Laura (1968 film)
1968 American TV film
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Laura is a 1968 American TV film, a remake of the 1944 film of the same name. It was directed by John Llewellyn Moxey and written by Truman Capote and Thomas Phipps.[1] David Susskind produced.[2]
Thomas Phipps
David Susskind
Arlene Francis
Farley Granger
| Laura | |
|---|---|
| Based on | |
| Screenplay by | Truman Capote Thomas Phipps |
| Directed by | John Llewellyn Moxey David Susskind |
| Starring | Eithne Dunne Arlene Francis Farley Granger |
| Music by | Robert Prince David Raksin |
| Countries of origin | United States United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | David Susskind |
| Editor | Alfred Muller |
| Running time | 120 minutes |
| Production company | American Broadcasting Company |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | January 24, 1968 |
The film had previously been adapted for television in 1955 as A Portrait of Murder.
Plot
Cast
- George Sanders as Waldo Lydecker
- Robert Stack as Mark McPherson
- Arlene Francis as Mrs. Ann Treadwell
- Farley Granger as Shelby Carpenter
- Lee Radziwill (billed as "Lee Bouvier") as Laura Hunt
Production
Truman Capote was friends with Lee Radziwill who wanted to act and had made her stage debut in a revival of The Philadelphia Story. He met up with David Susskind and told him, "Lee Radiziwill is going to be an actress and I think we should all put something together for her. I'm sure that she'll be so good I'll write it for her myself."[3]
Susskind thought Radziwill "wasn't very good" in her stage performance "but I thought maybe I saw a glimmer of something in her performance. The television companies had noticed the publicity, so it looked like we could set something up."[3]
Capote wrote an adaptation of The Voice of the Turtle for her but Susskind worried it would be too difficult. So he suggested they do Laura.[4]
Michael Dyne reportedly rewrote Capote's script.[5]
The show was taped in London in October 1967. Robert Stack and George Sanders reprised roles they had performed on TV in the 1955 version.[6][3] Stack recalled in his memoirs that "the production resembled a junior high school effort."[7]
Reception
Critical reception to Radziwill's performance was hostile.[8] The Chicago Tribune called it the "worst drama" of the season in which Radziwill was "unbelievably bad".[9] Another review in The Washington Post said it was "disappointing all round."[10] The New York Times called it "so laboured and so dull that the occasion was just a laboured walk through."[11]