Laura (1944 film)
Laura, a
1944 film noir, tells the story of a police detective, investigating a woman's murder, who falls in love with her portrait. It stars
Gene Tierney as Laura,
Dana Andrews,
Clifton Webb,
Vincent Price and
Judith Anderson.Adapted from
Vera Caspary's novel by
Jay Dratler,
Samuel Hoffenstein,
Elizabeth Reinhardt and
Ring Lardner Jr. (uncredited). It was directed by
Otto Preminger. The film's first director Rouben Mamoulian was fired early in the film's shooting due to creative differences.
Laura begins with cop Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) investigating the murder of a beautiful advertising director
Laura Hunt. McPherson interviews newspaper columnist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), who relates how he fell under Laura's spell and used his influence and fame to advance her career. McPherson also questions Laura's fiancé, Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price); her wealthy aunt, Ann Treadwell (Judith Anderson) and Laura's loyal housekeeper, Bessie Clary (
Dorothy Adams). Through the testimony of her friends and the reading of her letters, McPherson comes to know Laura (Gene Tierney) and slowly falls in love with the dead woman, particularly through her portrait. He becomes obsessive -- using the excuse of trying to solve the murder, he hangs around her apartment and is at one point accused of falling in love with a corpse (by Waldo Lydecker). He falls asleep under her portrait, drunk, whereupon she enters, like a dream or a ghost. It was not Laura who was murdered, but Diane Redfern, a model at the advertising agency, accused by Waldo of having an affair with Shelby. Laura's resurrection starts the detective plot spinning in new directions. Is someone trying to kill Laura? Is Laura, the woman McPherson has fallen in love with, a murderer?
There are indications in the film that the story is something of a dream or a myth, which helps explain its impact and the way it moves beyond the standard murder mystery. In particular, the theme of the image raises questions about the role of the movie (and the audience) as image creator. Various scenes conjure up Laura, or focus tightly on her face (in one powerful scene her face is interrogated by Dana Andrews wielding a harsh lamp) -- "is she only a dream"?
Vertigo is perhaps the closest film to
Laura in the noir genre, with a similar death and resurrection plot and an obsessive detective in love with a woman who may be a figment of his imagination.
It won an
Academy Award for
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (
Joseph LaShelle), and was nominated for
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Clifton Webb),
Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White,
Best Director (Otto Preminger) and
Best Writing, Screenplay. In
1999 the film was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States
Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the
National Film Registry.
The song, "Laura," was written by
Johnny Mercer (lyrics) and
David Raksin (music). "Laura" has since become a jazz standard recorded over 400 times; however, the best known versions are by
Dick Haymes and
Woody Herman.
*
Rouben Mamoulian director of "Laura" was replaced by Otto Preminger, who also produced the picture. He destroyed Mamoulian's footage, including a scripted ending where everything was revealed to be a dream and brought a new cameraman for the film.
*
Jennifer Jones was first choice for the role of Laura, but she turned it down.
Hedy Lamarr was also offered the role, but she rejected the script, later acknowledging that she would have taken the role if she'd heard the film score in advance.
*Otto Preminger's original idea for the film score was to use
Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady." David Raksin later composed the familiar score for "Laura" over the course of a weekend, after being inspired by a "Dear David" letter he received from his wife.
*The character of Waldo Lydecker appears to be based on the columnist, broadcaster and "New Yorker" theater critic
Alexander Woollcott, a famous wit who, like Waldo, was fascinated by murder. Woollcott always dined at the
Algonquin Hotel, where Laura first approaches Waldo.
*Laura's portrait is a photograph touched up with oil paint.
*A plot of the book
Mystery Mother of the Crescent book series has a striking similarity to the film Laura and mentions it in name.
"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 Laura's horrible death, I was alone. I, Waldo Lydecker, was the only one who really knew her."
*
*
Laura at
Filmsite.org*
«Laura, le polar pictural» a French review by Marc Autret
