Laura (Fox Film Noir) dvd movie.|
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List Price: $14.98 Our Price: $7.99 You Save: $6.99 Features • Closed-captioned • Dolby • Dubbed • DVD-Video • Full Screen • Subtitled • Black & White • NTSC In Theaters : November, 1944 DVD Release : 15 March, 2005 |
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Laura (Fox Film Noir) description This silky smooth film noir pits gruff police detective Dana Andrews, stiff and blunt in his street-bred manners, against a cultured columnist and acidic wit (Clifton Webb at his prissiest) in a battle of wits during a murder investigation. The cop is a romantic hiding under a hard-boiled exterior who falls in love with the beautiful victim through the portrait that hangs in her apartment. Gene Tierney, whose heart-shaped face mixes the exotic with the girl next door, brings the poise and calm of a model to her role as the object of every man's gaze and the target of a killer. Laura, handsomely shot in dreamy black and white, is the first and best of Otto Preminger's cool, controlled murder mysteries. In the gritty world of film noir it remains the most refined and elegant example of the genre, but under the tasteful decor and high-society fashions lies a world seething in jealousy, passion, blackmail, and murder. Vincent Price costars as a blithe gigolo and David Raksin's lush theme has become a wistful romantic standard. --Sean Axmaker |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | elegant and engrossing |
| Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney) is a beautiful and intelligent woman with a successful career in advertising; by all accounts she's admired and well-liked and possesses many fine qualities. At the start of the film we learn that she's been murdered in her own home and that the detective on the case, Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews), has already found a few suspects to investigate. One suspect is writer and critic Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), Laura's mentor and close friend who helped her launch her career and refine her style and taste. Another is Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price), Laura's fiance; he's got some charm and an easygoing manner, but is also shiftless and morally weak. Then there's Laura's aunt, Mrs. Treadwell (Judith Anderson), who is in love with Shelby and not very discreet about her affection and their affair.
McPherson is a level-headed detective who finds an interesting way to keep calm as he deals with these people and the intricate stories they craft; he has a knack for asking the right questions and cutting through people's airs and posturing. As his investigation deepens though, he finds it increasingly difficult to remain cool and detached. He's been visiting Laura's home, looking through her clothes and belongings, reading her letters and private diary, and finding himself bewitched by her enchanting portrait. He's obsessed with her and likely falling in love with her too, even as he believes her to be a dead woman. Imagine his shock then when he sees her stepping into her home one night, nonchalant and clearly unharmed. The film is a treat in many ways. The script is clean, sharp and delivered well by all the actors. The actors are extremely well-suited for their roles. Price conveys both the shambling charm and fundamental cowardice of the fiance. Webb is terrific as the poisonous critic and Laura's possessive older friend. Tierney is stunning as Laura, bringing beauty to the screen and giving her character a kindness, gentleness and elegant restraint. Andrews plays out his character's emotions in an understated way, with subtle gestures and slight shifts of facial expression. In one brilliant scene, where Laura herself has become a suspect to the murder and his character is interrogating her at the police station, he conveys really well the shifts between the impersonal questions about her alibi and the more urgent, personal questions about her relationship with another suspect, who has essentially become the detective's romantic rival. The film doesn't need to show us a dead body or blood stains in order to create a chilling mood. The way in which the murder victim dies is brutal - a shotgun blast to the face - but the deed itself remains offscreen. The film creates its moods and builds tension through atmosphere and music, through intense and involving exchanges of dialogue, through well-placed details and, crucially, through interesting characters. |
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