Groundhog Day

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Yes, this is a crazy comedy. But due to screenwriter/director, Harold Ramis, and the performance of Bill Murray, Groundhog Day (1993) successfully combines humor with an insightful exploration of various facets of human nature.

The film begins with a sky that is getting cloudy, as will the fate of the protagonist. The opening song says, “seasons come, and seasons go,” stressing change. The weatherman is the person who tries to help others to prepare for the fluctuations in the climate by foreseeing them. Phil Connors (Murray, who should have received an Oscar nomination for this role), however, is a self-absorbed Pittsburgh TV weather forecaster, who is egotistical about his ability to predict what’s going to happen, which makes him feel superior to others. His forecast on this day is snow which will miss the city and hit Altoona instead. He is smug in his condescension toward fellow workers. He calls the local news anchorwoman “Hairdo,” and says a major network is interested in him. Cameraman Larry (Chris Elliott) shoots back that it’s probably the Home Shopping Network. So Phil’s arrogance provokes dislike. He believes he is the “talent,” which he calls himself, and it’s a waste for him to attend the annual Groundhog Day festival on February 2nd in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. He is snobby about the rural local citizens, whom he later calls “morons,” who celebrate the silly idea that an animal, with the same name as Phil, which galls him, is equal to Phil’s ability to know if the rest of the winter will be cold by whether or not the critter sees his shadow. 

Along with Larry traveling in the TV station van is new producer Rita (Andie MacDowell). She wants to stay a bit longer after the ceremony in Punxsutawney because she thinks it’s a great human-interest story. She has affection for small town life. Phil ominously says this time will be his last doing this gig, and is concerned that someone might see him at the festival and think he has “no future.” How right he turns out to be, at least through a large part of his journey, if measured by his selfish view of what constitutes success. 

The town is an old-fashioned American community whose citizens have simple, wholesome tastes, as can be seen as the van passes a local movie theater showing a Heidi movie. Larry calls Phil a “prima donna” since he won’t stay at the hotel he labels “a fleabag.” Rita, anticipating his reaction, booked him in a bed and breakfast. Phil wakes up the next day as the clock-radio plays Sonny and Cher singing “I Got You Babe” at six in the morning, the first of innumerable times he will hear that song. The local broadcasters joke about the cold weather, and how the words on everybody’s “chapped lips,” because they are not in “Miami Beach,” are that it is Groundhog Day. 

Phil’s’ misanthropic attitude is in high gear. He is sarcastic to a man who is cheery anticipating what the groundhog will predict about the length of the winter. Phil says with a snobby attitude that he thinks it will end on March 21. After asking the hostess, Mrs. Lancaster (Angela Paton), for some specialty coffee and getting no definitive response, he snidely questions under his breath whether the bed and breakfast hostess can spell, “espresso,” or “cappuccino.” In response to whether he will be checking out that day, he uses his weatherman terminology and says, “Chance of departure today, 100 percent.” The man who is so sure of himself turns out to be 100 percent wrong.

The first time he passes by an old panhandler, he fakes looking for something in his pockets to give the man as he walks past. It is a token act of false concern. He meets an annoying but good-natured insurance salesman, Ned Ryerson (Stephen Tobolowsky) who knew Phil in high school. Of course the self-centered Phil admits that there’s “not a chance” that he recalls this fellow. Ned tries to jar Phil’s memory by saying he “did the whistling belly button trick at the talent show.” Phil pretends he remembers him and comes up with one of my favorite lines when he asks Ned, “Did you turn pro with that belly button thing?” Ned may be goofy, but he insightfully says he doesn’t understand fellow workers who rely on actuarial charts to predict people’s lives, and he adds that life is all a “crapshoot.” One of the themes of this story is that wanting to know the future and having control over it is a form of hubris, and not something to desire if that knowledge is used only for one’s own purposes. But, the film also stresses that one should learn and evolve through experience before moving forward. To stress this point, Phil now steps into an icy, wet hole in the street, the first of numerous occasions he makes this same mistake which symbolizes it takes him quite a while before he learns from his prior mistakes.

Phil goes to Gobbler's Knob for the Groundhog Day event with the Pennsylvania Polka playing in the background, which adds to the small town’s atmosphere. Rita loves the people there, who stayed up the previous night, sang songs, and are continuing the fun the next day. But, Phil has no appreciation for this country charm, calling the locals, “hicks.” He also is crude and offends Rita, saying she probably didn’t sleep well without him. The person running the show is Buster (Brian Doyle-Murray, Bill’s brother), and he says groundhog Phil saw his shadow and the bad news is there is not going to be an early spring. Phil wraps up the recording by saying TV can’t capture the excitement of a “large squirrel” predicting the weather. He walks off even though Rita wants him to do it again “without the sarcasm,” which at this point would require brain surgery to remove.

On the way out of town, the blizzard, that Phil said was supposed to miss this part of the state, closes the roads, and they can’t leave. Phil can’t accept that his prediction is wrong. When the state trooper asks him if he listened to the forecast, he says, “I make the weather.” His ego is so large that he depicts himself as someone with enough power to control nature. Rita and Larry try to make the best of the situation, and ask Phil if he wants to go to the Groundhog Day dinner, but Phil sarcastically says he had “groundhog for lunch,” again showing his hostility for the animal and the town that celebrates him. He just wants to go back to his room and read the sex magazine, Hustler, which elicits a sharp, “Suit yourself,” from the annoyed Rita. Phil doesn’t seem to care if he offends anyone.

