February 5, 2022

Saw a comedy show with a friend on Thursday. Watched two movies and then on a date with Mitchy on Friday. Shot around outside with my basketball team this morning, then went to a Star Trek Exhibit with a friend. Waiting for another friend to come over tonight so we can eat and do gummies. If I can keep this up for the rest of my life, I think I'm going to be okay. 

MLog time! 

LAURA

1944

Directed by: Otto Preminger

Written by: Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, Elizabeth Reinhardt

Based on: Laura by Vera Caspary

Watched: 2/4/22 

Laura Hunt was killed in her apartment late one night. Someone rang the doorbell, and when Laura answered she was shot in the face. Mark McPherson, the detective, is interviewing writer Waldo Lydecker, who helped Laura advance her career in marketing and seems to have been in love with her, despite being well older than she was. There’s also Laura’s fiancé, Shelby, a tall man from Kentucky. Laura got him a job at her agency as he doesn’t come from money, but he still sees Ann Treadwell, Laura’s rich aunt. The detective reads Laura’s diary and letters and is enchanted with her portrait which hangs on the wall. There’s some low-quality booze that was found the morning after the murder – the maid removed it so there wouldn’t be talk. The detective falls asleep in Laura’s apartment and awakens to find that Laura’s alive. She had actually gone away to the country. The woman who was killed was a model from the agency, a girl who had fallen in love with Shelby. Laura had decided to call off she and Shelby’s engagement, but with suspicion swirling, they call it back on. Laura says the radio was broken at the country house, but it’s fixed when the detective checks. There’s a big party to celebrate Laura not being dead. All the suspects are there. The detective arrests Laura. He takes her to the station to be interrogated, where he basically tries to find out if she’s still in love with Shelby. His interests in her have become far more personal than professional. Laura explains that she and Shelby were trying to cover for each other. She thought Shelby was guilty and he thought she was. The detective admits that he was pretty sure she didn’t do it. It was just the radio thing that was funky. He didn’t even book her when he brought her down. The police return her to her apartment. In Waldo’s apartment, the detective realizes the clock has a secret compartment. There’s an identical clock in Laura’s apartment – one that Waldo gave her and has been trying to get back. Waldo arrives and removes the murder weapon from the clock. He’s about to shoot Laura for real, when the detective returns and saves the day. 

Oh man. This movie was entertaining. And made in 1944! It was stylish as hell. Shot great. Acted great. The plot made sense but wasn’t overly burdensome – I’d even call it breezy. Gene Tierney, the lead, was gorgeous. She was believable as the woman everyone – men and women alike – fell in love with. I love that as a thing – see Helen’s Dead. I watched the interrogation scene twice. Interrogation scenes are so hard to do in that they been done a million times and have the tendency to be boring. Playing it exactly as a lovers’ quarrel, a further feature of this woman’s desirableness, was excellent. The whole thing was stylish, funny, sharp, breezy (like I said). Fantastic. 

Rating: ★★★★★