Resolution (80-8 min.)
- The detective finds the writer's gun in a clock, proving that he
did it. He thought he had killed Laura, not the other woman with whom the
fiancee was cheating (in Laura's own apartment). But before the writer can
be arrested, he lets himself into Laura's apartment to kill her - and almost
does before the detective comes to the rescue in the nick of time, shooting
the writer, whose parting words are to Laura, "I love you."
Notes
What keeps Laura moving with great suspense are a long series of
deceptions and plot twists. For example:
- The narrator talks about the horrible death of Laura: a device
that ends up being a lie. But after experiencing the movie, we forget how
we got into it and forgive this.
- The fiancee's alibi of a concert is false because the program was
changed at the last minute, and he didn't know this.
- A strange brand of Scotch ends up on Laura's liquor shelves.
- Laura changes her story about marrying the fiancee - originally she
went out of town to think about it, decided against it, but later tells the
detective it is on again. She can't believe the fiancee could have done
it and so is protecting him.
- The detective arrests Laura for the murder - knowing, or believing,
she didn't do it.
- And many more.
Laura, less than an hour and a half in length, is written with
great scene economy. There is not a wasted moment in this movie.
MODULE 4:
SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting
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