Laura (1944)

Director: Otto Preminger

Writers: Vera Caspary, Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, Elizabeth Reinhardt

Composer: David Raksin

Starring: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson

More info: IMDb

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

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

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

When I last saw this twenty-five plus years ago, I didn't get how this was considered a classic (and one of the best) of the film noir genre.  Sure, there's a murder and the culprit is probably a jealous lover but it's missing some of the other staples you expect and get from the other greats of the era like a femme fatale and lots of ominous shadows and seedy people and places.  This picture is almost entirely brightly lit and there's not a single bad news dame.  Watching it now, I still got the same feeling but I'm watching it with older, wiser and much more well-rounded eyes so I'm starting to get it.  I at least think it's a fantastic film and I can understand why it's so great but I'll continue to struggle a little with the whole noir classic part. 

The cast is fantastic.  It's neat seeing Vincent Price as a charming whore and man, oh, man is that dude tall.  I knew he was 6'4" but I'd never really noticed like I do in this picture on how he towers above the rest of the cast and some of the shots have him standing in the background.  Clifton Webb owns every scene he's in.  I can't see anyone else but him in that role.  It's one case where The Academy Awards got it right by giving him the Oscar for Best Supporting Role for this picture.   The other actor that got my attention and grabbed me was Judith Anderson who plays a wealthy, and older, socialite, Ann Treadwell.  She's got the hots for Shelby (Price) but Shelby wants to spend his carnal time with hotter, younger rich broads.  Her best moment is when she's straight up with another character to leave Shelby because he's a whore dog who is accustomed to a certain lifestyle and he's a bad news serial slut.  She should know, she continues, because she likes being shit on.  It's a great moment.  Her candor is cold but content in knowing her place and his.  David Raksin's score is famous for a reason.  He wrote one hell of a tune.  You may find yourself getting a little tired of hearing it because it's all throughout the film in various pop arrangements and orchestrations but you should find comfort in knowing that it made him a very wealthy man and he surely loved the residual checks it brought him for the next sixty years!  If only I could have an evergreen like that.