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Laura (Fox Film Noir)
Directors: Rouben Mamoulian, Otto Preminger
Actors: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, and Judith Anderson
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Retail Price (not our price): $14.98
Release Date: 2005-03-15
Theatrical Release Date: 1944-11
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Run Time: 87 minutes
Format: Array
Format: Closed-captioned, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Black & White, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Discs: 1


Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com essential video
This silky smooth film noir pits gruff police detective Dana Andrews, stiff and blunt in his street-bred manners, against a cultured columnist and acidic wit (Clifton Webb at his prissiest) in a battle of wits during a murder investigation. The cop is a romantic hiding under a hard-boiled exterior who falls in love with the beautiful victim through the portrait that hangs in her apartment. Gene Tierney, whose heart-shaped face mixes the exotic with the girl next door, brings the poise and calm of a model to her role as the object of every man's gaze and the target of a killer. Laura, handsomely shot in dreamy black and white, is the first and best of Otto Preminger's cool, controlled murder mysteries. In the gritty world of film noir it remains the most refined and elegant example of the genre, but under the tasteful decor and high-society fashions lies a world seething in jealousy, passion, blackmail, and murder. Vincent Price costars as a blithe gigolo and David Raksin's lush theme has become a wistful romantic standard. --Sean Axmaker

2) Description
Nominated for five Academy Awards®, this stylish mystery thriller twists and turns with new suspects, new evidence and unexpected revelations. A wealthy journalist (Clifton Webb) becomes entranced with a beautiful young career woman named Laura (Gene Tierney). But shortly before her wedding to a dashing young playboy (Vincent Price), she is found murdered. Stirred by her portrait, the detective (Dana Andrews) assigned to her case finds that he, too, is strangely under Laura's spell.

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5

1) Very Good Film Noir !   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
Laura is indeed a very good film from the "film noir" catagory. Gene Tierney is a beauty that has always lit up the silver screen. I thought Clifton Webb's acting was the best in this example of "film noir". A fine moive for your film noir collection.

2) Overlooked classic   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Some may question some of the acting (but it's very standard for the 1940s), but the story is tremendous, as is the pacing, the exposition via flashbacks,and the use of music to create atmosphere and tension. This movie is either 4 or 5 stars, depending on taste. Gene Tierney is stunning.

3) Don't know   [Rating: 2 out of 5]
I bought it because I was named after this movie and yet I still haven't watched it but I will some day.

4) Complicated and satisfying   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
At this point, most readers know the plot of the movie, which other reviews have already given away. Beautiful, beloved Laura is killed; boss is devoted to her; ne'er do well fiance is revealed to have been cheating on her; seemingly hard-bitten detective assigned to her case falls under her posthumous spell; the victim is really alive; the detective arranges for the killer to be revealed at a cocktail party then arrests Laura; boss is revealed to have attempted her murder to have saved her from being with someone unworthy- or is that punish her for entertaining it?Those plot points on their own are complicated enough to hold the viewer's interest, but not so hard to follow that we give up in frustration. However, they don't get to the nuances and textures that makes the movie so great. Is Laura sophisticated yet kind, or stubbornly naive? Why, when she is both well-respected and beloved, does she end up engaged to a pretty but ultimately unworthy Shelby? How is that she can be brave enough to stand up to the legendary Waldo Lydecker and ask him for a job, but she doesn't see that he is desperate to completely control and possess her? As Detective McPherson investigates her "death", we see the incongruent shades of Laura's personality through his eyes. The unspoken question is: Who was Laura Hunt? When he finally meets her, the question still needs to be answered.One aspect that seems to set this film apart from others in its genre is that the good guy ends up with the heroine. Indeed, having seen the lecherous fiance, controlling employer and selfish aunt, we root for the "real world", tough guy to help her bring some order to her life. The fact that they are both willing to stand up to each other without demanding sacrifices from the other makes it seem all the more romantic. However, we still have to wonder if Detective McPherson is just one other man trying to control Laura, or if he will be satisfied with the real world version of the image he fell in love when first investigating her.Waldo, whose death ends the film, is one of the most fascinating villains in the history of cinema. His death demands even more questions: does Waldo love Laura so much that it's better for him to be separated by death from her (hers or his), or is his quest for her his last, desperate attempt to get beyond the polished veneer that's enabled his professional success but left him completely unable to have any real human contacts? The second answer may be the tidiest, but then it's hard to get past the genuine affection that Clifton Webb transmits for Gene Tierney.This is a movie I could watch again and again, and would probably emerge from each time asking more questions. Just the way I like it.

5) In the age of film noir   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
What is not to like about a murder mystery that involves a drop dead beauty (Gene Tierney, although her hat selection does no credit to her beauty), an unflappable ace detective (Dana Andrews) who is driven by her beauty despite her apparent death and a scheming, psychotic newspaper man who will not take no for an answer (Clifton Webb). Add in a ne'r do well two-timing boyfriend ( played by a non-villainous Vincent Price) who tries to cover up but only gets things more confused and you have a nifty little suspense thriller with more than its share of twists as the plot unravels. They do not make these black and white classics anymore. Whether they should is an open question but here there is no question-spend an hour and a half and watch it.