Preminger film is one of the greatest films to emerge from the film noir genre.
With Judith Anderson.

Rating:
Summary: Preminger's Hauntingly Beautiful Masterpiece
Review: LAURA is arguably Preminger's finest hour(and twenty eight minutes), one of his greatest contributions to American cinema.His breakthrough work,dreaded in production and beloved in theatrical release,many things contribute to the brilliance of this work-the lush, romantic score and theme song-the shadowy,oscar winning B&W photography , arguably best work of actors Dana Andrews,Gene Tierney and Clifton Webb, a clever screenplay,silky smooth Hollywood editing and excellent support from costars Vincent Price and Judith Anderson- it is ultimately Preminger who holds it all together until it's final,shattering image, a symbol of love,obsession and death.

Rating:
Summary: Classic noir
Review: You may already know the concept that drives this classic mystery: A detective falls hard for a beautiful woman while investigating her murder.

Yes, cynical men going gooey over a dead gal's portrait is surefire noir, but this gimmick has always worked a bit better as an idea than it has onscreen. Still, Dana Andrews is spot on as the cynical young detective with a melancholy streak, and Clifton Webb is one of the finest actors you'll ever see writing a newspaper column in a bathtub.

Gene Tierney's Laura doesn't say or do much to make you understand why every man she meets goes silly for her. Except stand around in wonderful clothes being exceptionally pretty, which, for better or for worse, is often enough in this sort of movie.

And if she doesn't make you swoon, the famous title tune will.

Rating:
Summary: Creme de la Creme
Review: "Laura" is one of those movies you hear about all your life, it seems, and then when you see it, you know why. It's slick, funny, classy, and luxurient. I recently introduced my sister-in-law to it, and got to experience all the pleasure of my first viewing over again seeing her enjoyment. This movie made a star of Gene Tierney, and why not? She looks beautiful in every shot, and of course especially in that bewitching portrait that commands the living room of Laura's sumptuous apartment, the site of the inexplicable shotgun murder of Laura, the most sought after woman of her set. The mood of the film is created by the wonderful narration of Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), who recounts how he encountered an ambitious young woman whom he nurtured into a success, socially and professionally. The combination of his words and the accompanying glamour shots of Laura fix for the viewer the indelible image of a woman who transcends class. In contrast to Waldo's word paintings are the world-weary remarks of Mark MacPherson, the detective assigned to investigate Laura's murder, played by Dana Andrews. Though he appears to scoff at the imago of Laura created by Waldo, Mark is secretly seduced by it, aided by reading her private letters and handling her beautiful things in the apartment, and of course studying her portrait. Rounding out the cast are Judith Anderson as Laura's aunt Ann and Vincent Price as Shelby, Laura's on again off again fiance. The affair of these two suggest that things were not perfect in Laura's seemingly fairy tale life. And of course, like all good film noir murder mysteries, "Laura" has a riveting plot twist that makes you throw all your previous ideas out the window. One of the true film classics--you can't go wrong with this one. ....

Rating:
Summary: Tierney Is Radiant
Review: It's a classic tale of love, murder and obsession, when a homicide detective becomes enamored of the victim of a brutal murder he's investigating, in "Laura," directed by Otto Preminger and starring Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews. The story begins with the discovery of the murder of Laura Hunt (Tierney), a young advertising executive in New York City, and as detective Mark McPherson (Andrews) makes his investigation and begins to fit together the pieces of the puzzle of Laura's life and death, the essence of who she was begins to emerge. And it gives the story an interesting twist; for after seeing a portrait of Laura, and getting to know her by reading her most intimate personal letters and diary (routine for a murder investigation), McPherson becomes obsessed with her, and soon discovers he's not alone; there was another man obsessed with her as well. Subsequently, he must determine if that obsession played any part in Laura's death. The suspects include the men in her life, Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), a radio personality/columnist who helped her begin her career, and Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price), her fiance, a man of seemingly dubious character who had recently been involved with a model who worked for Laura's agency. The list doesn't end with them, however; also in the running is a man named Jacoby (John Dexter), the artist who painted the portrait of Laura that so mesmerized McPherson, and then there's some question as to the relationship between a certain Ann Treadwell (Judith Anderson) and Carpenter that is yet to be resolved.

Preminger delivers a solid mystery that will keep you in suspense until the very end, but with only enough tension to keep it interesting rather than engrossing. And though the story is believable, there are elements of the plot that develop so quickly it stretches credibility a bit. An additional two or three scenes relating to certain aspects of the characters lives (especially Laura's) would have had a significant impact of this film-- good as it is-- and with a running time of 85 minutes (on most prints) it wouldn't have been out of the question to expand it somewhat.

As far as the characters, McPherson, Lydecker and Carpenter emerge fully sketched and need little development; you know exactly who they are and where they've been. This is not the case with Laura, however; Tierney's character suffers somewhat from lack of development, and as the story unfolds, she seems to get from here to there with little discernible change. What the character needed was a bit more depth and some real definition.

Which is exactly what Andrews and Webb give to their characters; Webb as the flamboyant and self-assured Lydecker, Andrews as the stoic and deliberating McPherson. Price gives a notable performance, as well, but has a tendency to lapse into melodrama occasionally, which can be distracting at times. And Tierney gives a passable performance, though her acting is not on a par with her exquisite beauty. In her initial encounter with Lydecker, for instance, her pronounced coyness is somewhat diverting. Still, her presence on the screen is radiant, which makes it easy to overlook the slight flaws in her acting.

The supporting cast includes Dorothy Adams (Bessie), Cy Kendall (Inspector), Grant Mitchell (Lancaster Corey), Buster Miles (Office Boy) and Frank La Rue (Hairdresser). A good mystery, but with few surprises, "Laura" nevertheless remains a classic in it's own right. It's not a perfect film (the final words spoken, in fact, are decidedly melodramatic), but it's good storytelling, and is ultimately satisfying. Saying that there was room for improvement would be nit-picking; suffice to say that it is what it is, which is a pretty good movie.