Laura

1944

1h 28m

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

867

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Drama

Mystery

A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating.

Directors

Otto Preminger

Writers

Samuel Hoffenstein(screenplay by)

Jay Dratler(screenplay by)

Vera Caspary(novel by)

Stars

Dana Andrews

Gene Tierney

Clifton Webb

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Watch Laura (1944) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]
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Watch Laura (1944) - trailer

Top cast

Dana Andrews

Det. Lt. Mark McPherson

Laura Hunt

Waldo Lydecker

Shelby Carpenter

Ann Treadwell

Laura's Maid Bessie Clary (uncredited)

Wally Albright

Newsboy (uncredited)

Bobby Barber

Newsboy (uncredited)

Harry Carter

Party Guest (uncredited)

Lane Chandler

Detective (uncredited)

Dorothy Christy

Woman (uncredited)

James Conaty

Party Guest (uncredited)

Ralph Dunn

Fred Callahan (uncredited)

Jean Fenwick

Woman (uncredited)

Clyde Fillmore

Owner of Bullitt & Co. Ad Agency (uncredited)

James Flavin

Det. McEveety (uncredited)

Bess Flowers

Restaurant Patron (uncredited)

Lee Tung Foo

Waldo's Servant (uncredited)

Directors

Otto Preminger

Writers

Samuel Hoffenstein(screenplay by)

Jay Dratler(screenplay by)

Vera Caspary(novel by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

We know right from the outset that the eponymous character (Gene Tierney) has been killed and that investigating police officer "McPherson" (Dana Andrews) is going to have quite a task finding out just what happened. The ensuing story tries to knit together the separate threads of evidence provided by her rather odious sponge of a fiancé (Vincent Price), her maid "Bessie" (Dorothy Adams), her wealthy and rather disapproving aunt (Judith Anderson) and finally from her somewhat supercilious mentor "Waldo" (Clifton Webb) who has a penchant for writing his acerbic newspaper columns from the comfort of his hot bath. It's this latter character that provides us with a bit of extra information, via a narration, to illustrate a story of an ambitious but flawed woman who was quite susceptible to a bit of manipulation. As if poor old "McPherson" didn't have his problems to seek, the arrival of a woman onto the scene midway through his foraging for the truth really does set the cat amongst the pigeons requiring a complete reassessment of the proceedings. This is a cleverly crafted enterprise with both Tierney and Webb at their best delivering characterisations that really do get under your skin. I always felt Andrews a bit light-weight, but here he too manages to contribute effectively as the mystery deepens and the audience are invited to make their own judgements on just about every vice - real or imaginary, as avarice and envy vie with lust for top billing amongst the candidates for motive amongst a family you might sooner not be a part of! Preminger gradually merges these separate strands to create a denouement that is not what you expect at the start and the film is at the better end of the noir genre that focuses on a story, strong writing and some characterisations that make it well worth a watch.

Geronimo196719 Nov, 2024