The 1944 film directed by Otto Preminger that stars Gene Tierney as a woman believed to be murdered is Laura.
This American film noir adapts Vera Caspary’s 1943 novel. Detective Mark McPherson, played by Dana Andrews, investigates Laura Hunt’s supposed murder and becomes fascinated by her portrait, diaries, and relationships with the men who knew her. Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, and Judith Anderson round out the central cast.
Laura had an unusually troubled production. Rouben Mamoulian began directing, but producer Darryl F. Zanuck replaced him with Preminger after disagreements over the film’s tone and visual approach. Preminger also replaced the original portrait of Laura with a photograph of Gene Tierney enhanced with paint, creating one of the movie’s most memorable images.
The film received five Academy Award nominations and won for Best Black and White Cinematography. It is sometimes confused with Leave Her to Heaven, another Gene Tierney film involving obsession and death, but that 1945 film is a separate psychological drama.