In 1999, Laura was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
[6] New York City Police Department Detective Mark McPherson is investigating the murder of a young, beautiful, highly successful advertising executive, Laura Hunt, killed by a shotgun blast to the face just inside the doorway of her apartment.
He first interviews charismatic newspaper columnist Waldo Lydecker, an imperious, effete older man who relates how he met Laura and became her mentor.
Mark also questions Laura's parasitic playboy fiancé, Shelby Carpenter, a "kept man" tethered to her wealthy socialite aunt, Ann Treadwell.
Through the testimony of Laura's friends and reading her letters and diary, Mark becomes obsessed with her − so much so that Waldo finally accuses him of falling in love with the dead woman.
Otto Preminger was looking for a theatrical project to direct and first became aware of Vera Caspary's story when her agent offered him the first draft of a play called Ring Twice for Laura.
Preminger liked the high-society setting and the unusual plot twist, but he felt the work needed a major revision and offered to rewrite it with its author.
[9] Interim studio head William Goetz, serving in that capacity while Darryl F. Zanuck was fulfilling his military duty, assigned Preminger the task of developing the books for the screen.
He favored Clifton Webb, a noted Broadway actor, who had not appeared before the cameras since 1930, and who at that time was performing in the Noël Coward play Blithe Spirit in Los Angeles.
Fox casting director Rufus LeMaire and Zanuck both objected to Webb because of his effeminate mannerisms, which were exactly what Preminger felt suited the character.
He offered relative newcomers Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews little support, allowed theatrically trained Judith Anderson to play to the balcony instead of reining in her performance, and virtually ignored Webb, who had learned that the director was unhappy with his casting.
Preminger immediately hired a new cinematographer and scenic designer and replaced the portrait of Laura – a crucial element of the film; Mamoulian's wife Azadia had painted the original portrait, but Preminger replaced that with an enlarged photograph (taken by Fox photographer Frank Polony) of Tierney, lightly dabbed with oils to give it the ethereal effect he wanted.
Alfred Newman, music director for Fox, convinced Preminger to give Raksin a weekend to compose an original tune.
Inspired by a "Dear John" letter he received from his wife over the course of that weekend, Raksin composed the haunting theme, also titled "Laura",[15] for which Johnny Mercer later wrote lyrics.
It eventually became a jazz standard recorded by more than 400 artists, including Stan Kenton, Dick Haymes, Woody Herman, Nat King Cole, The Four Freshmen, Charlie Parker, Billy Eckstine, and Frank Sinatra.
Thomas M. Pryor of The New York Times observed: When a murder mystery possessing as much sustained suspense, good acting and caustically brittle dialogue as Laura ... comes along it might seem a little like carping to suggest that it could have been even better.
[17]Variety said: The film's deceptively leisurely pace at the start, and its light, careless air, only heighten the suspense without the audience being conscious of the buildup.
They may even add to it ... [T]he whole film is of a piece: contrived, artificial, mannered, and yet achieving a kind of perfection in its balance between low motives and high style.
The website's critics consensus reads, "A psychologically complex portrait of obsession, Laura is also a deliciously well-crafted murder mystery.
Bonus tracks include commentaries by film historian Jeanine Basinger, composer David Raksin, and author Rudy Behlmer; a deleted scene; the original theatrical trailer; and Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait and Vincent Price: The Versatile Villain, two episodes from A&E Biography.
In addition, Laura was presented twice on The Screen Guild Theater (August 20, 1945, and February 23, 1950), both episodes starring Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, and Clifton Webb.
In 1955, the movie was remade as a presentation of the drama anthology series The 20th Century Fox Hour, starring Dana Wynter in the title role.
Laura was also adapted for a television production produced by David Susskind, aired on January 24, 1968, starring Lee Radziwiłł in Gene Tierney's part.
[26] David Lynch's mystery series Twin Peaks borrows general plot elements and character names from Laura.
The script was adjusted accordingly, featuring a character in a detective role falling in love with a supposed murder victim through her personal logs, only to discover that she was, in fact, alive.