Laura

Starring: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price
Directed by: Otto Preminger
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Crime, Film Noir, Mystery
1944

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A detective (Dana Andrews) investigates the murder of the beautiful Laura (Gene Tierney), a woman whom everyone seems to be in love with. As he furthers the investigation, he soon begins to fall for her, too.

Review:

Tim: Laura is a very solidly made film noir that delivers on the mystery and the suspense quite well. The film centers around a murder, and keeps the audience guessing about who actually is responsible for the death of Laura. I was surprised about how many twists and turns the film made- it truly kept me on the edge of my seat. I was entertained from start to finish, which is a major strength of any film.

This film is a good example of what an interesting, well written story can do for a movie. The characters are all believable and mysterious enough that any one of them could theoretically be the killer. This is not to say that the story is flawless. There are a few plot holes (a couple of them are pretty enormous), which detract from the story in substantial ways. While they hurt the story, they aren't fatal flaws.

The cast are all quite good. Gene Tierney is impressive as the titular Laura. She conducts herself in such a way that it is actually believable that everyone around her could be in love with her. This is a pretty big achievement, so Tierney deserves a good deal of credit for this film's success. Dana Andrews is quite good also. Andrews plays it cool, but there is something about him that makes his character fascinating. I really enjoyed Andrews in this film, although I don't believe he has all the qualities needed for a leading man. While Tierney and Andrews are good, the best performance of the film goes to Clifton Webb. Webb is absolutely amazing as Waldo Lydecker. With Tierney and Andrews playing their roles straight up, it was refreshing to see someone having fun with the role and pushing boundaries a bit. Webb deserved his Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. I also enjoyed Vincent Price, although his character wasn't the greatest. Price does give a good performance, and he brings a unique quality to the cast, rounding it out quite well.

I really enjoyed Laura, although I can also think of better film noirs made around the same time. It has a very good story, but it also has some big holes in the plot. This is still a strong, very solid movie. I was entertained, engaged, and thoroughly enjoyed myself with this interesting thriller.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Double Indemnity, Heaven Can Wait, The Maltese Falcon