Laura (1944)

Laura is an 88-minute running American movie noir that was released during 1944. The movie was filmed and directed by an Austrian American movie and theater director, Otto Preminger. The movie is included the then renowned celebrities, such as Dana Andrews, an American film actor, Gene Tierney, an American stage and film actress, and Clifton Webb, an American dancer, actor, and singer, together with an actress from Australia, Dame Judith Anderson, and Vincent Price, an actor from America. The screenplay of the movie was jointly written by Samuel Hoffenstein, Jay Dratler, and Betty Reinhardt, and the story is derived from the novel of the similar name written by an American author of novels, screenplays, plays and short stories, Vera Caspary during 1943.

Production of the movie

Otto Preminger, the movie director was seeking a theatrical assignment to direct and initially became tuned in to the story of Vera Caspary when her mediator offered him the first summary of a play, “Ring Twice” for Laura. Preminger was fond of the high-society situation and the strange plot twist, but he felt the work required a major modification and offered to write it again with its creator. Caspary and Preminger disagreed regarding the direction they are supposed to take it and instead, she opted to work together with George Sklar, a writer. Marlene Dietrich, a German-American singer and actress, expressed interest in depicting the character name, but devoid of the attachment of Dietrich or a new major celebrity, Caspary was incapable to find a movie producer, eager to finance a national trip or a Broadway run, and she neglected the project.

Finally, Caspary modified the play for a story with the same name and a follow-up, entitled just Laura, both of which were procured finally for $30,000 by the 20th Century Fox, which is one among the six leading American movie studios. Laird Cregar, an American movie actor, and George Sanders, a Russian-born English movie and TV actor, were declared as the leads.

Music of the movie

Once major cinematography was finished for the Laura movie, Preminger employed David Raksin, a composer from America, to score the movie. The director desired to exploit "Sophisticated Lady”, which is a jazz standard, by an American pianist, composer, and group head of jazz orchestras, Duke Ellington for the key theme, but the option was objected by Raksin. Alfred Newman, the music director for Fox, swayed Preminger to offer Raksin a weekend to create an original song. Motivated by a letter from Dear John he had once acknowledged from a girlfriend, the memorable theme was written by Raksin for which Johnny Mercer, an American songwriter, lyricist and singer, afterward wrote lyrics. Finally, it turned out to be a jazz standard recorded by over four hundred performers.

Nominations and awards

The Laura movie won the 1945 Academy Awards, USA for the Best cinematography category.

The movie won the National Film Preservation Board, USA award in 1999.

The Laura movie was nominated for Oscar for the Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Art Direction categories during 1945.