Film Noir Thursday #2: Laura

Yes, most of you will be reading this entry on Friday, and yes it is called Film Noir Thursday, but today turned out to be unexpectedly busy and this post took a bit longer than usual to write.

This is the second post in the series (the first can be found here) and I'm taking a look at Laura, the 1944 film by Otto Preminger. It stars Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, and Clifton Webb. The plot revolves around police detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) who is investigating the murder of Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney) and starts to fall in love with her as he does so. Needless to say, all is not as it seems.

The film starts off with an interesting scene which features a narrative by one of the characters, newspaper columnist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), as he watches Det. McPherson poke around his waiting room through a crack in the door. Except during a story that a character later relates to McPherson, that is the only time a narrative is used in the film. It's an interesting beginning that works well, as do most elements of the film.

Dana Andrews gives a very solid performance as Det. Mark McPherson, someone falling slowly in love with a girl who's murder he's investigating even though he knows it's ridiculous. Gene Tierney puts out another solid performance as Laura, and Clifton Webb and Vincent Price both play well as Laura's two opposing romantic interests. None are exactly outstanding in their respective roles but it's hard to find fault with any of them, either. The only problems in acting arise with a few of the side characters whose delivery seems a bit stagy/overacted at times. Compared to the previous Film Noir in the marathon, M, Laura is a step up with the characters showing more emotion but also subtlety.

In a scene early on, Dana Andrews walks out of a restaurant after having drinks with/questioning a witness and as he reaches the curb, he turns his head sideways to take a look at the suspect who is now leaving. The camera pulls in close and the light from the streetlamps play across his face. It's almost a classic film noir scene the likes of which you can see in many other movies of the genre, but it's particularly effective in this film. The same goes for most of the visuals. None of the scenes are astonishing and none are extensively choreographed; the director seems to want to keep things very simple instead, which works well in this case. The movie itself is fairly compact with a short one hour 28 minute running time. Each scene is used well and the movie doesn't languish on any different part very long, keeping the plot and suspense moving.

Article Author: Cameron Graham

Cameron Graham is an enthusiastic critic, passionate about art in all its expressions.

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