Laura
- Director: Otto Preminger
- Writer: Jay Dratler / Samuel Hoffenstein / Elizabeth Reinhardt (from the book by Vera Caspary)
- Producer: Otto Preminger
- Studio: 20th Century-Fox
- Stars: Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson
- Length: 88 min
- Genre: Mystery
- MPAA Rating: Not Rated
- My Rating: ****
- Oscar Nominations: Director, Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor (Webb), Cinematography (Black-and-White), Art Direction (Black-and-White)
- Reel Nominations: Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor (Webb), Editing, Cinematography, Original Score
Laura is not the best example of a well-developed, logically-motivated mystery. The events that take place often feel labored, to the point where very little makes sense if scrutinized in the least bit. What other film noir features a detective who never visits the station and seems to be acting on the case alone, a title character who doesn’t fully enter the main action until the halfway mark, a rather blatantly homosexual character who is nevertheless obsessed with the heroine, and a suspect who is allowed to tag along with the detective while he interviews the other suspects? The events seem to take place without much regard to rhyme or reason.
Then there are the performances. While individually perfect (even if Gene Tierney is rather bland and Dana Andrews has little more personality than a pile of bricks), they do not fit together well at all. The only reason that we know that Andrews is attracted to Tierney is that Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb) tells us so; the only indication that we have of Ann Treadwell’s (Judith Anderson) attraction to Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price) is the way in which the plot hinges on her dependence upon him; and the supposed love triangle between Laura, Shelby, and Waldo is ridiculous because she doesn’t seem to want to have anything to do with them.
And yet it all works. For some strange reason, it all fits together and becomes a weird little masterpiece rather than a convoluted mess.
It works, first and foremost, because of Otto Preminger’s direction. He keeps it all together, maintaining a fascinating visual style that never allows the film to lag. The script is also smart and often witty, managing to overcome the plot’s many holes, while the iconic score by David Raksin lends an air of melancholy, evoking a sadness and longing that most noir’s lack.
As previously stated, the performances do not mesh very well, but there is no doubt that they are all individually perfect: Clifton Webb steals the show as the egocentric Waldo Lydecker, a hateful yet oddly compelling man who attaches himself to Laura and succeeds in his attempts to run her life; Judith Anderson does what she does best, creating a fully-rounded character out of virtually nothing (her monologue about how she knows that she could commit murder if it were even slightly necessary is startlingly perfect in its frankness); and Vincent Price, despite his Transylvanian hillbilly accent that comes and goes, is a perfect scoundrel, even being able to make Shelby’s status as a “boy beauty” not sound completely ridiculous.
It feels very strange to say that a film’s script is full of plot-holes and inexplicable occurrences that often fail to make any sort of sense when examined as a whole, and then to tuen around and nominate that same script and declare it one of the best of the year. And it is without a doubt one of the best scripts of 1944, for its many problems are an integral part of what makes it all so fascinating. It works because it shouldn’t work; it is perfect in its faulty nature.
Everything about Laura feels this way. The characters, the performances, the writing, everything feels off-kilter to varying degrees. This sharp balancing act, whether it was intentenional on the part of the filmmakers, has helped Laura to remain a distinguished classic and one of the best films of its kind.
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