Laura

In one of the most celebrated 1940s film noirs, chain-smoking Manhattan detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) investigates the murder of Madison Avenue executive Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney) in her fashionable apartment. As he tries to crack the case and uncover her murderer, McPherson trails Laura’s arrogant best friend, gossip columnist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), and her seemingly mild fiancé, Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price). As the detective grows ever more obsessed with the case, he finds himself falling in love with the seemingly unknowable dead woman, leading him down a rabbit hole of self-destruction and danger. Even in a genre known for its tricky twists, Laura, from celebrated director Otto Preminger (Anatomy of a Murder), is a hauntingly unique, one-of-a-kind film noir that has influenced generations of filmmakers, including David Lynch, whose groundbreaking ‘90s TV series Twin Peaks borrowed plot elements and character names from the film. (Dir. by Otto Preminger, 1944, USA, 88 mins., Not Rated)