Laura (DVD)

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Today, there are touches in the film that can be downright bewildering to a modern viewer. I had quite forgotten that men in the forties and fifties wore their pants up around their armpits; that characters in movies often talked like characters in stage plays, full of unnaturally witty, Oscar Wilde-like repartee; and that everyone who was really cosmopolitan in New York lived in swanky apartments overlooking Central Park, went to fancy night clubs every evening, drank expensive liquor endlessly, and chain-smoked packs of cigarettes a day.

"Laura" is noir to the nines. Although it takes its time working its way into the purity of the genre, most of the latter half of the film takes place on dark, rainy nights, with characters often in shade or silhouette, the shadows darkening and becoming more prevalent as the movie goes on. I loved every minute of it.

As further validation of its fame, "Laura" was nominated for five Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor (Web); Best Director (Preminger); Best Writing (Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Elizabeth Reinhardt); Best Black-and-White Cinematography (Joseph La Shelle); and Best Black-and-White Art Direction (Lyle R. Wheeler, Leland Fuller, and Thomas Little). Joseph La Shelle won the Oscar for Best B&W Cinematography, and everyone's careers were furthered.

Video:
The movie is presented in almost its original 1.37:1 screen ratio, here rendered at 1.33:1 to fit a standard television screen. The picture's strong points are its pronounced black-and-white contrasts and its generally pristine appearance, free of age flecks, lines, scratches, or blemishes. Its weak points include a small degree of grain, manifesting itself in a few rough edges, and some moiré effects--shimmering lines--which intrude from the very outset of the film. None of these latter things are particularly distracting, but they are noticeable if you're aware of them.

Audio:
The audio is presented in two forms: the original monaural or a new stereo 2.0 mix. The mono is actually clearer to my ears than the more softened stereo, but that's a judgment call. In any case, the Dolby Digital 2.0 processing widens out the music somewhat, but it is still a far cry from today's state-of-the-art sound. Nevertheless, it is quiet, with noise reduction having worked wonders on the soundtrack, and it is extremely smooth. It's also very bland, as one might expect, very flat, limited in frequency range and dynamics. But you'll only want dialogue, which comes off quite well.

Extras:
Fox includes a nice range of extras on the disc, including two film formats--theatrical and extended--and two audio commentaries. The first commentary is with music composer David Raksin and film professor Jeanine Basinger. Raskin does his best to remember what he can from so long ago, while Ms. Basinger fills in background details. The second commentary covers a lot of the same ground with film historian and author Rudy Behlmer. Together, they seemed like overkill, but for the film's legion of fans, no amount of information, no matter how repetitive, will be too much. Interestingly, the disc's menu states that the commentaries are available on the theatrical version only, presumably not on the extended version, but the commentaries were present on both versions as far as I could tell.

Next comes the extended version of the movie, which is only a minute longer than the theatrical version. It is announced on the keep case as having an alternate opening, but it actually includes a single deleted scene that can be viewed on its own, with optional commentary by Rudy Behlmer. This scene, coming about a third of the way into the film, was apparently deleted because the Second World War was going on, and the scene showed too much of the lavish lifestyle of the rich and famous, which could have been demoralizing to the troops overseas. Then, there are two "A&E Biography" specials. The first is "Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait," forty-four minutes long and made in 1999, chronicling the stormy career and personal life of the star. It includes comments by friends and family, like ex-husband Oleg Cassini. The second biography is "Vincent Price: The Versatile Villain," made in 1997 and also forty-four minutes. It reminds us that Price had a flourishing career in Hollywood as a featured player before becoming a full-fledged star with horror vehicles like "House of Wax," "The Fly," William Castle's "The House on Haunted Hill" and "The Tingler," and Roger Corman's low-budget Poe epics such as "The House of Usher" and "The Pit and the Pendulum."

The extras conclude with twenty scene selections and a well-worn theatrical trailer. An informational chapter insert also comes with the package.

Parting Thoughts:
As I've said, "Laura" is classic noir, a dark, shadowy mystery that continues to impress fans on second, third, and subsequent viewings because of its engaging acting, its fascinating characters, and its imaginative direction. Most of all, however, it impresses viewers because of Clifton Webb, who steals every scene he's in.

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