The next day turns out to be the same day, as the clock radio again plays, “I’ve Got you, Babe,” and the disc jockeys are doing the same routine. (Ramis and co-writer Danny Rubin could have chosen any tune, but they picked a light-hearted one about the love between two people that can survive anything, which, although a simple theme, is what Phil must learn). Phil at first thinks they are playing yesterday’s tape. But there is no snow on the ground, and the town is celebrating Groundhog Day again. Phil will go through different stages as the same scenario repeats itself. He starts out with denial, confusion and then anger. When Mrs. Lancaster asks if he will be leaving that day, Phil is already starting to lose self-assuredness by saying the chances of departure are “75 to 80” percent. When told that everyone is going to celebrate Groundhog Day, he humorously, but with worry, says, “It’s still just once a year, isn’t it?” When he encounters Ned the second time (or, for the first time again), Ned guesses that Phil doesn’t have any insurance. His line stresses how Phil is the kind of person who thinks he doesn’t need anything to fall back on because he has it all figured out. His journey is meant to humble him and teach Phil that he is not the center of the universe.

When he gets to Gobbler’s Knob he admits, possibly for the first time in his life, that he “may be having a problem.” He knows what Rita is about to say, and now that predictability which comes from repetition and denies change or variety is frightening to him. On the third time he skips the broadcast and meets with Rita in the local diner. He tells her how he is reliving the same day, and she, of course, can’t figure out what his angle is to say something so crazy. Larry arrives and says what he will repeat innumerable times, “We better go, to stay ahead of the weather.” It’s something that Phil thought he could do, but he no longer has that ability.

Director Ramis plays the local neurologist that Phil visits. His physical examination is normal, and the specialist says he has to go to Pittsburgh for a CT scan or MRI. Of course, Phil confuses the doctor when he says he can’t go to the city because of the yet nonexistent blizzard. The irony here is that before, people would rely on Phil’s educated guesses about the approaching weather, but now his absolutely correct forecast is not believed, which alienates and unsettles Phil, preparing him for a change is his outlook on life. The neurologist suggests Phil see a psychiatrist (David Pasquesi). The shrink says they should meet again “tomorrow,” which won't allow the shrink to be of any help since nothing will carry forward. The next day will just be a reset with no cumulative knowledge except on the part of Phil, who must realize he must take advantage of what he learns about himself.

Instead of just going back to his room, Phil goes to the bowling alley and drinks beer with two blue-collar townspeople, Gus (Rick Ducommon) and Ralph (Rick Overton). Phil recalls a day in the Virgin Islands where he ate lobster, drank pina coladas, and made love to a woman, and wonders why he couldn’t relive that day instead. But this cosmic intervention is meant to realign Phil’s attitude toward others which would not occur if his behavior wasn’t challenged. As one of the men says, Phil “is ‘a glass half-empty’ kind of guy,” which stresses Phil’s negativity if things don’t go according to his plans. Phil asks what would they do if “stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same, and nothing you did mattered?’ The response from one of the men is, “That about sums it up for me.” The movie is a fantasy, but although people may not want to admit it, so many of them live repetitious, predictable real-life versions of Groundhog Day. (As the three leave, Ralph looks like he’s going to barf. Phil asks, “you want to throw up here or in the car?” My daughter and I love to repeat lines from this movie, and Ralph’s response that we love is, “I think … both.” We also like to say the follow-up line, after we’ve had a large meal, “Who else could go for some flapjacks?”). 

Phil does the driving since he isn’t drunk like the other two. He asks them the question that moves Phil onto the next step on his road to dealing with his situation. He wonders, “What if there were no tomorrow?” Gus’s response is “That would mean there’d be no consequences, no hangovers, we could do whatever we wanted!” This revelation leads Phil to feel liberated from any restrictions, such as those a parent might dictate such as, “Clean up your room! Stand up Straight!” He says, “I’m not going to live by their rules anymore!” His statement is attractive to that part of a person that wants to put individual freedom above all else without having to worry about effects on oneself or others. It allows one to throw morality out of the window. Phil drives the car into a large sign of the groundhog in an act of defiance of the predictable loop he is caught up in. In terms of his own selfishness, he has turned the half-empty glass into a half-full one. (Given the premise, the movie could have shown horrendous acts of immorality, but the film is a comedy, and the mood remains mostly light).

When he wakes up in bed, and not in jail, Phil celebrates this time around and what follows are a series of self-indulgences. He decks Ned with one punch and goes to the diner and eats a table full of desserts in front of the astonished Rita. He also smokes a cigarette now because he doesn’t have to worry about his health. When she calls him a man of “advancing years,” he comically responds that his “years aren’t advancing as much as you think.” Through repetition, he learns all about a woman he sees in the diner, Nancy (Marita Geraghty) and pretends they were high school roommates. He says he always loved her, and wants to marry her. His tactic persuades Nancy to have sex with him. But during their intimate encounter, he calls “Rita,” which reveals who he truly cares about. He has memorized down to the smallest detail the arrival of an armored car carrying money so he can steal a bag of cash while the guards are distracted by the diner waitress, Doris (Robin Duke). He uses the money to drive a Mercedes, dress up like a cowboy, and bring a woman who is dressed like a French maid to the movie. We know time has passed for him since he says he saw the Heidi movie “over a hundred times.” 

After apparently having satisfied his carnal appetites, which bring limited satisfaction, Phil seems to focus on Rita. Why her, besides her being physically attractive? Perhaps because she has so many admirable characteristics that he lacks, and that he sees in her what he wishes he could be. But, he doesn't understand what true romance feels like, so he goes through the motions of what he thinks it should be. He uses the same maneuvers on her he used on Nancy. He asks about her desires and her views on things, so over time he can learn enough about her in order to use his one day of opportunity to win her over by acting like they are compatible. She says she likes someone who is “humble,” but also “intelligent, supportive, funny,” among other attributes. Phil has very few of these qualities at this point although he states to Rita that he does. One important item she mentions is that her ideal man should play an “instrument,” which will be important later. There are a series of small alterations over time of the same scene at a bar where Phil acts like he loves Rita’s favorite drink, repeats her toast to “world peace,” and reads French poetry that she admires. At the end of one of numerous daily reprisals where Phil tries to get all the details right, Rita says, “It’s a perfect day. You couldn’t plan a day like this.” Phil says, “Well you can. It just takes an awful lot of work.” And that is the problem, because from Rita’s viewpoint she has found out by chance some wonderful things about someone she undervalued. But the truth is Phil is a phony, who adopted Rita’s preferences instead of really being genuinely invested in them so he can have a romantic conquest. 

