Laura

UPC: 024543060826

Studio: 20th Century Fox

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Adult Situations]

Summary: This adaptation of Vera Caspary's suspense novel was begun by director Rouben Mamoulien and cinematographer Lucien Ballard, but thanks to a complex series of backstage intrigues and hostilities, the film was ultimately credited to director Otto Preminger and cameraman Joseph LaShelle (who won an Oscar for his efforts). At the outset of the film, it is established that the title character, Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney), has been murdered. Tough New York detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) investigates the killing, methodically questioning the chief suspects: Waspish columnist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), wastrel socialite Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price), and Carpenter's wealthy "patroness" Ann Treadwell (Judith Anderson). The deeper he gets into the case, the more fascinated he becomes by the enigmatic Laura, literally falling in love with the girl's painted portrait. As he sits in Laura's apartment, ruminating over the case and his own obsessions, the door opens, the lights switch on, and in walks Laura Hunt, very much alive! To tell any more would rob the reader of the sheer enjoyment of watching this stylish film noir unfold on screen. Everything clicks in Laura, from the superbly bitchy peformance of Clifton Webb (a veteran Broadway star who became an overnight movie favorite with this film) to the haunting musical score by David Raskin. Long available only in the 85-minute TV version Laura has since been restored to its original 88-minute running time. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Mystery

Awards: U.S. National Film Registry – Library of Congress Best Black and White Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Black and White Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Black and White Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Black and White Cinematography – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Director – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 10 Best Films – Film Daily

Features: ccExtended movie version with alternate opening
Commentary by composer David Raksin and Wesleyan University film professor Jeanine Basinger
Commentary by film historian/author Rudy Behlmer
Documentaries
"Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait" and "Vincent Price: The Versatile Villian" as seen on Biography on the A&E Network
Deleted scene with optional commentary by Rudy Behlmer
Theatrical trailer

Laura

Format: DVD

Release Date: 03/15/2005

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: DD1 Dolby Digital Mono, DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo

Runtime: 87 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,Spanish

Subtitles: English,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Main Titles [1:07]
2. Interrogation [5:36]
3. A Question of Motive [4:24]
4. The Apartment [3:28]
5. Initial Encounter [:40]
6. Character Assassination [6:15]
7. A Job Interview [:08]
8. Background Check [:35]
9. Confrontation [1:40]
10. Decision Time [2:58]
11. Cheap Scotch [2:33]
12. Falling in Love [:30]
13. Surprise Entrance [2:35]
14. Shelby's Tale [1:52]
15. Too Much [4:04]
16. Celebration [1:45]
17. Prime Suspect [6:15]
18. Grilled [3:46]
19. Like Clockwork [2:21]
20. A Second Chance [7:12]

Lucia Bozzola

With its collection of decadent New Yorkers embroiled in a murder mystery, Otto Preminger's hit Laura (1944) stands as an early, elegantly crafted film noir. Preminger's low-key approach to a story of lethal obsession allows the suggestions of sexual deviance emanating from Clifton Webb's epicene critic Lydecker, Dana Andrews's cynical yet besotted necrophiliac cop, and the pragmatic Vincent Price-Judith Anderson couple to permeate the seductively cool atmosphere. David Raksin's famously bewitching theme invokes titular mysterious beauty Gene Tierney, but it is questionable if the real woman can measure up to the power of portraiture and Lydecker's memory. "Proper" love may triumph but it is a compromised victory. One of the most popular suspense films of the 1940s, Laura earned Oscar nominations for Best Director, Supporting Actor for Webb, "Interior" (now Art) Direction, and the sharp screenplay based on the Vera Caspary novel, winning the prize for Joseph LaShelle's black and white cinematography. Released the same year as Billy Wilder's caustic noir Double Indemnity, Laura was another intimation of the wave of cinematic darkness that would crest post-World War II. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Frank LaRue  Actor 
Cyril Ring  Actor 
Nestor Eristoff  Actor 
Lee Tung Foo  Actor 
Kay Linaker  Actor 
Frances Gladwin  Actor 
Forbes Murray  Actor 
Cara Williams  Actor 
Buster Miles  Actor 
Jean Fenwick  Actor 
Cy Kendall  Actor 
Aileen Pringle  Actor 
Kay Connors  Actor 
Terry Adams  Actor 
Yolanda Lacca  Actor 
William Forrest  Actor 
Dorothy Christy  Actor 
Beatrice Gray  Actor 
Jane Nigh  Actor 
John Dexter  Actor 
Jerry Cady  Screenwriter 
Jay Dratler  Screenwriter 
Samuel Hoffenstein  Screenwriter 
Ring Lardner, Jr.  Screenwriter 
Otto Preminger  Director 
Otto Preminger  Producer 
David Raksin  Composer (Music Score) 
Elizabeth Reinhardt  Screenwriter 
Gene Tierney  Actor 
Dana Andrews  Actor 
Clifton Webb  Actor 
Vincent Price  Actor 
Judith Anderson  Actor 
Dorothy Adams  Actor 
James Flavin  Actor 
Clyde Fillmore  Actor 
Ralph Dunn  Actor 
Grant Mitchell  Actor 
Kathleen Howard  Actor 
Dutch Schlickenmeyer  Actor 
Harry Strang  Actor 
Lane Chandler  Actor 

Country: USA