A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he is investigating.A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he is investigating.A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he is investigating.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 5 wins & 4 nominations total
Grant Mitchell
- Lancaster Corey
- (scenes deleted)
Dorothy Adams
- Bessie Clary, Laura's Maid
- (uncredited)
Terry Adams
- Woman
- (uncredited)
John Alban
- Executive
- (uncredited)
Wally Albright
- Newsboy
- (uncredited)
Bobby Barber
- Newsboy
- (uncredited)
Edward Biby
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
Gary Breckner
- Narrator
- (uncredited)
James Carlisle
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
Harry Carter
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
Lane Chandler
- Detective
- (uncredited)
Bill Chaney
- Newsboy
- (uncredited)
Dorothy Christy
- Woman
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to Producer and Director Otto Preminger, he had to work to win the respect of the cast, who all seemed "hostile" to him when he took over, with the exception of Clifton Webb. "I learned later", he said, "that Mamoulian had called each of them individually and warned them that I did not like their acting and intended to fire them." It was not true. Dame Judith Anderson decided to confront him on the set. She said that if he wasn't happy with her performance, then he should show her how to make it better.
- GoofsIn the initial long-shot when McPherson and Lydecker are out to dinner, McPherson's chair is unoccupied (about 15:28). When the camera is at their table, McPherson has materialized.
- Quotes
Waldo Lydecker: I don't use a pen. I write with a goose quill dipped in venom.
- Alternate versionsA scene cut from the theatrical version after its initial release was restored to the film in 1990. In it, Waldo Lydecker described how he transformed Laura's appearance and introduced her to high society. The studio worried that this obsession with decadent luxury would be offensive to WWII soldiers serving overseas, so the scene was deleted.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Vicki (1953)
Featured review
Laura A definitive film noir classic, and simply put my favorite film of all time. Laura tells the shocking story of Park Avenue society beauty, Laura Hunt ( Gene Tierney) who is murdered in her apartment, which brings Detective Mark McPherson ( Dana Andrews) to New York's most elegant neighborhood to investigate. As he tried to get inside the head of the victim, he also questions the men in her life-the acerbic critic Waldo Lydecker ( Clifton Webb) and her playboy fiancé Shelby Carpenter ( Vincent Price). But who would have wanted to kill a girl with whom every man she met seemed to fall in love? Fueled by her stunning portrait, liquor and classical music, McPherson quickly finds himself falling under her spell too. A police detective falling in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating? Then in one stormy night, halfway through his investigation, something so bizarre happens to him, that he is forced to re-think the whole case.
This reveal still kind of leaves me guessing. Is it all a dream? Or maybe it is all formulated by the ' spell' of the movie. An alluring cast and no doubt the famous musical theme by David Raksin has something to do with it.
There are so many scenes I could count as my favorite but, the one that always stands out to me is the scene where McPherson falls asleep under the portrait and he awakes with the sudden appearance of a woman who seems to be Laura Hunt herself!, dressed in a drenched trenchcoat. This entire scene is fuelled with more sexuality than Hollywood Studios these days can ever dream of in their bids to put two stars together.
Another scene I love is when McPherson slugs Carpenter in the stomach. " It's too bad. You didn't open up that door Friday night." I'm not kind, I'm vicious. It's the secret of my charm." "You'd better watch out, McPherson, or you'll finish up in a psychiatric ward. I doubt they've ever had a patient who fell in love with a corpse." "People are always ready to hold out a hand to slap you down, but never to pick you up." "Waldo, why are you doing this?" "For you, Laura." "I was 99 percent certain about you.... but I had to get rid of that one percent doubt."
This reveal still kind of leaves me guessing. Is it all a dream? Or maybe it is all formulated by the ' spell' of the movie. An alluring cast and no doubt the famous musical theme by David Raksin has something to do with it.
There are so many scenes I could count as my favorite but, the one that always stands out to me is the scene where McPherson falls asleep under the portrait and he awakes with the sudden appearance of a woman who seems to be Laura Hunt herself!, dressed in a drenched trenchcoat. This entire scene is fuelled with more sexuality than Hollywood Studios these days can ever dream of in their bids to put two stars together.
Another scene I love is when McPherson slugs Carpenter in the stomach. " It's too bad. You didn't open up that door Friday night." I'm not kind, I'm vicious. It's the secret of my charm." "You'd better watch out, McPherson, or you'll finish up in a psychiatric ward. I doubt they've ever had a patient who fell in love with a corpse." "People are always ready to hold out a hand to slap you down, but never to pick you up." "Waldo, why are you doing this?" "For you, Laura." "I was 99 percent certain about you.... but I had to get rid of that one percent doubt."
- shhimundercoverdamnit
- May 30, 2007
- Permalink
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $1,020,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $151
- Runtime1 hour 28 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content