Because he has only one day, he rushes her, and after kissing, she stops and wants to slow things down between them. When he pushes too much and sounds like he is making a list when he recites her dislike for fudge and white chocolate, she rightly accuses him of constructing a “setup.” He says he loves her, and he does, but he has had the time to get to know her, while she hasn’t had that experience with him. She smacks him for making her care about him, and says that he only loves himself, which isn’t completely accurate at this point, but how would she be able to know that from his behavior?

He continues to try to create the perfect day with Rita which becomes as predictable as the rest of the day he is reliving. The numerous rehearsals destroy spontaneity and become extremely forced, ending with multiple slaps to Phil’s face. The powers involved in Phil’s journey require him to learn, through failure, the sin of selfishness. Because of his personal unfulfillment, Phil then descends into a deep depression. He slowly and sadly repeats the words of the DJ’s, with his own alteration, saying, “it’s cold out there. It’s cold out there every day.” While watching an episode of “Jeopardy,” which he has memorized, he voices the answers even before the questions are finished, astonishing the others watching with him in a lobby. There is no thrill to getting the right answers if you already know them, because there is no excitement in the absence of a challenge. 

At one of his broadcasts Phil lashes out at the crowd for worshiping “a rat.” He calls the celebration “a hype.” But isn’t he the unlovable celebrity version of the groundhog who tries to predict what will happen? The tone in the movie has turned darker now as Phil offers his “winter prediction.” He says, “It’s going to be cold. It’s going to be grey. And it’s going to last you the rest of your life.” There are a series of shots of Phil destroying his clock radio as it plays at six am. Since time has become a punishment to him he wants it to stop. In another taping, he says the winter will never end, “as long as this groundhog keeps seeing his shadow,” thus extending the length of the season over and over. Phil steals the truck holding the groundhog in his carrier and kidnaps his namesake because he must put a stop to predictions. The local authorities along with Rita and Larry follow Phil to a quarry. Phil then pulls a Thelma and Louise with the groundhog as he plunges the truck off the ledge, smashing the vehicle onto the ground below. (Another couple of lines my daughter and I like to repeat when watching a car crash in a movie comes from Larry here when he says, “He might be okay,” followed by, “Well, no. Probably not,” after the truck bursts into flames). 

Killing himself and the groundhog doesn't stop the resets. Phil keeps trying to end his life, dropping a toaster in his bath, getting hit by a truck, and jumping off a building. There were many more attempts which he relates to Rita at breakfast at the diner as he tells her about his continually reliving Groundhog Day. He concludes that he is immortal, like a god. He talks about the lives of the patrons and can state when one of the waiters will drop a tray of dishes, because he has witnessed it countless times. He concludes that God may know everything just by being around long enough to gather all this information. But this shift to observational knowledge eventually allows Phil to step away from himself and become involved in the lives of others. The amazed Rita asks if he also knows about her. He has paid attention to details about her, and Phil for the first time is touching as he says that she, “likes boats but not the ocean. You go to a lake in the summer with your family up in the mountains. There’s a long wooden dock and a boathouse with boards missing from the roof, and a place you used to crawl underneath to be alone. You’re a sucker for French poetry and rhinestones. You’re very generous. You’re kind to strangers and children. And when you stand in the snow you look like an angel.” He says that Larry will walk in and he writes down what he will say about leaving “to stay ahead of the weather.” He begs her not to leave him, and, of course, Larry does exactly what Phil said.

Rita stays with Phil as they walk around Punxsutawney. He admits what he said has to be true because how else would he know so much since he’s “not that smart.” Humility has finally touched Phil’s soul. Rita says she would stay with him to be an objective observer, sort of like a “science project,” and Phil having Rita as a companion, not a conquest, allows him to enjoy life again for a day by hanging out with her. He sadly says that the “worst part is that tomorrow you’ll have forgotten all about this, and you’ll treat me like a jerk again.” He admits that is what he is, which shows how he has gained insight into himself. Rita gives him that “glass half full” twist, saying maybe it’s not a “curse” that has been visited upon him. She says, “It depends on how you look at it.” She hugs him and as she falls asleep in the middle of the night he whispers to her that he does not yet “deserve someone like you,” but promises that if he were ever worthy, he would love her for the rest of his life. What he says here contrasts with his early repetition of “Me” as being the right man for Rita. She stays with him, but she disappears at six in the morning. Phil has to reboot himself, which is what Groundhog Day has been offering him to do, to act on Rita’s optimistic take on his situation so he can be free.

In one of the subsequent Groundhog Days, Phil smiles as he approaches the umpteenth time he films the event. He brings breakfast to his work colleagues and suggests a better way to shoot the piece. He helps carry equipment and asks Larry about his life. He is no longer thinking only of himself and acts like a part of a team. He says at one of his tapings that “winter is just another step in the cycle of life.” He even says that being among the citizens of the town, he “couldn’t imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter.” He has come to embrace the cold season that he earlier despised because now he can see the bigger picture, and enjoy the emotional warmth of others.

Phil reads books to educate himself. He becomes artistic, and learns to ice sculpt. He takes piano lessons, not just because Rita wanted a man who plays an instrument, but because he uses the time granted to him as a blessing to improve himself. He greets the man at the bed and breakfast, whom he previously met with sarcasm, with joy and a poem that says winter holds the promise of spring. He is definitely making that lemonade out of the lemons. 

But he also becomes a sort of guardian angel. Phil gives all the money he has to the old beggar, and later helps him to the hospital when he sees him staggering at the end of the day. When the man passes away, and Phil realizes that Groundhog Day is the last day on earth for the man, he tries to make it better for him, making sure he has a nice meal, and even attempts to revive him when he collapses. He now knows he is not a god because he can’t change some things even if he knows how they will turn out. He helps Buster by using the Heimlich maneuver on him and helps a young woman, Debbie (Hynden Walch) get over her fear of marriage to Fred (Michael Shannon, in his film debut). He also catches a boy who falls from a tree (IMDb points out that the boy is in the hospital with a broken leg in the scene when Phil takes the old man there, so Phil later prevents the accident). He also helps change a tire for old ladies who get a flat. He buys every type of insurance offered from Ned, who says it's the best day of his life. In an astounding turnaround, Phil agrees, and says, “Mine, too.”

