Laura

Director: Otto Preminger, Rouben Mamoulian

Overview

"Otto Preminger's Laura (1944) was originally promised on DVD in 2003, and was then delayed for two years. In the interim, the proposed disc got loaded up with special features, and the wait was worth it, to judge not only from the viewing but also the li

Product Details

Release Date:	09/11/2007
UPC:	0024543060826
Original Release:	1944
Rating:	NR
Source:	20th Century Fox
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:27:00

Special Features

Closed Caption;Extended movie version with alternate opening; Commentary by composer David Raksin and Wesleyan University film professor Jeanine Basinger; Commentary by film historian/author Rudy Behlmer; Documentaries; "Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait" and "Vincent Price: The Versatile Villian" as seen on Biography on the A&E Network; Deleted scene with optional commentary by Rudy Behlmer; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Gene Tierney	Laura Hunt
Dana Andrews	Mark McPherson
Clifton Webb	Waldo Lydecker
Vincent Price	Shelby Carpenter
Judith Anderson	Ann Treadwell
Dorothy Adams	Bessie Clary,People
James Flavin	McAvity
Clyde Fillmore	Bullitt
Ralph Dunn	Callahan
Grant Mitchell	Corey
Kathleen Howard	Louise
Dutch Schlickenmeyer	Detective
Harry Strang	Detective
Lane Chandler	Detective
Alexander Sacha	People
Dorothy Christy	People
Aileen Pringle	People
Jean Fenwick	People
Yolanda Lacca	People
Forbes Murray	People
Cyril Ring	People
Nestor Eristoff	People
Kay Linaker	People
Cara Williams	People
Gloria Marlin	People
Beatrice Gray	People
Kay Connors	People
Frances Gladwin	People
William Forrest	People
Buster Miles	Office Boy
Jane Nigh	Secretary
John Dexter	Jacoby
Harry Carter	l'invit? de f?te
James Conaty	Party Guest
Bess Flowers	Party Guest
Lee Tung Foo	Waldo's Servant
Frank La Rue	Hairdresser
Cy Kendall	Inspector
David Raksin	Composer

Technical Credits

Jay Dratler

Samuel Hoffenstein

Elizabeth Reinhardt

Vera Caspary

Ring Lardner Jr.

Jerry Cady

Jay Dratler	Screenwriter
Samuel Hoffenstein	Screenwriter
Elizabeth Reinhardt	Screenwriter
Otto Preminger	Producer
Fred Sersen	Special Effects
Vera Caspary	Screenwriter
Ring Lardner Jr.	Screenwriter
Jerry Cady	Screenwriter
Harry M. Leonard	Sound/Sound Designer
E. Clayton Ward	Sound/Sound Designer

Scene Index

Side #1 --
1. Main Titles [1:07]
2. Interrogation [5:36]
3. A Question of Motive [4:24]
4. The Apartment [3:28]
5. Initial Encounter [:40]
6. Character Assassination [6:15]
7. A Job Interview [:08]
8. Background Check [:35]
9. Confrontation [1:40]
10. Decision Time [2:58]
11. Cheap Scotch [2:33]
12. Falling in Love [:30]
13. Surprise Entrance [2:35]
14. Shelby's Tale [1:52]
15. Too Much [4:04]
16. Celebration [1:45]
17. Prime Suspect [6:15]
18. Grilled [3:46]
19. Like Clockwork [2:21]
20. A Second Chance [7:12]

Menu

Side #1 --
Play
Language Selection
Languages: English Stereo
Languages: English Mono
Languages: Spanish Mono
Languages: Commentaries (Theatrical Version Only)
Subtitles: English
Subtitles: Spanish
Subtitles: None
Scene Selection
Special Features
Commentaries (Theatrical Version Only)
Commentary By David Raksin and Jeanine Basinger
Commentary By Rudy Behlmer
"Biography Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait"
"Biography Vincent Price: The Versatile Villain"
Deleted Scene
Deleted Scene With Commentary By Rudy Behlmer: On
Deleted Scene With Commentary By Rudy Behlmer: Off
Theatrical Trailer
Extended Version
Play

Editorial Reviews

With its collection of decadent New Yorkers embroiled in a murder mystery, Otto Preminger's hit Laura (1944) stands as an early, elegantly crafted film noir. Preminger's low-key approach to a story of lethal obsession allows the suggestions of sexual deviance emanating from Clifton Webb's epicene critic Lydecker, Dana Andrews's cynical yet besotted necrophiliac cop, and the pragmatic Vincent Price-Judith Anderson couple to permeate the seductively cool atmosphere. David Raksin's famously bewitching theme invokes titular mysterious beauty Gene Tierney, but it is questionable if the real woman can measure up to the power of portraiture and Lydecker's memory. "Proper" love may triumph but it is a compromised victory. One of the most popular suspense films of the 1940s, Laura earned Oscar nominations for Best Director, Supporting Actor for Webb, "Interior" (now Art) Direction, and the sharp screenplay based on the Vera Caspary novel, winning the prize for Joseph LaShelle's black and white cinematography. Released the same year as Billy Wilder's caustic noir Double Indemnity, Laura was another intimation of the wave of cinematic darkness that would crest post-World War II.