directed by Otto
Preminger
USA 19
The sleekest of noirs, the chicest of murders, and deliciously twisted--the detective is a necrophiliac, two of the title character's suitors seem gay, and the Laura all the men are vying for is a corpse with no face. Indeed LAURA, goes the genre one further by taking apart the conventions, then putting them back together, and diving wholeheartedly into them for the finale--a cocktail party denouement to name the killer.
LAURA, based on the novel by Vera Caspary, revolves around the murder of the
title character (Gene Tierney)--a shotgun blast completely obliterating the
corpse's once-lovely face. Homicide detective Mark McPherson (Andrews) has a
trio of suspects--newspaper critic Waldo Lydecker (Webb), who "created" Laura;
playboy/parasite and fiancé Shelby Carpenter (Price); and Anne Treadwell
(Anderson), Laura's socialite aunt who has been carrying on with Shelby. Just
as Mark is beginning to fall in love with a vision of the deceased woman--in
the form of an oil portrait--in walks the real Laura . . .
Excerpt from TV Guide Online located HERE
Posters
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Theatrical Release: October 11th, 1944
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Recommended Reading in Film Noir (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)
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The Third Man by Graham Greene |
The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir by Foster Hirsch |
Somewhere in the Night: Film Noir and the American City by Nicholas Christopher |
Shades of Noir: A Reader by Joan Copjec |
The Art of Noir: The Posters and Graphics from the
Classic Era of Film Noir by Eddie Muller |
The Little Black and White Book of Film Noir:
Quotations from Films of the 40's and 50's by Peg Thompson, Saeko Usukawa |
Film Noir by Alain Silver |
Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era,
1940-1959 by Michael F. Keaney |
Detours and Lost Highways: A Map of Neo-Noir by Foster Hirsch |
DVD Review: Fox - Region 1 - NTSC
| DVD Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from:
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| Distribution | Fox Home Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC | |
| Runtime | 1:27:00 | |
| Video | 1.33:1
Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.91 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Bitrate: |
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| Audio | English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 1.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital 1.0) | |
| Subtitles | English, Spanish, None | |
| Features |
Release Information: Edition Details:
• Commentary
by David Raksin and Jeanine Basinger
• Commentary
by Rudy Behlmer
• A&E
Biography: Gene Tierney - A Shattered Portrait (44:20)
• A&E
Biography: Vincent Price - The Versatile Villian (44:13)
• Extended
Version (With the Deleted Scene) (1:28:03)
• Deleted
Scene / with optional Commentary by Rudy Behlmer
(1:37)
• Theatrical
Trailer (2:32)
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| Comments: |
This is a
shade duller than a Warner special, but Fox has done a commendable job
with this DVD package. Black levels are excellent and there is a little
softened film grain. I noticed some minor scratches and dirt spots on
only 2 occasions and a bit of chroma and shimmering, but nothing
extravagant. I dislike the yellow subtitles, but there are a host
of extras and 2 commentaries to keep you busy for quite a while.
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| DVD Box Cover |
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| Distribution | Fox Home Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC | |
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