Otto Preminger's film "Laura" is considered by many classic movie fans to be a classic. There is a lot to love about the film...particularly Clifton Webb's and Dana Andrews' performances and well as the overall creepy mood. A little over a decade later, the story was remade for television and a one-hour timeslot. In hindsight, while enjoyable, I don't think they should have bothered. Why? Because the original is so very good and the remake in no way improves on the story and in most ways is disappointing. The biggest problem is the pacing. To squeeze it into the time slot, it sure seems as if the actors are talking quickly. Additionally, too many scenes were rushed and there isn't much sense of dread or suspense. Overall, watchable but a disappointment nonetheless.
5 Reviews
Much better than expected
XhcnoirX24 October 2017
This was the 2nd episode of the anthology TV series The 20th Century- Fox Hour. This episode is an adaptation of Vera Caspary's novel 'Laura' which was famously turned into a 1944 film noir (which not surprisingly was also made at 20th Century-Fox). In this adaptation Robert Stack ('House Of Bamboo') plays Mark MacPherson who's investigating the murder of Dana 'Laura' Wynter ('Invasion Of The Body Snatchers'), with George Sanders ('All About Eve') as Waldo Lydecker, Laura's mentor and an influential columnist, and Scott Forbes ('The Adventues Of Jim Bowie') as Laura's fiancé Shelby Carpenter. None of them can match the original cast, but George Sanders is a natural follow-up for Clifton Webb's portrayal, as with a number of his roles this is worth watching just for his performance. Dana Wynters, pretty as she is, is no match for Gene Tierney however, esp not when the whole premise rests on Stack/MacPherson falling in love with her based only on a portrait!
Putting that aside however, this TV episode works remarkably well... The short format, under 45 minutes, means only the essentials of the story have been kept impact, and things move at a rapid pace. And it does work. It probably does help if you've seen the original, it makes some scenes all that more enjoyable, in particular the bath scene with George Sanders. Aside from the noir original and the noirs some of the actors appeared in, director John Brahm also directed some noirs such as 'The Lodger' and 'Hangover Square' and the DoP was Lloyd Ahern ('Cry Of The City', 'The Brasher Doubloon'). They manage to infuse this TV episode with some noir visuals, adding to the overall enjoyment. No, this doesn't come close to the original, how could it? But I enjoyed this much more than I had expected to. Recommended!
Putting that aside however, this TV episode works remarkably well... The short format, under 45 minutes, means only the essentials of the story have been kept impact, and things move at a rapid pace. And it does work. It probably does help if you've seen the original, it makes some scenes all that more enjoyable, in particular the bath scene with George Sanders. Aside from the noir original and the noirs some of the actors appeared in, director John Brahm also directed some noirs such as 'The Lodger' and 'Hangover Square' and the DoP was Lloyd Ahern ('Cry Of The City', 'The Brasher Doubloon'). They manage to infuse this TV episode with some noir visuals, adding to the overall enjoyment. No, this doesn't come close to the original, how could it? But I enjoyed this much more than I had expected to. Recommended!
John Brahm's adaptation of Laura.
morrison-dylan-fan7 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
After having seen the superb Horror Noir Dementia (1955),I began searching for a second Noir from 1955 to double bill it with. Having found The Undying Monster (1942-also reviewed) a splendid Horror Noir,I was thrilled to stumble on John Brahm's near-forgotten TV meeting with Laura.
View on the film:
Working with the director for the third time after the films The Lodger (1944) and Hangover Square (1945), George Sanders gives a delightful performance as Lydecker, who Sanders fills with a dry, dead-pan manner, topped by growing hints from Noir loner Lydecker that he is not showing all the colours he is painting with. Looking at her death mask portrait hanging from above,Dana Wynter gives a terrific turn as Laura, whose shock at learning that she was believed dead, Wynter balances with a calculating to appear relaxed on the outside in order to find out who wanted her dead.
Given the rather challenging task of squeezing a 90 minute movie into a 43 minute TV version, the screenplay by Mel Dinelli wisely leans on the police procedure side of Noir over MacPherson attempting to uncover who the person who had believed that they had killed Laura, a belief which Dinelli uses to grate into Laura's despair over confronting her own death.
Even when faced with the obstacle of this being live TV and the second ep in a series, director John Brahm hangs a refined Noir atmosphere on the walls, stylishly dissolving Laura's face to the death portrait haunting her, with Brahm tightly coiling wide shots to keep everyone imposed by the portrait of Laura's murder.
View on the film:
Working with the director for the third time after the films The Lodger (1944) and Hangover Square (1945), George Sanders gives a delightful performance as Lydecker, who Sanders fills with a dry, dead-pan manner, topped by growing hints from Noir loner Lydecker that he is not showing all the colours he is painting with. Looking at her death mask portrait hanging from above,Dana Wynter gives a terrific turn as Laura, whose shock at learning that she was believed dead, Wynter balances with a calculating to appear relaxed on the outside in order to find out who wanted her dead.