At the Groundhog Day dinner, which Phil now wants to attend, Rita finds out how popular Phil has become in one day since he has been very busy helping others as well as giving pleasure to those hearing him play the piano at the dinner. When she asks him what he did that day, Phil delivers one of the movie’s best lines, “Oh, same old, same old.” But he has really made that “same” into something new. She is amazed and “buys” him at an auction for charity. He makes an ice sculpture of her face, which Rita says is “lovely,” but she doesn’t know how he can make such a creation. After the passage of so much time (it has been suggested that ten years have passed), he says, “I know your face so well, I could do it with my eyes closed.” He knows how to live in the moment because, he says, that no matter what happens, he is “happy now.” He admits to loving her, and this time he is sincere. She says she is happy, too, and they kiss. As IMDb indicates, it begins to snow, which signals that there is a change coming, as it does in It’s a Wonderful Life, when George returns to the reality that includes him among the living. (And the same phenomenon occurs in another Christmas movie, The Family Man, when Nicholas Cage’s character will soon return to his real life).

The next morning turns out to really be the next morning. Even though the same song plays, the DJ’s are saying something different, and Rita’s hand comes into the shot as she turns off the radio. Phil says, “something is different,” and when she asks if that is good, he says, “Anything different is good,” as predictability is no longer needed. There is snow on the ground, so the blizzard has left its mark, and it no longer is Groundhog Day. She stayed because he asked her to, and they just fell asleep. He says it “was the end of a very long day. Is there anything I can do for you today?” His first desire now is to please another, not himself. He can now go forward to spread the benevolence he has learned so it will embrace others.

When they go outside, Phil looks at the white covering of snow, a hallmark of the season he originally despised, and says, “It’s so beautiful!” He now is so grateful for what being in the town has taught him that he says, “Let’s live here!” But he says they’ll just rent to start. Afterall, it has been a spooky place for him. The song at the end of the film (from the musical Brigadoon which appropriately plays here, because it is about a place caught in time) has the lyrics, “What a day this has been/What a rare mood I’m in/Why it’s almost like being in love/There’s a smile on my face/for the whole human race.” In the end, when true love is shared, people can be happy together anywhere. That feels like deja vu. Didn't I just say that?

The next film is Do the Right Thing.

Laura

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Laura (1944), directed by Otto Preminger, has elements that suggest it fits into the film noir category. There is murder and unsavory characters are present, but instead of focusing on the underbelly of life, with abundant shadowy camera work, the movie centers on upper-class citizens and the lighting creates scenes filled with brightness (the film won the Oscar for cinematography). The thrust here is to show that corruption lives among the so-called acceptable levels of society.

The movie begins with a shot of the portrait of Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney), who we find was killed by a shotgun wound to the head, destroying her beautiful face. We have the voice-over supplied by newspaper columnist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb in an Oscar-nominated performance) informing us of Laura’s death. He turns out to be something of an unreliable narrator. His writing is stylized, comparing the “silver” sun’s heat to a “magnifying glass,” on the day the woman died. He states that he was the only one who truly knew Laura. As he narrates, the camera pans around an upscale room with fancy goblets, candlestick holder, statue, bookcase, fireplace, and clock, among other luxurious items. The room opens onto a lovely bright balcony. 

It is Waldo’s place, and he says he was about to write Laura’s story but a detective interrupted him. His voice reflects annoyance as he says he had the policeman wait in the adjoining room while he watched him, possibly illustrating his journalist background, but also the way someone may observe the actions of an inferior creature. The cop, Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) hears the ornate timepiece chime and walks over to it. (The detective’s first name sounds like he may be a marksman who wants to hit his target, and his last name phonetically may mean criminals should “Fear” him).Waldo’s voice-over states that there were only two of the timepieces in existence, and the other was in the apartment where Laura was murdered (an important clue). Does the double-clock ownership and Waldo’s comment about really knowing Laura suggest how connected he saw them to be?

When Mark opens a glass case to handle an object, Waldo breaks his surveillance (reversing what a policeman usually does) and voices his alarm because his “priceless” possession is being handled by this crude intruder (a symbolic act that we learn shows how he sees his relationship with Laura). He invites Mark into the adjoining bathroom where Waldo is immersed in his marble tub where he has his typewriter available for him to put his thoughts down in writing. The fact that Waldo is being cleansed suggests that his character is purer, at least in his own narcissistic mind, than the policeman, who spends his time dealing with the unsavory aspects of society. Waldo’s artistic bent, who only flexes mental and verbal muscles, and the fact that he exposes himself to a man, suggests that he may be gay, which at the time the film was made would make him an unsympathetic character. 

He quickly says that he was already questioned by two policemen and reads what he told them, which was that he was supposed to have dinner with Laura before she was killed. But she cancelled because she was going out of town. Mark wonders why he wrote down his statement, and Waldo responds that he is the most misquoted person in America (so he is obviously preoccupied with his fame). He implies he has an adversarial relationship even with his friends, since he claims they also are not accurate when it comes to what he says. Yet, as we find, he does not adhere to the truth.

He treats Mark like a servant, asking him for a washcloth and robe. However, when he finds out Mark’s last name he recognizes the cop is the policeman who took down some gangsters while also getting shot up in the leg. Waldo says Mark is the detective with the “silver shinbone.” Waldo likes the word “silver,” using it again here, suggesting his preference for expensive things. It’s almost as if Waldo is trying to see something valuable in Mark that he can add to his collection. Is he attracted to Mark's macho accomplishment? Mark questions him about a column he wrote two years earlier about how someone was killed with a “shotgun loaded with buckshot,” which coincidentally was the way the perpetrator killed Laura. However, Mark corrects the supposedly accurate Waldo by stating the person in his column wasn’t done in with a gunshot. Is Mark already considering Waldo as a suspect since he created his own version of a crime previously? Waldo says he doesn’t bother with “details,” which is what a journalist is supposed to base his reputation upon. (The first syllable in his last name, Lydecker, phonetically sounds like “lie). 

