Anderson missed a lot of facts in his review of the Feminist
Press edition of _Laura_. Let's not forget that Vera Caspary
was also an accomplished screenwriter (eg, _Letter to Three
Wives_, 1949), and
_Laura_ started life first as a play, then as a 22-page
screen treatment, before it became a novel, which suggests
that Caspary had cinematic issues in mind from the earliest
stages of _Laura_. In addition, Tierney made suggestions as
to the portrayal of her character that Preminger accepted.
Laura's testimony, present in the novel, was excised from the
film version, unlike McPherson's or Lydecker's.
For more on _Laura_ and the significant influence of Wilkie
Collins on Caspary, see A.B. Emrys's "Laura, Vera, and
Wilkie: Deep Sensation Roots of a Noir Novel" (_CLUES: A
Journal of Detection_, Spring 2005: 5-11) and _The Secrets of
Grownups_, Caspary's autobiography (New York: McGraw,
1979).
Elizabeth Foxwell Managing Editor, CLUES: A Journal of
Detection http://www.heldref.org/clues.php
--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, DJ-Anonyme@... wrote:
>
> Patrick Anderson reviews Vera Caspary's Laura in
today's Washington
> Post:
>
>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/23/AR2006072300646.html
>
> He starts off by saying what a big fan he is of the
movie, but he had
> never previously read the book upon which it was
based. A recent
> rewatching of the movie finally led me to pick up
the novel, which had
> been sitting on my shelves for years, too. During
this most recent
> viewing, I was pretty aware of the seams between the
acts, so I wanted
> to see how the book handled it.
>
> Indeed, the book is most interesting for its early
use of shifting first
> person sections. And it was an enjoyable enough
read, even knowing the
> McGuffin. However, I am in total agreement with
Anderson that the movie
> greatly improved upon the novel.
>
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