Laura

Otto Preminger was essentially the Golden Age equivalent of Oliver Stone. Every time he had a movie released, controversy would follow. He actually introduced touchy subjects to film, most notably rape in Anatomy of a Murder and drug abuse in The Man with the Golden Arm.

Detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) is investigating the murder of Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney). He questions the two men that knew her best: journalist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), who helped Laura with her career and in the process fell in love with her, and her fiance Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price). To make matters bizarre, McPherson finds himself falling in love with Laura upon seeing her portrait. Then, the investigation takes a truly strange twist.

It's hard to talk about Laura without giving anything crucial away. But I'll try. Laura is well-acted, the cinematography and music are superb, and Preminger's direction is excellent. There are so many twists and turns throughout Laura, your head will be spinning. It has to be one of the best film noirs out there.

My Rating: *****