While he dresses, Waldo looks in the mirror (which as noted in other posts on this blog, can represent the other, more sinister side of a person), and says, “How singularly innocent I look this morning.” It’s a rather strange thing to say. Why is he stressing how “innocent” he looks, and for what reason? Waldo wants to tag along with Mark since he will be visiting other suspects, and he says, “Murder is my favorite crime.” To report on or indulge in? Mark isn’t even paying attention to Waldo’s self-serving words, and is playing with a miniature toy that represents a baseball diamond, trying to get little silver balls (that color again, only here more fitting a cop’s salary) into holes where the bases are. Mark’s interest in baseball also asserts his more masculine character as compared to Waldo’s fixation on artistic artifacts. Waldo is snobby again, joking that Mark probably confiscated the toy at a kindergarten raid. But, Mark says it takes a “lot of control” to win the game, which is a metaphor for what an investigator must do to see how everything in a crime situation fits together. 

Mark asks Waldo if he was in love with Laura, or vice versa. Waldo does not give a direct answer. He says that Laura thought he was “the wisest, the wittiest, the most interesting man she’d ever met.” Waldo says he agreed with her, adding to the depiction of him as a funny and arrogant individual. He says that Laura also felt he was kind, gentle, and sympathetic. His statement illustrates what we see later that Laura is a person who seeks out the better part of individuals. When Mark asks if he also agreed with Laura on those points, he says he tried to be that type of person, but the most he could achieve was to feel sorry if his neighbor’s children were “devoured by wolves.” What a sweetheart.

They visit Ann Treadwell (Judith Anderson), (Should one be careful and “tread” lightly when dealing with this woman?), Laura’s aunt, who says she adored her niece. Mark, being the policeman, assumes guilt and corruption, since it’s his job to suspect others of crimes. He asks if Ann approved of Laura’s engagement to Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price). Ann hesitates, while Waldo quickly voices his disdain for Shelby. Mark asks if she was in love with Shelby, revealing that he knows that Ann wrote out checks to Shelby. She says it was just for some shopping for her. After Mark presses her about other monetary transactions, she then says that Shelby needed money and she gave it to him. So, we know Ann was lying and Mark is right to not be fooled by these sophisticated people. Shelby happens to be at Ann’s place and enters from another room, which casts doubt as to Shelby’s commitment to Laura. He says he couldn’t sleep following the murder. Waldo makes the suggestive comment to Mark that Shelby’s statement could be interpreted as showing him as innocent, or guilty, and also implies Shelby was up at night making love to Ann. Waldo reveals that Laura was having doubts about the marriage and that is why she was going to her country house to think over her decision to wed. Shelby returns fire by painting Waldo’s statement as a display of bitterness over Shelby winning over Laura’s interest. It appears that all three have motives revolving around jealousy.

Because Laura was famous, her death creates a media circus, with newspapers hawking stories about it and cops controlling crowds in front of Laura’s place, where Mark, Waldo, and Shelby go to find the key to Laura’s country house. Mark calls Laura a “dame,” a lower-class slang for a woman, which Waldo objects to, and which illustrates the film’s attempt to contrast attitudes about class, but also that inhabitants of high society also may be involved in crimes. Waldo points out the lovely portrait of Laura over the fireplace. At first Mark says Laura was “not bad” looking, and he seems cynical about falling in love with someone respectable. He responds to Waldo’s questions by saying he was once involved with a woman who wasn’t a “dame” or a “doll.” But, he ended the romance because she kept looking at furniture, which shows Mark didn’t want to give up his manly independence and be domesticated. 

Mark points out that Shelby wasn’t accurate concerning his alibi of being at a concert because the show’s program was changed, and Shelby didn’t note that another composer’s music was played. Shelby says that he was exhausted working on Laura’s new publicity campaign and fell asleep at the concert. Mark then catches Shelby in another lie when he says he found the key to Laura’s house in a drawer, but it being there was not noted in the police inventory. Shelby says he took it so Waldo wouldn’t acquire it before he gave it to the police. Waldo and Shelby almost come to blows, but Mark prevents it as he continues to play with the toy, still symbolically trying to fit all the parts in place as the deceptions pile up.

At dinner with Mark, Waldo talks about how he first met Laura. The first part of this film depicts Laura primarily from Waldo’s perspective. There is a flashback sequence introducing the younger Laura. She apologetically but boldly approaches the dining Waldo to pitch her advertising company’s proposition to pay Waldo if he will endorse a pen made by one of the agency’s clients (Laura’s last name is “Hunt,” so she is after personal gain). Waldo reveals his caustic wit when he says he doesn’t use a pen but instead employs a, “goose quill dipped in venom.” He does seem to pause to consider her strength of character when she tells him that the company didn’t tell her to approach him, but took the initiative herself. He is still sarcastic and derogatory with her, saying she didn’t consider something that was more important than her career, which was his “lunch.” She calls him out on his selfishness and self-absorption, which he says is warranted since he never encountered anyone other than himself who warranted his “attention.” She is surprised that he can write with such “understanding and sentiment,” (so she knows his work which probably entices Waldo). He cynically counters by saying those qualities can be bought. The film suggests how people can erect a deceptive facade of caring and insight if the price is right. But, the insightful Laura states how acting callous and negative over time has made Waldo lonely and worthy of her pity. So, in a way, her appreciating noble human qualities makes Waldo her inferior.

