Laura (1944)

A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he is investigating.

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Vera Caspary (novel), Jay Dratler (screen play)

Stars:

Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb

Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gene Tierney	...	Laura Hunt
Dana Andrews	...	Det. Lt. Mark McPherson
Clifton Webb	...	Waldo Lydecker
Vincent Price	...	Shelby Carpenter
Judith Anderson	...	Ann Treadwell
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Grant Mitchell	...	Lancaster Corey (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Detective Mark McPherson investigates the killing of Laura, found dead on her apartment floor before the movie starts. McPherson builds a mental picture of the dead girl from the suspects whom he interviews. He is helped by the striking painting of the late lamented Laura hanging on her apartment wall. But who would have wanted to kill a girl with whom every man she met seemed to fall in love? To make matters worse, McPherson finds himself falling under her spell too. Then one night, halfway through his investigations, something seriously bizarre happens to make him re-think the whole case.

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Plot Keywords:

investigation | advertising | narrated by character | obsession | portrait painting | 

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Taglines:

The story of a love that became the most fearful thing that ever happened to a woman!

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

November 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

Лора

Filming Locations:

Stage 9, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,020,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Stars Gene Tierney, Judith Anderson, Dana Andrews and Vincent Price all died within three years of each other.

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Goofs

When McPherson and Lydecker are in the restaurant, Lydecker says he and Laura were at the same table on the night of her 22nd birthday. He then says they met 5 years earlier when she tried to hire him to endorse a pen for an advertising company where she worked. That would make her 17 years old and working in a professional position.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Waldo Lydecker: [narrating off screen] I shall never forget the weekend Laura died. A silver sun burned through the sky like a huge magnifying glass. It was the hottest Sunday in my recollection. I felt as if I were the only human being left in New York. For with Laura's horrible death, I was alone. I, Waldo Lydecker, was the only one who really knew her, and I had just begun to write Laura's story when another of those detectives came to see me. I had him wait. I could watch him through the ...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

The version on DVD has the 1950s 20th Century Fox logo, with a tilted zero created to widen the image for CinemaScope. The logo is also larger than normal due to being cropped from the wide screen version.

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Connections

Referenced in Vertigo (1958)

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Soundtracks

You Go to My Head
(uncredited)
Music by J. Fred Coots (1938)
Used instrumentally in dance scene

User Reviews

Has to be considered a classic example of film noir...

LAURA is, quite simply, as good as it gets as far as "film noir" is concerned.

Aside from an interesting story, a witty script, excellent B&W photography of elegant sets and the beautiful Gene Tierney as the center of attention, it works on every level imaginable. Dana Andrews has an intriguing role as the detective drawn to the portrait of Laura after believing her dead. And Clifton Webb has his star-making role of Waldo Lydecker, the snobbish and elegant man who seems just as obsessed with the dead woman as the detective. Adding to the impressive performances are Judith Anderson and Vincent Price.

The only flaw seems to be that Laura herself is not as well-defined in motives and background as the other players. But Gene Tierney's mesmerizing beauty hardly makes that important. Nevertheless, she is too passive in the role and actually gave far stronger performances in films like The Razor's Edge and Leave Her to Heaven, something she herself admitted--but her looks were never used to better advantage.

With several plot twists and turns, it keeps you thoroughly absorbed until it reaches its satisfying climax under Otto Preminger's knowing direction. Not to be missed, it's a classic of its kind.

For a detailed look at the career of DANA ANDREWS, see my current article on him in FILMS OF THE GOLDEN AGE, Summer 2001 with a look at all of his films and many photos.