Laura by Vera Caspary
book published 1943
film released 1944
My old friend Sergio Angelini has a
wonderful podcast called Tipping My Fedora (following on from
his blog of that name) looking at All Things Noir.
Tipping My Fedora | Sergio
Angelini
Earlier this year I was a guest on the podcast to discuss
the works of Ross MacDonald – and now he has invited me back.
This time the subject is a 1940s noir classic book and film:
Laura
by Vera Caspary
54.
LAURA (1944), with Moira Redmond | Tipping My Fedora
It is always fascinating to chat with Sergio and we covered
a wide range of talking points – including, of course, clothes – and generally
had a great old time. Please listen and enjoy....
If you are then inspired to listen to the
previous podcast featuring me, you can find the link in this post
How wonderful, Moira! You two are both so knowledgeable and that's a classic! Perfect pair of broadcasters, perfect topic! Win-win, if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for those kind words - we really enjoyed ourselves...
DeleteHad such a fab time discussing this book and movie that we did it twice (ahem). We covered a lot of ground too - thanks for being such a great partner in crime, Moira.
ReplyDeleteAnd ... no idea why that was posted anonymously 🤣
DeleteAlways a pleasure to talk to you Sergio - you are the perfect host in both senses 😀
DeleteWere the names deliberately switched in the post title? Threw me off a bit. Will be catching the podcast soon.
ReplyDelete19:01 Anonymous was Marty.
ReplyDeleteOh blimey Marty! I have changed it now, honestly, I should never do things in a hurry. I was finishing it off and rushing to go out, and actually had a moment of thinking 'I should've done one more read-through'. Thanks for saving my embarrassment from going on for too long...
DeleteI thought for a minute the post was about Vera Stanhope!
DeleteTee hee. Honestly, what a mistake to make!
DeleteI've seen the film (it used to be one of those Sunday afternoon staples on BBC2, I think - now perhaps more likely to crop up on Talking Pictures TV); haven't read the book; will listen to the podcast.
ReplyDeleteSovay
It is a classic film. I say in the podcast that - unusually for me - I knew it as a film primarily, and only found out about (and read) the book later.
DeleteUnreliable internet means I’m getting the podcast in short choppy sections - interesting so far but I’m not sure I have the patience to persist! But I’ve heard enough to add the book to my list.
DeleteSovay
That is so annoying! But i think you will enjoy the book
DeleteAs the owner of a (mild) overbite myself I've always been tickled that Gene Tierney's (in my opinion also mild) overbite was considered crazy sexy. It even rated a comment from surgeon Hawkeye Pierce on TV's M*A*S*H. -- your blogfriend, Trollopian
ReplyDeleteThat's the most unexpected comment we've had! I had never noticed it before but have been looking up photos of her now. Obv a most attractive feature, in her and I'm sure you...
DeleteOh, thank you, I am no beauty in the Gene Tierney class, but neither her parents nor mine apparently were bullied into braces (the metal contraptions, not the things that hold up pants and that Americans call "suspenders), and we are no worse off for it. I am not sure my overbite would please Trollope. Marty has pointed out elsewhere (https://clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-eustace-diamonds-part-2-hunting-and.html?m=1) that he comments a LOT on women's teeth. Bordering on fetish. He liked them small, white, even, and shy, if teeth can be shy. Not like Blanche's in Framley Parsonage: "They were white and regular and lofty as a row of new houses in a French city. But then when she laughed she was all teeth." Fashions in teeth are a real thing. A fact oft ignored in costume dramas. --your blogfriend, Trollopian
DeleteI'm sure you're right. I have a dear friend, whose children were occasionally diagnozed with this and that, as children are - overbite, dyslexia, ADHD, as it might be. She would immediately start spotting those items in other children, and helpfully informing the parents, which was not always welcome, and she could not imagine for a moment why they weren't pleased by her helpful cmments.
DeleteLove the Framley comment. And now I will really start noticing teeth in Trollope...
Lucky for Blanche that she didn't have buck teeth....Trollope might have gagged at those! It seemed odd to me that even perfect teeth were supposed to be kept under wraps, so to speak. The remark about her laugh reminded me of a comment by a cranky TV critic about Mary Tyler Moore, that when she smiled she looked like a cross between a cannibal and a piano.
DeleteYou just never know what peope are going to have an opinion on.
