Presenting one of the greatest film noir stories to ever come out of Hollywood
Mayor Paul Becker, who created Jacksonville’s Classic Movie Night, writes, “We are looking forward to January’s film screening of LAURA, a 1944 film which, once seen, is not soon forgotten. In my opinion, there has never been a mystery film of its equal produced since. I realize that’s a pretty strong statement, but if you come to this one, I’ll guarantee you will not be able to walk out of Old City Hall without hearing the theme going through your head.
“Laura (1944) is one of the most stylish, elegant, moody, and witty classic film noirs ever made. It might also be called a psychological study of deviant, kinky obsession, because almost everyone in the cast loves the title character – Laura. One lobby poster dramatically declared: “The story of a love that became the most fearful thing that ever happened to a woman.”
Laura is characterized by shadowy, dream-like, high-contrast black and white cinematography (It won the Academy Award for Best Black and White Cinematography), and taut and smart dialogue in a quick succession of scenes. It presents the poignant and haunting ‘Laura’ signature theme music, and a decadent and morally-corrupt group of upper-class society types.”
Laura was nominated for Best Actor In A Supporting Role… Best Screenplay… Best Black and White Art Decoration and Best Interior Decoration. Interestingly, it did not receive a nomination for best music, yet had perhaps the most haunting theme in film history composed by David Raksin. Inspired by a Dear John letter he had received from his girlfriend, Raksin wrote the haunting theme for which Johnny Mercer later wrote lyrics. It eventually became a jazz standard recorded by more than four hundred artists, including Stan Kenton, Dick Haymes, Woody Herman, Nat King Cole, The Four Freshmen, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Frank Sinatra.
LAURA will screen at 7 PM on Friday night, January 13th… (not on the 20th as earlier scheduled.) Doors will open at 6:30 PM.
One final note… the print we have is a beautifully restored digital copy which faithfully showcases the award-winning cinematography.”
And, according to Wikipedia:
Laura is a 1944 American film noir directed by Otto Preminger. It stars Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews and Clifton Webb. The screenplay by Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Elizabeth Reinhardt is based on the 1943 novel of the same title by Vera Caspary.
In 1999, Laura was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” The American Film Institute ranked the film #73 on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Thrills, the score #7 in AFI’s 100 Years of Film Scores, and it was ranked the fourth best film in the mystery genre in AFI’s 10 Top 10.
New York City police detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) is investigating the murder of beautiful and highly successful advertising executive Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney), who’d been killed by a shotgun blast to the face just inside the doorway to her apartment before the start of the film. He interviews charismatic newspaper columnist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), an imperious, decadent dandy who relates how he met Laura, became her mentor, and used his considerable influence and fame to advance her career. McPherson also questions Laura’s parasitic playboy fiancé, Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price); her wealthy socialite aunt, Ann Treadwell (Judith Anderson), who’d been carrying on with Carpenter and giving him money; and her loyal housekeeper, Bessie Clary (Dorothy Adams).
The Movie starts at 7pm (doors open at 6:30) at Old City Hall. Free and everyone is welcome!