Laura (1944)
Country: US
Technical: bw 85m
Director: Otto Preminger
Cast: Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson
Synopsis:
A detective investigates the brutal death of a graphic designer, falling in love with her in the process.
Review:
A neat little whodunnit, Preminger's classic is not really a Noir, since the fall guy is a straight cop and the 'dame' spends half the movie in flashback. With a gleaming Fox production in black and silver, and more studio rain than you can shake an umbrella at, it certainly looks the part, but in hindsight the dialogue nowhere near crackles enough and it all seems too wooden and antiseptic (a token dark patch on the carpet would have been nice). Both Price and Webb are too effete to be credible suitors; however, in Waldo Lydecker, it inaugurated one of those screen personae of which careers are made, and Fox's crime genre got a shot in the arm, while Webb found his niche in comedy.
Country: US
Technical: bw 85m
Director: Otto Preminger
Cast: Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson
Synopsis:
A detective investigates the brutal death of a graphic designer, falling in love with her in the process.
Review:
A neat little whodunnit, Preminger's classic is not really a Noir, since the fall guy is a straight cop and the 'dame' spends half the movie in flashback. With a gleaming Fox production in black and silver, and more studio rain than you can shake an umbrella at, it certainly looks the part, but in hindsight the dialogue nowhere near crackles enough and it all seems too wooden and antiseptic (a token dark patch on the carpet would have been nice). Both Price and Webb are too effete to be credible suitors; however, in Waldo Lydecker, it inaugurated one of those screen personae of which careers are made, and Fox's crime genre got a shot in the arm, while Webb found his niche in comedy.
Country: US
Technical: bw 85m
Director: Otto Preminger
Cast: Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson
Synopsis:
A detective investigates the brutal death of a graphic designer, falling in love with her in the process.
Review:
A neat little whodunnit, Preminger's classic is not really a Noir, since the fall guy is a straight cop and the 'dame' spends half the movie in flashback. With a gleaming Fox production in black and silver, and more studio rain than you can shake an umbrella at, it certainly looks the part, but in hindsight the dialogue nowhere near crackles enough and it all seems too wooden and antiseptic (a token dark patch on the carpet would have been nice). Both Price and Webb are too effete to be credible suitors; however, in Waldo Lydecker, it inaugurated one of those screen personae of which careers are made, and Fox's crime genre got a shot in the arm, while Webb found his niche in comedy.