A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Reviews from Video Reviews of the Classics Personal Background

Title: Laura

Date of original theatrical release: 1944

Details:

Gene Tierney

Dana Andrews

Clifton Webb

Vincent Price

Judith Anderson

Produced & directed by: Otto Preminger

Score: 1/2

The Review: Classic noir with a tinge of romance, but it's clearly dated. Plot twists and character turns that would have been surprising and (possibly) shocking in the mid-40's have now become clichéd, overused and (in contemporary cinema) all too familiar.

The mystery opens with a detective (Andrews) investigating the gruesome murder of socialite and advertising wunderkind Laura Hunt (Tierney). Wandering through the plot are a cynical newspaper columnist (Webb) who was Laura's mentor, a young actor (a very young Vincent Price) who might have been romantically involved with Laura, and an older woman (Anderson) perhaps jealous of Laura.

One of the more famous props from this film, the stunning over-the-fireplace portrait of Gene Tierney as Laura, turns out (when you listen to the DVD commentary) to be an over-painted photograph. Good though.

And then there's the haze of smoke over everything, in the same vein as the haze of alcohol over every Thin Man film. Yes, it's probably shorthand for all the sexual innuendos that the censors wouldn't permit, but it's also distracting when viewed retrospectively from today's phobic culture.

(18-Feb-07)

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