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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Obsession figures in the
classic noir thriller "Laura" (1944) which finally
appears on a terrific DVD from Fox Home Video.
Otto Preminger's classic film puts together a
number of genres for a compelling story of murder,
deceit and intrigue. "Laura" tells the story of a
society beauty (Gene Tierney in a career defining
performance) murdered for no apparent reason.
Detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews in a
hardboiled performance) investigates her murder
questioning the men in her life beginning with a
nasty critic Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb in a
deliciously droll performance and in a major come
back) and her unfaithful playboy fiancé Shelby
Carpenter (Vincent Price). Seen in flashback, we
discover Laura's background and how she rises from
the middle class to world-class society beauty
with the assistance of those men in her life.
Things take a surprising twist when McPherson
meets the very woman who was murdered. If Laura is
alive whose body was discovered and identified as
her? "Laura" continues to be haunting sixty years
on.
A nicely detailed transfer with rich blacks and a
nicely detailed picture, Fox has done an
outstanding job transferring this terrific classic
to DVD. The DVD has some minor analog blemishes in
the form of dirt and there's noticeable grain due
to the stock of the film used to shoot the movie
and how far removed the film is from the original
nitrate negative (like most films from the era,
the negative probably doesn't exist any longer
although there's no information on the restoration
here). The mono sound has nice presence with
slight problems with hiss and other analog
imperfections but, on the whole, it sounds
superior to the previous releases on VHS and
laserdisc.
We get the A&E Biography programs on Price
featuring interviews with Price biographer Lucy
Price Williams, Price's daughter, friends and film
co-workers. Price initially joined Orson Welles'
Mercury Theater in New York. The droll comments by
actor/writer Norman Lloyd about their experience
together in the Mercury Theater alone makes this
biography worth watching. Price had an easy going
and natural style that still seems contemporary
and when seeing his performance with other more
affected performers of the time. His debut in a
1933 Constance Bennet comedy more demonstrated his
flair and versatility. Over the course of seven
years Price played everything from Brigham Young
to the King of France. One of the cinema's most
underrated performers, Price's performances
particularly here continue to sparkle with wit and
power.
Gene Tierney's A&E Biography is a marvelous
biography every bit the equal of the Price
biography. Tierney began smoking to lower the
pitch of her voice (at the advice of a studio
executive) because she didn't like her voice
thinking that she sounded like Minnie Mouse in her
first film (she died of emphysema as a result of
her life long addiction). Tierney's life had its
tragic turns comparable to that of other beautiful
stars of the day. She tumbled into depression
after a failed marriage to costume designer Oleg
Cassini and the birth of her mentally handicapped
daughter resulting in her absence from the screen
for nearly seven years. Tierney discovered that
all the money she earned as an actress during the
40's was squandered by her father to support his
failing business without her consent.
We also get a deleted scene (a rarity for films
from this time) consisting of a montage sequence
detailing how Lydecker taught her about the finer
things in life. It was feared that the "decadence"
on display would offend troops fighting overseas.
We also get a theatrical trailer, which
demonstrates how bad this fine film might have
looked like without the fine restoration seen
here. This alternate opening deleted after the
first screening has been integrated back into the
movie so you may watch either the original version
or the edited version that's been seen by millions
over the years.
Historian Rudy Behlmer's commentary track tends to
be the drier of the two tracks. He provides
extensive background on the performers, the novel,
director Otto Preminger. His comments on how
Preminger had to fight for actor Clifton Webb to
play Lydecker because of his well-known
homosexuality are particularly enlightening.
Behlmer reads excerpts from Preminger's
autobiography giving us insights from the director
and writers of the project. Initially the writers
wanted "Laura" to be a Broadway play before a
film. Derailed; by politics and other issues, the
script became a film instead despite lukewarm
interest from MGM. MGM wanted to do the film as a
"B" movie mystery while Fox had higher aspirations
for the project. Preminger convinced the studio to
buy the book. Initially working only as a producer
on the project (his film failures had damaged his
aspirations as a film director), Preminger took
over direction from Rueben Mamoulian ("Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde") early on during the shooting of the
film replacing the director after he butted heads
with Preminger. We also get an interesting
commentary from the film's composer David Raskin.
It's not as informative but does have some
fascinating insider tidbits.
"Laura" finally comes to DVD with plenty of bells
and whistles. With an extremely good transfer,
great commentary tracks featuring original film
composer David Raskin and two excellent A&E
Biography episodes on stars Gene Tierney and
Vincent Price, "Laura" was worth the wait. The
inclusion of a deleted scene and a version of the
movie with and without the scene will delight long
time fans of this terrific movie. |
