Post by klep on Nov 13, 2017 8:37:18 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 11/13: Laura
TWO WEEK OF NOIRVEMBER: GOLDEN AGE OF NOIR
"I shall never forget the weekend Laura died"
Right up front, before anything else, Laura tells you it's a story of a murder. Our narrator is Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), a famous columnist and a friend of the deceased Laura (Gene Tierney). His narration is interrupted by the arrival of Detective McPherson (Dana Andrews), there as part of his investigation into the murder.
We then follow the investigation, meeting and number of seedy or unseemly characters who all have some sort of connection to Laura, most importantly her fiancé Shelby Carpenter (a baby-faced Vincent Price). Laura herself we see only in flashback as the suspects tell stories of her. McPherson keeps his cards close to his chest, but we're given ample reason to suspect any of the principles in her murder - Waldo may be our narrator but it becomes clear he's a vain and arrogant man whose obsessed with the victim.
McPherson has trouble figuring it out, and worse seems to be falling for the victim, which leads to a great deal of consternation when she suddenly enters her apartment.
At first I wasn't sure McPherson wasn't dreaming her presence, but soon enough it becomes clear she's really there and her return from the dead causes chaos. Who was the dead woman? Why was she in Laura's apartment wearing her clothes? And with Laura being alive there's yet another suspect.
The story proves to be delightfully twisty, full of false trails and red herrings before we get to the ultimate resolution. But it's a great noir through and through. McPherson has the sly air of the classic noir detective, and he's thrust into a small society full of lust, intrigue, and depraved obsessions. Waldo's voiceover narration checks off another genre trope, though here it's deliciously in character for him as a newspaper columnist and it grows unreliable at times as his pride gets in the way. The whole cast gives a brilliant performance; Clifton Webb would get the Oscar nod but Gene Tierney gives Laura multiple layers and shades and Vincent Price is delightfully suspicious and sleazy even as he is undeniably charming. And Joseph LaShelle's Oscar-winning cinematography paints the frame with the shadows and contrasts we've all come to expect.
All told it makes for one of the best noirs I've ever seen, and one of the best whodunnits - when you're mystified for most of the film until you see the reveal and you turn to your buddy and say "I knew it!"
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 11/20: The Long Goodbye
THIRD WEEK OF NOIRVEMBER: NEW HOLLYWOOD NOIR
For the New Hollywood week of Noirvember we're going with Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye, a neo-noir starring Elliot Gould as Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe. Join us next week for this classic piece of noir cinema! The Long Goodbye is available on Filmstruck and for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 11/14: Ghost World
The podcast this week looks at girls coming of age with Greta Gerwig's new Lady Bird and Terry Swigoff's Ghost World. Wednesday we'll have a thread for the older film. Ghost World is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
TWO WEEK OF NOIRVEMBER: GOLDEN AGE OF NOIR
"I shall never forget the weekend Laura died"
Right up front, before anything else, Laura tells you it's a story of a murder. Our narrator is Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), a famous columnist and a friend of the deceased Laura (Gene Tierney). His narration is interrupted by the arrival of Detective McPherson (Dana Andrews), there as part of his investigation into the murder.
We then follow the investigation, meeting and number of seedy or unseemly characters who all have some sort of connection to Laura, most importantly her fiancé Shelby Carpenter (a baby-faced Vincent Price). Laura herself we see only in flashback as the suspects tell stories of her. McPherson keeps his cards close to his chest, but we're given ample reason to suspect any of the principles in her murder - Waldo may be our narrator but it becomes clear he's a vain and arrogant man whose obsessed with the victim.
McPherson has trouble figuring it out, and worse seems to be falling for the victim, which leads to a great deal of consternation when she suddenly enters her apartment.
At first I wasn't sure McPherson wasn't dreaming her presence, but soon enough it becomes clear she's really there and her return from the dead causes chaos. Who was the dead woman? Why was she in Laura's apartment wearing her clothes? And with Laura being alive there's yet another suspect.
The story proves to be delightfully twisty, full of false trails and red herrings before we get to the ultimate resolution. But it's a great noir through and through. McPherson has the sly air of the classic noir detective, and he's thrust into a small society full of lust, intrigue, and depraved obsessions. Waldo's voiceover narration checks off another genre trope, though here it's deliciously in character for him as a newspaper columnist and it grows unreliable at times as his pride gets in the way. The whole cast gives a brilliant performance; Clifton Webb would get the Oscar nod but Gene Tierney gives Laura multiple layers and shades and Vincent Price is delightfully suspicious and sleazy even as he is undeniably charming. And Joseph LaShelle's Oscar-winning cinematography paints the frame with the shadows and contrasts we've all come to expect.
All told it makes for one of the best noirs I've ever seen, and one of the best whodunnits - when you're mystified for most of the film until you see the reveal and you turn to your buddy and say "I knew it!"
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 11/20: The Long Goodbye
THIRD WEEK OF NOIRVEMBER: NEW HOLLYWOOD NOIR
For the New Hollywood week of Noirvember we're going with Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye, a neo-noir starring Elliot Gould as Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe. Join us next week for this classic piece of noir cinema! The Long Goodbye is available on Filmstruck and for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 11/14: Ghost World
The podcast this week looks at girls coming of age with Greta Gerwig's new Lady Bird and Terry Swigoff's Ghost World. Wednesday we'll have a thread for the older film. Ghost World is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.