Monthly Archives: January 2014

THE MYSTERY OF LAURA’S FIRST ENDING

by Despina Veneti

The famous – at least among noir fans – alternate ending of LAURA (1944) has been a matter of confusion for many years. Although that matter was beautifully cleared for its biggest part in the September 1978 special PREMINGER issue of the French magazine L’AVANT-SCENE (in an article written by Jacques Lourcelles, based on the translation and meticulous study of LAURA’s script by my co-author of this blog, Olivier Eyquem), following articles, biographies, and even the audio commentary in the film’s DVD edition seem to be still under a state of confusion.

Having access to a copy of the original scenario and the chance to study it thoroughly, I will try to clear this matter with as many details as possible. To begin with, the main “culprit” for this entanglement was none other than Otto himself; in the book PREMINGER: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY (New York: Doubleday and Co., 1977) (ghost-written by June Callwood), he states:

«I made the first rough cut of the picture and showed it to Zanuck in his projection room. […] It took very little skill that night to judge Zanuck’s mood. […] He got up and said to me, “Well, we missed the boat on this one. Be in my office tomorrow at eleven.’’ And he left the room.

The next day Zanuck handed me a handful of memos from his yes-men. As was to be expected, they were all negative. A couple of them suggested shelving the film and writing it off as a loss. But their ideas how to save it were even worse.

Zanuck had his own plan. He called in one of his secretaries and a writer who was under contract to Fox. Then he began to walk up and down with the obligatory cigar and polo mallet dictating an outline for a rewrite of the script. His theory was that the fault lay with the last fifteen minutes, which he wanted to replace. Half the film was told from Waldo Lydecker’s point of view, the other half from the detective’s. Now Zanuck wanted to add a third part narrated by Laura after her return which contradicted and negated everything that we saw before. […] Continue reading →

LAURA’S CUT SCENES

In September 1978, I translated and published the COMPLETE SCENARIO of LAURA in a special “Preminger” issue of the French magazine “L’Avant-scène”. The shot-by-shot description included 15 minor and major cuts which are listed hereunder. As an appendix, I added a detailed description of the FIRST ending shot by Preminger (to be discussed in our blog’s entry “The mystery of Laura’s first ending”)

Renowned film historian Jacques Lourcelles, author of the first book on Otto Preminger, had provided me with a copy of the scenario, sent to him four years before by Preminger’s office. We had several exchanges during my work on the scenario and the problems raised by the director’s slightly confusing account of LAURA’s endings. Lourcelles then made an impeccable presentation of the scenario, that unfortunately wasn’t accessible to English-speaking film specialists and film buffs…

CUT 1 : a direct continuation of the acerbic exchanges of Waldo and Mark in Lydecker’s apartment. Mark pretends to be bored by his work : murders all look the same. Waldo argues that this one is exceptional. Mark refers to Laura as “a dame”. Conversation ends with a very short narration in which Waldo comments on Mark’s tough/smart personality which he thinks might have attracted Laura.

Most of the material seems to have been ventilated in following scenes. Waldo’s comment will be – unfortunately for him – confirmed by Laura’s actual attraction to Mark, after her “resurrection”.

Nothing indicates the scene was actually shot. Continue reading →

A short note on ANN TREADWELL and SHELBY CARPENTER

POUR ANN & S - PARTY

If they were not so deplorably weak, ineffectual and almost clownish, we would perhaps call them the minor villains of the film. Judith Anderson (Ann) had indeed been a full-size menace in REBECCA, and would also be a memorable opponent in Anthony Mann’s noir western THE FURIES, where Barbara Stanwyck defaces her with scissors. Here she’s decidedly minor league – a rich, bored society woman grabbing at the first boy toy who comes along, and not above stealing him back on the rebound from her “dead” niece (who had, let us not forget, done the same to her weeks before)

Ann is the kind of character Preminger might have known during his first years in New York, when he was moving in such pseudo-brilliant spheres. She’s the first of a cohort of bitter, middle-aged women such as Barbara O’Neil in WHIRLPOOL (where her mirror scene with Tierney is a replica of LAURA’S), ANGEL FACE, Jean Kent in BONJOUR TRISTESSE, and others. As if taking on the director’s mantle, McPherson delights in stripping her of her artificial dignity by forcing her to reveal her arrangements with Shelby in the presence of Waldo. Ann’s humiliation reaches a peak when both men deride her feeble explanations. Continue reading →

“Homages” to LAURA

VICKI (1953)

Director: Harry Horner

VICKI1 générique

A remake of Fox’s Noir I WAKE UP SCREAMING (1941), with Jeanne Crain and Jean Peters reenacting the characters played by Betty Grable and Carole Landis.

Harry Horner had been a student of Preminger in Vienna. His “homage” to the Master is evident from the start. Peters’ portrait is quite reminiscent of Tierney’s, and framed similarly.

Towards the end of the film, Crain and suspect Elliott Reid take refuge in an all-night movie house. The off-screen film is… LAURA, and a portion of the precinct scene is heard.

VICKI7 salle VICKI6 salle

Inside joke relished by Premingerians : Reid complain he’s “seen the film four times” while waiting for Crain… Continue reading →

LAURA’S REMAKES

LAURA : PORTRAIT FOR MURDER (TV MOVIE, 1955)

Director : John Brahm

Producer : Otto Lang (TFC Television Productions)

Broadcast : CBS,  10/19/1955. 56 mn

Screenplay : Mel Dinelli

Director of photo : Lloyd Ahern (LAURA’s operating cameraman)

Art direction : Lyle Wheeler, Herman Blumenthal

Editor : Robert Simpson

CAST : George Sanders (Waldo Lydecker), Dana Wynter (Laura Hunt), Robert Stack (Mark McPherson), Scott Forbes (Shelby Caprenter), Johnny Washbrook Danny Morgan), Gloria Clark (Bessy), Gordon Wynne (MacAvity), Robert (B.) Williams (Fred Callaghan), Harry Carter (Policeman)

One of the numerous “capsule” television remakes of Twentieth Century Fox classics. Also released as film in certain territories.

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