Waldo narrates that he was drawn to Laura because, as he said earlier, she saw through him. He visits her place of business, apologizes, and agrees to endorse the pen. She says he is “strange” because despite his vicious behavior, he really was sorry for what he said to her and, underneath, was “kind.” He doesn’t want to totally undermine his persona, so he won’t admit to being capable of kindness, but allows her to think of him that way. Laura wants to see the good in people, but in a corrupt world, unfortunately, that can be a weakness.

Waldo introduced her to the right people, and she eventually rose to the top in the advertising industry. Waldo says she became successful because of her own excellent instincts but she gave into Waldo’s “judgment and taste.” His statement suggests that Laura’s nature was supplemented by Waldo’s nurture. He says he picked out her hair stylist and clothes coordinator. His description of events suggests that she was the valuable raw material, an uncut diamond, that he fashioned into a precious jewel. The Pygmalion myth comes to mind here, but Waldo’ obsession is not sexual. Waldo says her beauty and personality created a magnetism that drew men and women to her. They would be alone twice a week and have dinner, listen to music, and he would read his articles to her. His description suggests a symbiotic relationship between the two. But when he says, “She became as famous as Waldo Lydecker’s walking stick and his white carnation,” he implies that she was nothing more than the objects that became noteworthy because of their association with him. 

But the relationship began to show signs of wear when Laura failed to appear for their nights together. He said he felt “betrayed,” and discovered that the person she was seeing was the man who painted her portrait, Jacoby (John Dexter). It is interesting that another man also saw her as the inspiration for creativity. Waldo was vindictive, and used his writing to attack the man, holding him up to ridicule, showing his weaknesses compared to other artists. According to Waldo, the gullible Laura could no longer take Jacoby seriously after Waldo’s hatchet job. Waldo says that there were other men who chased her, but Waldo says Laura dismissed them without his intervention. Could it be that she was wary of starting any relationships early on because they might threaten her guardian angel? Or, is this account accurate since it is Waldo telling the story at this point?

However, after she had achieved success in her profession, at a party at Ann’s place, she meets Shelby. He jokes about the difference in age between Waldo and Laura, saying Waldo still danced “the polka.” With a quick comeback, Waldo says that Betsy Ross taught it to him. His remark shows witty self-deprecation, and still allies him with American nobility. Waldo, sensing a threat to his monopoly on Laura, comments, when informed that Shelby is from Kentucky, that the man’s family probably descends from sharecroppers. Waldo likes to play the upper-class card to downgrade his opponents. Shelby, looking handsome in a tuxedo, enters the kitchen rubbing at a stain, and asks for help getting the spot out. He says he can “afford a blemish” on his “character,” but not on his “clothes.” This line stresses the emphasis on superficial appearance over inner integrity. Laura should be more aware of phony facades since she is in the advertising business which pitches products for sale even at the expense of the truth. 

Waldo isn’t present at the scenes between Laura and Shelby at this party, so the only way he can be relating the conversation is if we assume Laura told it to him later, or he just imagined them. We learn that Shelby is not a contributor to society, but instead is a charming parasite, who lived off of his family’s estate, which has now dwindled. His lack of an industrious past (his last name, Carpenter, seems ironic), caused one of his big-shot friends not to believe him when he asked for a job. Laura gives Carpenter a position at the advertising agency which she now runs. 

Shelby gracefully pursues Laura, as he shows his commitment to her by talking about sharing time in the future (remember those clocks that Waldo thought linked he and Laura as companions through time). Waldo spies on them, and confronts Laura about Shelby’s attempt to win her. He did research, sarcastically calling Shelby a “sterling,” character, another use of a reference to silver symbolically used as a measure of value. Waldo’s investigation revealed that Shelby bounced checks and may have stolen jewels when staying at a rich person’s house. (Is he thinking of stealing Waldo’s jewel, Laura?) Laura is now wising up to Waldo’s tactics. She tells him, “by stooping so low you only degrade yourself.” She is revealing that Waldo betrays the upper-class position he so values through his use of deplorable methods. Perhaps she is feeling suffocated and appalled by Waldo’s attempts to monopolize her. She may also be tired of his negativity about others, and she laments that attitude in the world. She says people are always “ready to hold out a hand to slap you down, but never to pick you up.” She wants to give Shelby a chance to change for the better, even though she says she recognizes his flaws. She says that she and Shelby are to be married soon. But Waldo drops a bomb on her positive outlook. He says Shelby is running around with an employee, Diane Redfern, a model at the advertising agency. He shows Laura the cigarette case she gave to Shelby that he had Diane pawn. He also says that Shelby is at Ann’s place right at that moment instead of being with Laura. The two go to Ann’s and find Shelby dining with Ann. Laura drops the cigarette case on the table and leaves (a piece of silver that has been tarnished?). Laura was supposed to meet Diane and relate what transpired between them to Waldo at dinner, but she cancelled their meeting, saying she was going off to think things over. Waldo ends his narration and he and Mark part after dinner. 

We now start to see how Mark begins to view Laura. He questions Laura’s housekeeper, Bessie Clary (Dorothy Adams), who just wants to be called by her first name and makes it clear that she is not snobby, just the opposite of Waldo. But, she is very loyal to the memory of her employer, and tells Mark how kind Laura was to her. She does not like that Mark is going through Laura’s diaries and other personal papers. The smart Mark finds a bottle of cheap whiskey in the liquor cabinet and figures it doesn’t fit Laura’s adopted refined style (like the way those shiny balls avoid settling in place in the baseball game). He discovers she didn’t order the alcoholic drink, and gets Bessie to admit that she put it there after removing it from the bedroom and wiping it down. She didn’t want Laura’s memory smeared by cheap accusations. But Mark deduces that the bottle showed up on the night Laura was murdered, so someone who brought the booze was there that evening. Ann, Waldo, and Shelby then show up. They squabble over what items may belong to Waldo. These supposedly noble members of society seem only to care about possessions. The working-class Mark has no trouble drinking the cheap whiskey before they all depart.

