Laura

Tuesday, April 29, 2008


We now move on to part 2 of the "Two for the Price of One" Vincent Price double feature, which I guess means this one was free. Or were they both half off? I'm not sure. I didn't really think this title out very well.


Moving on, it turns out that Price isn't one of the leads in Laura, although he does have a very significant supporting role that's practically a lead any way, so good for him. He was only in his early 30's here, and fairly handsome looking.


Laura is a sorta film-noir by Otto Preminger, whose Anatomy of a Murder I watched a while back for my K2K and totally gushed about it, and now find that it hasn't really stuck with me. How about that? I bet it would still be a great watch, but I guess maybe it's more like cinematic Chinese food.

Contrary to what I had heard, this wasn't a great movie, but I liked it. I love Preminger's visual style (deep focus, I believe you call it, and I especially dig the way long shots will turn into close-ups and vise versa), and there are a lot of interesting characters. The story and mystery elements, however, aren't very compelling, and this being a mystery/noir type of movie, it doesn't go over well. There's also a subplot involving the main character becoming obsessed with the murder victim he's investigating that feels half-assed. It's one of my favorite oft-used elements in detective stories, but it doesn't really go anywhere here and isn't developed enough. I'll stick with James Ellroy when I want detectives sporting wood for dead chicks.

The movie is helped by the quirky characters and some strange details. What really jumped out at me, although I suspect maybe it's just my imagination, was all the homosexual subtext. The three male leads are all in love with Laura, yet each one has a sort of gay vibe going on. Vincent Price, as I've already said, has mannerisms that suggest homosexuality. Clifton Webb plays a bitchy, catty author named Waldo Lydecker who seems almost like the proto-Capote. At one point, the main character sees Lydecker naked, coming out of his bathtub, and I swear they make a point of showing a slight smile cross his face. I have no idea what any of this means, or if it's even really there, but it added an unexpected layer to the movie.

And the real shock here is Price, doing something I've never seen before: playing a normal guy in a reasonably normal movie. And you know what? Compared to everything else I've seen him in, he's subdued and natural and lacking in his overt theatricality. He plays a regular, kinda good looking guy, and never once stands out as some weirdo, iconic camp figure. So there you go, Vincent Price can act.