| . |
. |
| Starring: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb,
Vincent Price Directed by: Otto
Preminger |
Theatrical Release: 1944
DVD Release: 2004
Released by: 20th Century Fox Home EntertainmentDolby Digital 2.0 mono
Fullscreen |
| Noir Noir, Everywhere Though Laura is the most important film noir release from
Fox, there are two others in the initial series release that deserve attention. Both are
of the docudrama genre. Call Northside 777(***) is based on a true
story. James Stewart stars as a newspaperman out to clear the name of an unjustly
convicted man in a fascinating study of early forensics. You won’t believe the period
lie detector and photo blowup system. Panic in the Streets (***1/2) is a taut story
of a gangland killing resulting in the killer’s being infected with plague. Richard
Widmark leads a veritable army of law enforcement officers in an effort to catch the
culprit before he infects the entire city of New Orleans. The transfers are good, but they
could have been smoother with sharper contrast. Like Laura, both titles have
interesting extras. There are film commentaries by authors and film historians James
Ursini and Alain Silver, as well as Fox Movietone News clips and theatrical trailers.
Not to be outdone, Universal has released its own Film Noir
Collection. This Gun for Hire (***) stars Alan Ladd as a hit man with a
heart of gold, who is almost saved from himself by voluptuous Veronica Lake. The Big
Clock (***) is an odd little entry, which stars Ray Milland as a man being framed for
the murder of his boss’s wife. Charles Laughton is that boss in one of his quirkiest
roles. Criss Cross (***1/2) is a riveting thriller, the epitome of ‘40s film
noir with a classic noir ending. Burt Lancaster and Yvonne DeCarlo strike sparks, and a
sinister score by Miklos Rozsa makes the action more exciting. Black Angel
(***1/2) stars Dan Duryea as an alcoholic songwriter who tries to help a woman clear her
husband of a murder charge. This early look at alcoholism and its effects is chilling
today. Universal has provided scant extras for the movies in its series, just a trailer
here and there. This Gun for Hire gets a detailed, sharply contrasted transfer, and
Criss Cross has almost as good a look. The other two are good but show grain and a
fair amount of print damage.
If these movies don’t give you enough of a film noir
fix, there is the Warner set released some months ago, a second Warner noir set on the way
for June, and the knowledge that both the Fox and Universal series are continuing efforts.
...Rad Bennett
radb@hometheatersound.com |
|
|
To exemplify its ideal casting, start with Laura herself,
portrayed by beautiful Gene Tierney. It was the role that established her as a star. Dana
Andrews is convincing as the hardboiled, yet thoughtful police detective Mark McPherson.
Clifton Webb, playing the role that launched his big-screen career, is the acerbic,
conceited newspaper columnist Waldo Lydecker. And, in a secondary role, a young pre-horror
Vincent Price makes like a matinee idol as Laura’s playboy fiancé, Shelby Carpenter.
Though it might seem commonplace today, the story was
original in its day and showed off the best qualities of the actors. Police detective
McPherson, while attempting to solve the murder of Laura Hunt, falls under the spell of a
beautiful portrait of her that he finds in her apartment.
McPherson becomes increasingly obsessed with the painting
and the woman it depicts. He runs into two suspects that are equally involved with Laura:
Lydecker, who appears to be thoroughly obsessed with her in a distant, secretive sort of
way, and Carpenter, the wayward fiancé. When Laura reappears, alive and well, the plot
twists, and the story moves up to another level of tautness, hurtling to a surprising
climax. Laura was directed by the great Otto Preminger and is considered one of his
best works. To the surprise of its creators, it became a classic of the crime genre.
The picture quality is outstanding, given Laura’s
1944 black-and-white origins. As is the case with many film noir movies, contrasts are
sharp and angles tight. The images have a haunting quality that draws one in. The sound is
excellent, for both the dialogue and the sparse but excellent soundtrack, with its
memorable and timeless title song. One does not know if composer David Raksin heard the
soundtrack on the finalized DVD before his death in 2004, but if he had, he surely would
have approved. The extras packed into this DVD are superb. The commentaries by Raksin, by
Wesleyan University film professor Jeanine Basinger, and by film historian Rudy Behlmer
greatly enhance one’s enjoyment of the movie. There are also highly detailed and
colorful documentaries on Tierney and Price, which first appeared on A & E’s Biography.
Both have detailed information that often comes as a surprise. Many will be unaware that
Tierney suffered a complete mental breakdown or that Price hawked great art for Sears.
If you are a film noir fan and do not already have this
title, get yourself down to the local video hut and pick it up. If you wish to better
understand what film noir is all about, this remastering of Laura may well be the
DVD to solve that problem -- a classic in every sense, now given its due in a carefully
prepared and researched presentation. |
