1940's Hall Of Fame Part I

But the movie's main focus is on a character study of how Laura impacts the men around her. Shes this luminous beauty with je ne sais quoi, that make men madly fall for her. She can transform the men around her just with her sheer looks alone in the case of Dana Andrews. Each of the three men in the story are deeply effected by her, she's a muse that drives them to action and that's what the film focuses on...Laura.

SPOILERS for Laura

But then it's not about Laura, really. The story centers around the effect she has on the men, rather than it being her story. (I agree, that's more or As far as I can recall, we hear little from Laura concerning her own situation. It's Waldo who does most of the talking, and it's through him we get a sense for who Laura is. What we get are his assumptions, his conclusions as to what she thinks, how she feels. Laura gets little room to give an account of herself, and what we experience is not her story, but the tale of a woman with, as you say, je ne sais quoi and the effect that has on the men in her life. Of said woman we hear prescious little. It's the mens' story of how they're effected, not Laura's story of how she affects. You say as much in the above quote, but your conclusion's faulty. I'd say a more correct summation of the storys plot is that it's a study of want from three different points of view; one of want pushing a subject to destruction, one of passing want, soon forgotten and passed up for a different one, and finally the third one; one with an unsure outcome, as the story ends before discovering if the feeling of want is reciprocated in kind. Officer McPherson seems to have fallen for Laura, but we don't know if the feeling could be mutual, as we never hear Laura's thoughts on the matter. The movie ends with the death of Waldo and the matter's yet undecided.

But aside from that, I concede your point that the movie's main focus does not lie in the murder mystery, but rather in the study of the characters. As such, I've already said I enjoyed it, and might be persuaded to rethink my position. I just wish that they could've put a little more effort in that regard. But then less focus would've been exerted on the main point, so let's go for that they chose wisley where to put the effort.

Thanks. I feel like I haven't said much about the films I've watched lately, but then again not every write-up needs to be 1000 words...

I was impressed by the skill of the film making and the cinematography. I guess I was expecting almost a homemade movie look, as this was done post war and I didn't expect them to have the resources to make the film look so stunningly beautiful.

Here you can see where American directors drew their inspiration for the dark and shadowy Film Noirs of the 1940s-50s.

Nah, Destiny hasn't started, Neiba has watched one and Daniel has watched two. Going by their write-ups at least.

....The basis in German Expressionism is precisely why I tend to like film noirs so much.