Lydecker: How Memory Can Fool Ya by Meredith

Meredith Antley
Film Noir and Novel
Prof. Sinowitz
5 October 2017

    Lydecker: How Memory Can Fool Ya

The easiest way to tell how someone really feels is how they describe someone. The way they look, or how they naturally smile when reflecting on a fond memory without even noticing truly shows someone’s pure emotion towards any subject. In movies, however, a monologue like is a boring chunk of time with little to no excitement. Try thinking of a singular movie where there is a three minute monologue of just a close up of someone describing a moments they’ve shared with someone else. Can’t think of one? Right. That’s because a more useful tool is to use flashbacks. Those flashbacks generally contain cuts from the memory to the present, accurately displaying how one truly feels about the subject. The montage of the flashbacks in the beginning of Otto Preminger’s movie Laura eloquently demonstrates Waldo Lydecker’s undeniable growing love for Laura Hunt. Within this collaboration of shots, the use of close ups, zoom shots, and high key lighting clearly shows how Lydecker views his relationship with Laura. This montage also gives Lydecker his motive for his attempt at murdering Laura. He feels as if he gave Laura a new beginning.
The first time we are introduced to Laura as human being, as opposed to a corpse, is found throughout Lydecker’s soliloquy describing her to Detective McPherson. This series of shots is a key part of the film since it gives a sense of history between Lydecker and Laura. It gives us an idea of what she was like, but only in Waldo Lydecker’s eyes. Our general assumption of Laura in the beginning of the film is based solely off of his thoughts and ideas about her, and how the shots depict her. Perhaps if we were given a scene of Laura before she was murdered and without narration, we could get a truer sense of what she was like. However since that does not happen, we only can base how we feel about Laura (and her relationship with Lydecker) through what he says about her. These many connecting shots show how Lydecker feels, without him actually admitting it. The angles, the lighting, and even the way he looks at her as an actor, proves what the audience suspects without him admitting anything.

Waldo Lydecker tells Detective McPherson all he knows about Laura as he recalls his time spent with her. Throughout this montage, Lydecker narrates the story. I found that while watching this collection of shots that when Lydecker is actively narrating the shots are shorter, and these certain shots contain generally medium shots and high key lighting, making Laura stand out. Even when it is just the two of them in the shot, your eye is drawn to her. It’s supposed to. We have to be looking at Laura, since the majority of this montage (especially after they first met and before she meets Shelby Carpenter, her eventual fiancé) is how Lydecker views Laura; he admires her. The shot that idolizes her the most in Lydecker’s eyes is when she is sitting next to him, but higher up. This schot begins with a dissolve from them eating dinner, to her smoking a cigarette while Lydecker reads her his articles. It begins with the use of a medium shot, but as this snippet progresses, it turns into a close up of Laura, and then dissolves into a Lydecker and McPherson in the present. This one shot stands out because it demonstrates her natural beauty. She literally glows before we return to Lydecker. As his narration continues, he explains to McPherson that Laura began to draw away from him when she began to see someone else without telling him. If it wasn’t obvious before, the audience becomes more aware of Lydecker’s growing feelings for Laura when he goes on a walk and “finds himself in front of her apartment.” With the use of a low shot, the audience looks into Laura’s appartment from the perspective of Lydecker, and sees Laura with another man. The use of a low shot in this section not only is used to feel as if we are viewing this as if we were Lydecker, but to show the power that Laura has over him. He fell in love with her, and instead of her feeling the same way (as he perhaps thought), she was with another man. Instead of confronting her, he writes an article about the man’s character. The use of high contrast lighting (the only light in this specific shot is coming from her window, surrounding it is darkness) creates kind of a creepy feeling for the viewer, as if we can feel how uncomfortable and hurt Lydecker feels. If the shot was longer, who knows what we would have seen. As Laura begins to show feelings for another potential suitor, Shelby, Lydecker’s voice-over evaporates and we are left with only the voices of Laura and Shelby.

In the absence of Lydecker’s narration, the shots become longer and we actually get to hear Laura speak. The audience gets to experience first hand what Laura’s apparent “warmth, vitality, authentic magnetism,” was like. She exemplifies this in her first meeting with Shelby. Through the shots with Shelby and Laura, at first there is an absence of Lydecker. It is a full shot at a party, but still the focus is heavily on Laura. She stands out, not from lighting but from costuming. Her dress is white and it contrasts with the dark dresses, suits, and maids outfits. You notice her instantly. Shelby spots Laura from across the room. At this take, he is in a medium shot and the camera pans, following him to Laura. The use of this technique is to track Shelby has he excitedly greets Laura. There conversation is kept at a two-shot (or a medium shot containing two people). Here you can see Shelby’s intentions and his body language indicates that he is interested, as well as their actual conversation. The majority if this mini scene when they are at the party, has a lack of Lydecker narrating and more of him actually being there, which is different than before. Instead hearing him describe her feelings, his reactions, and their activities we are immersed into their real lives. We aren’t told by him what to think about Laura and their relationship, we live it. We see it.

After studying this montage thoroughly, a question rises on whether or not Laura felt the same way.     What Lydecker feels for Laura is distinct, not only in his narration but throughout the midst of these short shots. By picking out new clothes for her to wear, a different hairdresser, and a new job, he more or less recreated a new and better version of Laura, and through that he fell in love with her. He claims that she did it on her own, but it is obvious that he feels somewhat responsible for her success. While viewing the shots that use live conversation as opposed to his voice-over, it seems as if Laura only viewed their relationship as a boss-employee friendship. It was almost as if she felt he was her mentor. His narration and selective flashbacks give the impression that she, for the most part, felt the same way. It isn’t until her first date with another man and with Shelby, that we understand otherwise. Being an unreliable narrator skews the perception of the situation for the audience. We believe what they believe because we don’t know otherwise. In this case, we realize sooner rather than later that Lydecker romanticizes his relationship with Laura to the point that he wants to murder her so no one else can have her.