The music that Laura liked plays throughout the movie, and its haunting melody surfaces again when Mark returns at night to Laura’s apartment to read her letters. He goes into her bedroom and looks in her dresser drawers, her clothes closet, and smells her perfume, sort of like a postmortem stalker. He keeps returning to her portrait, and seems vexed by his reaction to gazing at it. Waldo shows up after seeing the lights on and senses Mark’s growing obsession with the dead woman. Waldo wittily comments that maybe Mark should pay rent since he’s at Laura’s apartment so much. Waldo seems jealous of the deceased Laura, and doesn’t like Mark reading her correspondence. He says that Mark appears to be having a date with a ghost, and maybe should bring candy which he says in his condescending way would come from a “drugstore,” as Waldo emphasizes their class difference. Waldo found out that Mark put in a bid to buy Laura’s portrait, so we know for sure now that he, too, has been charmed by the magnetism of a woman so strong it transcends the grave. Waldo warns Mark that he may be going to the mental ward, and comments on his necrophiliac tendencies by saying that there may be no experience treating someone “who fell in love with a corpse.” 

Waldo asks if Mark dreamed about being married to Laura. After Waldo leaves, Mark keeps drinking and looking at the painting (one wonders if Alfred Hitchcock was influenced by this film when he made Vertigo, which deals with a man obsessed with the idea of a perfect woman for him). He nods off and then wakes up when Laura shows up at the apartment and wonders who this strange man is. The subtext here is that Mark was dreaming, and out of that unconscious state he may have conjured up his ideal female. Mark identifies himself as a policeman and wonders why she doesn’t know what happened. She says she was in the country and cut off from all the news, and her cottage radio was broken. He shows her a newspaper. He asks if anyone has a key to her place and she says no. Laura asks what is he going to do now? Mark says someone was killed in her apartment and he’s going to find out who was murdered and who is the murderer. 

The stormy night adds an atmosphere of darkness and danger to the confusing and volatile situation. Laura changes out of wet clothes and finds one of Diane’s dresses in her closet that wasn’t there before. Diane’s photograph in a magazine that Laura shows to Mark reveals a resemblance between the model and Laura. Laura implies that someone accidentally killed Diane believing her to be Laura. But the suspicious Mark interrogates her and finds out that Laura encountered nobody on her trip to the countryside, so she has no alibi for the time of the murder. Also, he knows that Shelby had access to the apartment, and Mark suggests that he brought Diane to Laura’s place. She denies that she knew Shelby had a key, which seems flimsy since they were engaged. She also confronted Diane, as Waldo had said she would, and Diane admitted to caring for Shelby. Laura, still holding onto her innocence concerning trusting others, insists that Shelby didn’t return Diane’s affection. Mark’s police mentality sees Laura as a likely suspect, the motive again being jealousy, and that she could have killed Diane, making it appear to be a case of mistaken identity, thus steering the investigation toward someone who would have a motive in killing Laura. Mark wants her to not let anyone know she is alive so he can discover if there are any alternative suspects. However, Mark’s professional mind gives way to personal emotion when he asks Laura if she decided to call off her marriage to Shelby. She says yes, and although not revealing anything, it is obvious that he is relieved by her response.

Another detective tells Mark what he already assumed, that it was Diane who was killed. They have bugged Laura’s phone and they hear her call Shelby, who obviously already knows that Laura isn’t dead, as the two plan a meeting. Mark practically labels Laura a film noir femme fatale when he says, “Dames are always pulling a switch on you.” It is interesting that he uses the word ‘dames,” which reminds us of his conversation with Waldo, and which lowers Laura, at least at this time, from her sophisticated status to the level of the criminals a cop deals with. 

Laura meets with Shelby in the rain in a parked car. After the two separate, the other detective sticks with Laura, and Mark follows Shelby. Shelby goes to Laura’s country house and there is a brief moment where he looks at a shotgun mounted over the fireplace. It is a good directorial shot to remind us that Diane was killed by a shotgun blast. As Shelby takes down the rifle, Mark surprises him. He finds out that the gun was used since it wasn’t cleaned, and Shelby says he shot some rabbits with it. The weapon contains Shelby’s initials. He says he gave it to Laura for protection even though she didn’t want it. When asked when he used it last, he says he doesn’t know. He also isn’t sure if Laura knows how to use it. Mark is humorous when he calls Shelby “a vague sort of fellow,” suggesting he is hiding the truth. Mark wonders out loud if Shelby knew Laura would show up, and was planning on killing her, too, so there would be no chance of her “spilling the beans” concerning the death of Diane. Mark lets Shelby know that he concluded that Shelby was at Laura’s place on the evening of the killing since he was the one who bought the cheap liquor. We know that he is broke and the inexpensive liquor is the only kind of booze he can afford. After Mark pressures him, Shelby says he found a duplicate key to Laura’s apartment in her desk at work. He didn’t want to arouse suspicion about him and Diane, so they didn’t meet at each other’s homes. He took her to Laura’s and wanted to dissuade her about any chance of a relationship between them. Shelby says that the lights were on and Laura’s friends visited at all times. So, he sent Diane to answer a knock at the door so she could say that Laura let Diane use the place while she was away. He then heard the gunshot blast and found the dead Diane. He says he was horrified, and suggests that he didn’t go to the police to clear things up because he knew if it was known that Laura was not killed, the murderer would continue to look for her. He was going to get rid of the shotgun at the country cottage so Laura wouldn’t be implicated in Diane’s death. He met with Laura that evening to tell her what he just revealed to the detective. Laura had said that the radio at the cottage was broken and hadn’t heard news of her alleged death, but it works fine when Mark turns it on. Another “switch” in the tale, as Mark noted earlier.

