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Otto Preminger's Film Noir "Laura" is shot in muted high contrast black and white film, with very few of the edgy angular shots and harsh shadows characteristic of the genre. But its protagonist, a beautiful, kind and sophisticated young woman, is also not your typical femme fatale.
Laura, who says things like "I never have been and I never will be bound by anything I don't do with my own free will", and who's made a highly successful career in an advertising firm, cannot get it right when it comes to the men she would marry (or frequent).
Everybody loves Laura, from her house help, to her homosexual writer friend and mentor, and finally the detective who first falls in love with her "dead" persona. Each person finds his own reasons for loving her: for the writer Waldo Lydecker, she is someone with whom he can share his sophisticated lifestyle; for the maid, she is a kind and empathetic employer; for her fiancé-to-be Shelby, she is the generous heiress; and even Detective McPherson falls under her spell - albeit apparently dead - since she is someone whom he can rescue (or fantasize about?).
Yet Laura's innocence (purity) is what causes all the mayhem. Her choice of men - the possessive Lydecker and her cheating fiancé Shelby, and even the painter of her portrait (which causes the Det. McPherson to fall in love with her) - are not pleasant characters. Except perhaps for the Det. McPherson. It is her association with these shady men that results in murder.
It is rare that a film portrays a good, kind woman in this manner. Usually, femme fatales are arrogant, conniving women, who deliberately manipulate all those around them.
And this is testament to the sophistication of these earlier films, which were able to tap into the paradox of real characters. Laura never sets out to be destructive, yet she had her own subtle narcissism - "I never have been and I never will be bound by anything I don't do with my own free will" - which set the stage for the disaster that was to follow.
It is like the quote from Matthew 10:16:
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.It is never enough to be a harmless dove, but also a wise serpent. Laura, in her innocence, and her self-centeredness, never felt it necessary to develop her wisdom. Her intelligence and goodwill (and her beauty) only took her thus far.