Plot Summary
When Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney), a stunning and highly successful advertising executive, is found murdered in her own home, hotshot New York City detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) is assigned to investigate the case. His list of suspects includes:
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| Detective Mark McPherson can't take his eyes off Laura's portrait |
Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb): A bullheaded, acerbic, and influential newspaper columnist who is also Laura’s mentor and self-appointed protector from the rest of mankind.
Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price): Laura’s handsome but financially precarious fiancé.
Ann Treadwell (Judith Anderson): Laura’s wealthy aunt, who appears to have more than a soft spot for Shelby despite the fact that he is engaged to her niece.
Bessie Clary (Dorothy Adams): Laura’s fiercely devoted and straight-talking maid, who would rather destroy potentially vital evidence than allow anything to tarnish her employer’s reputation.
As the suspects take turns accusing one another, McPherson becomes increasingly fascinated by the enigmatic Laura. He spends hours examining her possessions, learning about her life, and staring at the striking portrait that dominates her apartment.
Waldo soon accuses the detective of falling in love with a dead woman.
Undeterred, McPherson continues digging into Laura’s life, slowly peeling away the layers of jealousy, obsession, and deception surrounding her until he finally uncovers the identity of the killer.
What's so unique about Laura?
Who is Laura?
The titular character, Laura, is already dead before the movie begins. We are introduced to her largely through Waldo Lydecker’s vivid recollections, which paint her as someone almost ethereal.
Through Lydecker’s description, Laura gradually emerges as a bundle of contradictions: a strong, independent, free-spirited woman who can nevertheless be manipulated into making choices that work against her own happiness. Her tact, wit, and charm bring her enormous professional success, yet those same qualities seem to offer little help in her search for someone who is genuinely compassionate and worthy of her affection.
Obsession with the dearly departed:
Laura’s loneliness is not hers alone. In different ways, it also defines the lives of both Lydecker and Detective McPherson. Lydecker treats Laura as his muse and perhaps the greatest achievement of his own influence, while McPherson appears to have devoted himself almost entirely to his work and the pursuit of justice.
As the investigation begins to probe the more intimate details of Laura’s life, McPherson finds himself becoming increasingly attached to a woman he has never met. This also brings him into conflict with Lydecker, who resents the possibility that the more sordid details surrounding Laura’s death could become public knowledge.
The film never fully explains the source of McPherson’s increasingly morbid fascination, nor does it dwell on it for too long. Before it can, he comes face-to-face with a revelation that completely changes the nature of the story.
The halfway reveal:
I cannot say too much about the reveal without venturing into spoiler territory, but once it occurs, Laura almost begins to feel like a two-act play.
The assumptions established during the first half are suddenly thrown into question, forcing McPherson to reassess what he believes he knows. The stakes rise considerably as the investigation takes on an entirely different dimension.
Placing such a major revelation almost exactly at the midpoint is one of the film’s most distinctive choices. Rather than saving its biggest surprise for the climax, Laura uses it to propel the story into an even more intriguing second half. It is arguably one of the reasons the film continues to be discussed decades later.
The portrait:
Laura’s portrait is, in many ways, a character in its own right.
It represents her success, captures her charm, and at the same time seems to amplify the loneliness surrounding her absence. It hangs silently over the proceedings as McPherson tries to understand the real woman behind the image.
The portrait becomes a mute witness to obsession, deception, accusations, and cover-ups before ultimately witnessing the truth come to light. Its presence is so powerful that it almost becomes a stand-in for Gene Tierney herself during the portions of the film in which Laura is absent.
Few props in a film become so closely intertwined with the identity of a character. In Laura, the portrait does exactly that.
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Dana Andrews as Detective Mark McPhersonBest line in the filmMark McPherson is brutal in his assessment when he delivers the following line: "I must say, for a charming, intelligent girl, you certainly surrounded yourself with a remarkable collection of dopes." |
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| Gene Tierney as Laura |
Conclusion
Like a magician with several aces up their sleeve, Laura flirts with multiple genres. It could easily have been a drama about a young woman rising from obscurity to make it big in New York, a tragic romance about unrequited love, or a psychological study of obsession. What makes the film work, however, is that it never loses sight of the fact that it is, first and foremost, a thriller.
The Hindi film Rog, an unofficial remake of Laura, makes the mistake of trying to straddle too many genres at once. The result is a muddled film that is neither particularly satisfying nor memorable.
Laura, on the other hand, benefits from excellent pacing and a screenplay that never allows tedium to creep in. At just about an hour and a half, it remains brisk, engaging, and remarkably fresh all these years later.
So, if you are a fan of film noir and have ninety minutes to spare, Laura is well worth your time.
And if you do watch it, leave a comment and let me know what you thought.
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