DeleteWhat an unnecessary comment on MTM - she looked perfectly normal
That critic was notorious for such remarks, I believe. "Cranky" was a relatively mild word to describe him! One of his pronouncements regarding TV was that The only woman he would allow in his living room was Blythe Danner--I always wondered why Ms Danner or anyone else would WANT to be in his living room.
DeleteSometimes people don't realize how they are showing themselves up, rather than the person they are getting at....
DeleteI listened to the podcast and then found the book online and read it. I was worried that the book would be a different animal from the film--my old bugbear about adaptations--but it didn't vary too much. I did have some questions, however! Where did Judith Anderson's film character come from--was she a replacement for the silly aunt? Waldo made a remark that placed the book in 1942, and the film was from 1944 , but besides a couple mentions of war news in the book you wouldn't know there was a rather important fight going on. How did those nice healthy young men stay out of the services? In the book Mark had a limp but Shelby seemed fine, and in the film both were in good shape. (Bone spurs, perhaps?) The war might have had something to do with Laura's professional success too, perhaps most of her competitors were off on other continents getting shot at. I didn't really get an impression of Laura as all that tough--smart and talented, but not showing any steeliness under the "velvet glove"! Toward the end of the book she seemed to kind of fall apart instead of "taking it on the chin" when bad news hit. That's my take on it anyway. I did like Laura (the book and the person)! And I agree that the murder weapon of the book was rather...improbable!
ReplyDeleteThey changed the character of the aunt somewhat - possibly because they had Judith Anderson on hand 😀 I guess the war questions arise in a lot of books and films of the time - it must be hard for authors and screenwriters to decide which path to take. It's come up in the comments before, and we thought that some writers decided there was space for items that didnt mention the war, enabled people to get away from it all.
DeleteI think the character of Laura was somewhat enighmatic and that was probs deliberate...
There was a discussion in the podcast about the use of dreams in film, and I thought about one of Edward G Robinson's pictures, The Woman in the Window. A nice professor fell for a model and got into all kinds of trouble because of her, and the film began to have a noirish feel. I was worried because I liked the prof, but I needn't have been because guess what.....
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have summed it up nicely! I always say 'oh that old chestnut', but actually enjoy the trope! A few detective books too.
DeleteIt's a big relief, the same as when you wake up from a nightmare of your own, but it can be a lazy writer's easy way out of plotting dilemmas and I can understand why readers and viewers might feel cheated....That happened with a "prime-time soap opera" on American TV--lots of water had gone over the dam, there was even character development IIRC, and then viewers were told, "oh, forget about all that"! I see how dreams can be used to great effect in the right hands, but they don't always get into the right hands!
DeleteI think if it has been planned out, and there is a reason for doing it - that's fine. But sometimes it seems like it's a lazy way out of a situation, or a way of bringing back a character or actor, and that is disappointing.
DeleteI read one crime book where the dream was a lesson to the dreamer: if you don't improve your behaviour, this could happen. Well it's not the best plotline in the world, but it has a certain internal sense
That crime book sounds a little like A Christmas Carol!
DeleteGood point!
DeleteCatching up on CiB...
ReplyDeleteOh lovely. I must now dash off and play the Fedora episode.
For the record, I have both the book (had the pb forever) and the movie, on VHS. Why yes, I still have my VCR, so I can play my olden goldie movies.
Good for you! You can immerse yourself in Vera. I still have DVDs, and there isnt even much opportunity to play them these days.
DeleteOkay, after enjoying the Laura Fedora episode, I found the 1955 TV movie on YouTube. I thought it was well done and neatly fit into 43 minutes. Special treat: George Sanders as Waldo.
DeleteI thought it was pretty good, and if you hadn't seen the film you'd have thought it was the right length. George Sanders can't miss!
DeleteI saw the 1944 film yesterday. I can imagine Sanders as Waldo, maybe not better than Webb but different. Did you know that Sanders also had a good singing voice--he sang his own songs in Call Me Madam!
DeleteSanders might have come closer physically to the book's Waldo, he was huskier than Webb, I think.
DeleteThey are very different, but both bring something to the role. If you had just seen one of them you would think 'oh he is absolutely perfect', but both do a great job. I really liked Robert Stack in the TV version.
DeleteI did not know Sanders could sing!