Anatomy of a Murder ***
Otto Preminger, 1959
US
@ Film Forum

I was kind of reminded of the critical conversation around Zodiac (see, for example, this year's version of Slate's Movie Club), that it pays very close attention to the details of the investigative process that sort of evaporates at the end. The climax here seems to really take place off-screen in the jury room while Paul Biegler and co. try to relax in his "law office."

I was also reminded of Fincher's film in the impressively large cast and, more impressive, how each tidbit was interesting and/or funny. I finally felt a little bored during the last few witness testimonies, but the film mostly steams forward for over 2.5 hours. The judge's early morning walk up to the courthouse was a noticeable break in the action.

The three films I've seen in this series have all had amazing scripts, and I may need to see a few more. I may try to catch Bunny Lake Is Missing or Advise & Consent, though mostly I'd like to see the Preminger/George Sanders double feature, since that sounds like a match made in heaven--Clifton Webb in Laura got me thinking about George Sanders' critic in All About Even, a role I adore (if that's an admissible verb in this case).

See also: TCMdb | Movie Club 2007 | Dave Kehr on Preminger | Film Forum page

Daisy Kenyon **
Otto Preminger, 1947
US
@ Film Forum

They used the "Subterranean Homesick Blues" video from Don't Look Back as a trailer beforehand. I'd never realized that Allan Ginsberg is standing a few yards back at the far left of the frame talking to someone facing away from the camera.

Henry Fonda has his moments here, but the character lives too much inside his own head for Fonda to really do much with the role. Dana Andrews, on the other hand, is deliciously^ condescending, especially towards the women.

Best moment: Andrews' despicable lawyer is lashing out at his wife for eavesdropping on a phone call to his mistress. His younger daughter creeps into the room silently before he throttles the poor woman and yells, "I never thought you were worth killing before, but now I realize I was wrong!" or something completely over-the-top like that.

See also: TCMdb

^ "Delicious" in that how can you truly root for the woman in the melodrama without a truly loathsome man opposite?

Laura ***
Otto Preminger, 1944
US
@ Film Forum

Man, what a way to start off the year. The cast is strong across the board, although it's really the dialogue that sticks and not the characters. Also, a lot of whiskey is consumed. I was reminded a bit of Scarlet Street by the star-crossed May-December romance involving art in New York City, although the sympathies are very much shifted around.

Clifton Webb is memorable for the way he just stares into space while saying his lines. Kind of like his character's life is simply a well-rehearsed collection of unbelievably witty one-liners delivered to whomever might happen to be around--that is, within the logic of the story on screen and not necessarily from our point of view. He and Andrews both have terrific voices. It's kind of funny how short Webb's narration is at the beginning, although I guess it does pick back up when he's telling the backstory to Andrews' detective.

See also: TCMdb