Written by / 12/05/2019 / No comments / , , , , , , , , , ,

GENE TIERNEY & DANA ANDREWS IN OTTO PREMINGER'S 'LAURA'

Nothing like a spoiler built into a poster for LAURA Year: 1944
Dana Andrews as Det. Lt. Mark McPherson has fallen in love with a ghost, kind of, and that's not to be spoiled for anyone who hasn't seen LAURA with its particular dreamlike camera panning from a sleeping McPherson, and we get the murderous yarn, spun all over again in a different fashion and with a twist that could be something else entirely as our hero deals with two creeps connected with the ingenue: especially a cerebral "sugar daddy" in a sophisticated Clifton Webb...

Word is the producer frowned on this important casting because of... well... what's pretty apparent about the futzy fella, and he can't shake that aspect from his character of a character, Waldo Lydecker. But Webb is perfect as LAURA seems to be the only girl who can rid the sophisticated and manipulative Lydecker from his daily uptight uptown lunch, all by himself with a contented life all mapped-out...

Dana Andrews eyes a not-so-scary Vincent Price in LAURA
She has that kind of magic on everyone... Even a non-scary turn for who'd become the Master of Horror ranging for many decades, Vincent Price as a passive/aggressive rich kid turned pointless loser, Shelby Carpenter...

And he's loathed by the pompous Waldo, who actually has a platonic yet obsessive relationship with Laura, and his attraction is also the funniest... and his one-liners and hatred for everyone expect the title character is a real hoot, especially how he pokes fun at Price's flaky Playboy and Andrews' Alpha Male cop.

The thing is, if either of these guys were more manly, and fit Tierney like the intentionally loose glove sliding through the first half's flashbacks, then we wouldn't need that brash, tough guy Detective beyond the investigation. Ironically, he's the only one who wasn't part of her real life, and perhaps should have been.

Dana Andrews and Vincent Price in LAURA Rates: *****
A secret only partially revealed in a movie that actually improves after perpetual expository from Webb's snooty yet hilarious jerk...

All the while, LAURA morphs from a casual talky melodrama into the pure Noir Classic it's known and beloved for...

Yet what really makes the film shine is the creative way Otto Preminger makes the entire movie feel almost like a dream, when it's anything but. And deep down, past even the shadowy Noir genre, this is a character-study like no other: how a woman, living or dead, can effect three men, and how they in turn effect her... means everything.
Vincent Price and Gene Tierney in Otto Preminger's LAURA
Clifton Webb and Gene Tierney in Otto Preminger's LAURA
Clifton Webb and Gene Tierney in Otto Preminger's LAURA
Dana Andrews wanders the apartment in Otto Preminger's LAURA
Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney in Otto Preminger's LAURA
Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney in Otto Preminger's LAURA
Dana Andrews enters Clifton Webb's web in LAURA
An iconic waking shot of LAURA with Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews
Dana Andrews and three time co-star Dorothy Adams (as Bessie) in LAURA
Dana Andrews and three time co-star Dorothy Adams (as Bessie) in LAURA
Dana Andrews & Gene Tierney in THE PLAYER with FRED WARD

Share This Post :
Tags : , , , , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

All Time Popular

Featured Post

STEVE MCQUEEN & DUSTIN HOFFMAN IN THE ORIGINAL 'PAPILLON'

Title: PAPILLON Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2 Director Francis J. Schaffner and scriptwriter Dalton Trumbo convert Henri Charrière's riveti...

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM
Movie Reviews, Interviews, Articles and Pop Culture from White Heat to Blue City

RIP ACTOR KEN HUTCHISON

TOTAL HITS

Popular Trending

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE
RANDOM QUOTE: "Forget France, and put your clothes on." Dalton Trumbo, Papillon

FILM NOIR & NEO NOIR CRIME

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)JUNGLE STREET 9)ANATOMY OF A MURDER 10)THE CROWDED SKY 11))THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 12)SHARKS' TREASURE 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)THE SYSTEM 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)HIDDEN FEAR 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)NIGHT CREATURES 22)CURSE OF THE DEMON 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE BREAK 25)AIR PATROL 26)DUEL IN THE JUNGLE 27)EASY LIVING 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)FRENZY 30)THE ROARING TWENTIES 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)JACK NICHOLSON 1)VIRGINIA MAYO 2)SUE LYON 3)GENE TIERNEY 4)MERRY ANDERS 5)FAYE DUNAWAY DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)STANLEY KUBRICK 4)ORSON WELLES 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)JOHN LANDIS 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)VAL GUEST 9)JOHN CARPENTER 10)MICHAEL WINNER

BRITISH NEW WAVE CINEMA

RARITIES AND EXPLOITATION

HAMMER HORROR & THRILLER

Popular This Month

CHARLES BRONSON CINEMA

CINEMA OF DANA ANDREWS

WESTERN GENRE REVIEWS

PEAKING INTO THE SIXTIES

KICKING IN THE EIGHTIES

TALES AND REFLECTIONS

REVVING THE SEVENTIES

FOR HORROR MOVIE REVIEWS


Reviews for the British series The Sweeney

Most Popular Last Year

RETURN TO THE HOMEPAGE