07/12/06 Laura

Laura (1944), directed by Otto Preminger & Rouben Mamoulian

watched w/ Leslie; DVD rental (Netflix) @ home

A decent old-school film noir supplied by famed director Preminger. This one becomes the classic "whodunit?!" perplexity by gaining insight into the characters retrospecting. We happen upon a murder scene of one young and beautiful Laura (hmmmm, maybe she will be important to the film) dead on her apartment floor. Soon a sly detective McPherson is on the case, armed with a photograph of the girl, a bunch of suspects and little else. McPherson (Dana Andrews) begins to unravel the mystery by questioning the many people in Laura's (Gene Tierney) life who may have had something to do with it...most of which include two men who captivated by her beauty have been opposingly in love with her at the same time. The men are her wealthy mentor Waldo (Clifton Webb) and pretty-boy fiance Shelby (Vincent Price...who both Leslie & I felt like was in reality a man who looked an awful lot like Vincent Price, but at such a young age was not easily identified as such, what with the late-blooming horror-film creepiness that he would possess). While taking in all coming evidence to make his case & calm his nerves, it is McPherson who also becomes a victim of Laura's bewitching spell. Thus ensues a muddled picture of truth and games, love and lust, identity, and plot-twisting motives. Things are definitely not what they seem around here, and with all these unusual characters about, who will come forth as the true killer...or the true corpse for that matter?! It's a haunting understanding of human lust and obsession, and told in a very brooding fashion. Creepy and classy simultaneously...and did I mention that Vincent Price is in it?!

3 out of 5 stars