Given the rather challenging task of squeezing a 90 minute movie into a 43 minute TV version, the screenplay by Mel Dinelli wisely leans on the police procedure side of Noir over MacPherson attempting to uncover who the person who had believed that they had killed Laura, a belief which Dinelli uses to grate into Laura's despair over confronting her own death.
Even when faced with the obstacle of this being live TV and the second ep in a series, director John Brahm hangs a refined Noir atmosphere on the walls, stylishly dissolving Laura's face to the death portrait haunting her, with Brahm tightly coiling wide shots to keep everyone imposed by the portrait of Laura's murder.
interesting remake of Laura for George Sanders admirers
seglora5 November 2015
The TV film "Laura" from 1955 was directed by the distinguished German-born Hollywood director John Brahm. Like so many directors in Hollywood, he started his career in Germany but left for the USA well before the Second World War. He is most famous for a handful of films he made during the forties, in particular for "The Lodger" (1944), "Hangover Square" (1945) and "The Locket" (1946). However, during the fifties, in common with so many of the émigré directors who failed to reach the same stellar status as Preminger, Curtiz and Wilder, he turned to directing for television and disappeared from the horizon producing endless productions in various TV series. Brahm is supposed to have ended up directing 150–200 television films. One of these is "Laura", which was part of a 20th Century Fox Television drama series. The film is also known by the title "A Portrait of Murder", perhaps to avoid confusion with the famous Preminger version of "Laura" (1944), or for unknown copyright reasons. It is stated as being a 60 min production, but obviously there were plenty of advertisements, as the complete advertisement-free version I have seen runs only for 43 min, and the title is "Laura" rather than "A Portrait of a Murder"! For film buffs it is interesting to compare this slightly abridged version with Preminger's film made 11 years earlier. The plot is the same and most characters are kept in the later version. The stellar cast from the original version led by Tierney, Andrews, Price and Anderson was naturally difficult to match in the low-budget TV production. In this version of "Laura" the detective (McPherson) is played by Robert Stack, a rather wooden actor for the role. However, the acerbic and witty character of Waldo Lydecker is in this version played by George Sanders, and he is, in my mind, clearly superior to Clifton Webb in the same role in Preminger's version who was too histrionic and effeminate. The main reason for watching this TV film is indeed the presence of George Sanders, who has so many fans around the world thanks to the mostly cynical characters that he portrayed during his long career, which saw him work in so many films both in Hollywood and in Europe (including with Rossellini). He often plays secondary roles, but when you see his name in the cast, even in minor films, you can always be assured of a solid performance, often delivered with the most subtle subdued humour and cynicism.
A portrait with cliff notes.
mark.waltz19 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Nothing can match the original "Laura", and that includes the portrait that appears over the credits. Even with a different name, this TV film ( fortunately not videotaped), is a shelby of itself.. Dana Wynter misses the spark of Gene Tierney, and why would I find it unfair to compare the portrayer of a role in a remake of the original, sometimes it can't be helped. That isn't the case with George Sanders, taking over the role of the sardonic Waldo Lydecker, although some of his best lines are missing. Robert Stack is engage perfect as the detective, the role originally played by Dana Andrews. He has every essence of the original character just like Sanders did as Waldo. Scott
Cabot isn't as fey as Vincent Price was, and his character seems to be much more of a cowardly loser rather than the sinister loser that Price played. They have totally cut out the role of the aunt played by Judith Anderson, which I guess in perspective of an hour long TV show is understandable.
If I were to look at both of them side-by-side, pausing to look at the missing footage from the movie, I could swear that they did use the same set, at least for lydecker his house because it is as glamorous and audacious as the original. I can understand the desire to want to make these in the 50's when there really weren't a lot of television sets, and certainly no cable TV, but as happens often in the Fox hour, the actors seemed directed to speed up their dialogue so they can get as many as much as possible. I could easily say stick with the original version, but I would highly recommend this for Sanders and Stack. Of course, that gorgeous team is still there, and fortunately, Fox had the right to use it. Had it been an original play for cheesy, I would have found a disappointing anyway, because even without the memory was a movie, there just seems to be something missing.
If I were to look at both of them side-by-side, pausing to look at the missing footage from the movie, I could swear that they did use the same set, at least for lydecker his house because it is as glamorous and audacious as the original. I can understand the desire to want to make these in the 50's when there really weren't a lot of television sets, and certainly no cable TV, but as happens often in the Fox hour, the actors seemed directed to speed up their dialogue so they can get as many as much as possible. I could easily say stick with the original version, but I would highly recommend this for Sanders and Stack. Of course, that gorgeous team is still there, and fortunately, Fox had the right to use it. Had it been an original play for cheesy, I would have found a disappointing anyway, because even without the memory was a movie, there just seems to be something missing.
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