#73: LAURA (1944)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

2.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Nope

BEST SEQUENCE

The climax was effectively shot and well acted

BEST LINE

"Laura, dear, I cannot stand these morons any longer. If you don’t come with me this instant, I shall run amok" - Waldo, wanting to leave a party, the pinnacle of tact

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

100%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"A psychologically complex portrait of obsession, Laura is also a deliciously well-crafted murder mystery."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he is investigating."

THOUGHTS

• Considered a classic, but it didn't do much for me. As has happened with a few of these movies, perhaps it was just too influential to the point that it wasn't able to stand up to the movies that came after it
• Reminded me of Rebecca, and not just for the sake of the film titles being a woman's first name. Both movies also featured Judith Anderson, although I didn't realize this until after the fact. She didn't make much of an impact on me in this one
• One of the classic examples of film noir, apparently, a genre in which I'm not all that well versed. There will be quite a few film noirs coming up, and perhaps eventually I'll develop a greater appreciation for Laura, but as it stands I just found it kind of bland
• Some witty lines in this script, mostly delivered by Clifton Webb as Waldo. I quoted him above, and another classic would be, "In my case, self-absorption is completely justified. I have never discovered any other subject quite so worthy of my attention."
• Finally, Laura features a young Vincent Price, sporting a Kentucky accent. I found this interesting, especially since I was completely under the impression that Vincent Price was English. Nope! Turns out he was born in Missouri! And I really don't know why I had such a strong opinion about Vincent Price being a Brit. Perhaps because of some of the roles he played? Perhaps because he had such an idiosyncratic voice that it just sounded foreign to me? Who knows, but if anyone else assumed Vincent Price was British, hopefully this review will set the record straight

Up next: It's dark, but I also remember it as one of the most affecting war movies I've seen. Platoon, from 1986