Mark shows up early the next morning with food to cook for breakfast at Laura’s. There is a streak of feminism in Laura as she says she can make the meal because her mother would give her a recipe every time Laura told her of her future ambitions. She also says she called Shelby because she didn’t heed Mark’s restriction on contacting anyone as she only did things based on her “own free will.” But, her declaration is undermined because we know she has been manipulated by others. Mark hears someone in the other room and stands behind the kitchen door. He observes Bessie’s extreme surprise at seeing Laura alive which shows the housekeeper did believe that Laura, and not Diane, was dead. He has invited Waldo there that morning to observe his response to seeing her alive. But, Shelby shows up first, brings in a flower for Laura, and kisses her on the cheek as Laura smiles at him. Mark’s personal feelings intervene again as he observes that Shelby seems to have won Laura back. Shelby also says he talked to his lawyer and says that what he said before couldn’t be used against him since it was said under “duress,” and wasn’t true. As an angry Mark reminds Shelby of the facts in the case, the doorbell buzzes.

Waldo arrives and, when he sees an alive Laura, he collapses to the floor, which seems to validate that he knew nothing about Diane being the victim. After he revives, the verbal venom between Waldo and Shelby commences when Waldo hears Mark say he has enough evidence to arrest Shelby. Waldo says he has invited Laura’s friends over so that they can celebrate her still being with them. But Mark is ahead of him since he has already called her acquaintances, as we learn, for his own purposes.

At the party, Ann approaches Shelby and tells him that she can get the best lawyer for him, that his relationship with Laura won’t last, and she and he should marry. Obviously, Ann has a motive to kill any women who are romantically interested in Shelby. He rejects her overture. When Shelby and Laura speak, she asks why he went to her cottage, and he says that she might not have thought of hiding the gun, He obviously assumes that she shot Diane out of jealousy. She is outraged by his belief that she could be a murderer, but the implication here is also that Shelby is so vain he believes he is worth killing for. Diane escapes to her bedroom where Ann is applying makeup (metaphorically covering up her agenda to alienate Laura from Shelby?). She also wears a black veil which descends from her hat. It seems to suggest that Ann is here at Laura’s resurrection but would rather be at her funeral. Ann comments that Mark is interested in Laura, and he is a better match for her than Shelby. When asked, Ann says she doesn’t think Shelby did the killing, but thinks he is capable of pulling the trigger, and so is she, though she denies having shot Diane. Ann says Shelby is more compatible with her, which implies that Ann’s character is deplorable. She even admits that Shelby is not a “nice person,” and confesses neither is she. She says they are “both weak and can’t seem to help it.” The film continues to show how corruption permeates the society in its supposedly higher, respectable ranks. 

Mark receives a phone call and assures the person on the line that he will bring in the killer that day. He makes the announcement loud enough so everybody hears. He approaches Laura and tells her they must leave. Bessie runs in front of Laura, trying to protect her. Laura thanks her, and then Waldo says he will use all of his resources to defend Laura and smear Mark and the arrest. Shelby just says to Laura that he warned her to be wary of Mark, who tells Shelby it was too bad he didn’t open the door on the night of the murder, suggesting it would have been better that Shelby was killed. When Shelby grabs him, Mark punches him. There is a feeling that Shelby has it coming, but the action also comes from the jealous rage that erupts after simmering under Mark’s cool surface. Shelby doubles over and Anne rushes over to comfort him as he calls her name. Shelby seems to sail into any port in a storm.

At police headquarters, Mark shines the bright lights on Laura, a cliché, to get her to tell the truth, but also metaphorically to reveal secrets. Mark tells her that the radio was working when he was at her country house. Laura says she called a repairman, and he used a key under an outside flowerpot to get in and fix it. Mark suggests that may be true, but she was smart enough to have broken the radio herself to validate her not hearing about her supposed death. Mark then moves from the criminal investigation to a personal one, as he wants to know why she said she was through with Shelby, and then quickly was back with the man. She verifies that Shelby convinced her to act as if their engagement was on again to make it appear that she wouldn’t marry a murder suspect. She didn’t believe he was guilty, but knew others would think he was. She just learned that he thought she was the killer. When asked by Mark about how she feels about Shelby, she says she doesn’t know how she could ever have thought she was in love with Shelby. Her statement reassures Mark concerning his very little doubt of her innocence, and Laura’s words please him on a personal level. He admits that her arrest was a fake, probably to put the other suspects at ease. 

Mark then goes to Waldo’s unoccupied apartment. The clock chimes, the one with its only duplicate being in Laura’s place. Mark looks for something hidden in it, and breaks its lower facade, trying to find the truth under a phony surface. But he finds nothing there. Meanwhile, Laura is complimentary about Mark in Waldo’s presence as he tries to undermine any possible relationship that may blossom between Laura and the detective. He basically says that the cop is not in her elevated league, having only dealt with criminals. Yet, the people Laura has associated with are hardly admirable individuals: Waldo is a selfish verbal hatchet man; Shelby is a gold digger; Ann is an immoral manipulator; and Diane was a sneak undermining Laura’s relationship with Shelby. It is the lower-class person, Bessie, who is the moral and trustworthy one. Waldo’s insecurity about his physical attractiveness shows when he says that Laura’s weakness is that she falls for handsome men. She says she won’t allow herself ever to be “hurt” by any man in the future. Waldo says he would never hurt her. He then reveals something about himself when he says that when a man who appears to have everything can’t have what he really wants, he “loses his self-respect,” and he becomes “bitter.” He says that man then “wants to hurt someone as he’s been hurt.” Do his words not only show why Waldo is demeaning toward others, but also demonstrate how he can physically harm someone else? He wants them to resume their relationship, which is, again, a jealous one which keeps her to himself. 

Mark enters and Waldo is sarcastically funny, asking the policeman, “Haven’t you heard of science’s newest triumph, the doorbell?” Mark shows wit and consideration when he says he didn’t want to mimic what the killer did. He reveals that after testing, the shotgun in Laura’s cottage was not the murder weapon. Waldo accuses Mark of not really believing in Laura’s innocence or he wouldn’t be there. Laura says she believes Mark thinks she is not the killer. As the two talk, Mark continues to play with his baseball game, wanting the parts to fit, as usual. When Waldo says Laura is again being taken in by good-looking men, she turns the tables and says Waldo is the one who repeats patterns, always trying to steer her away from other men so he can monopolize her. She shows her feminist independence by saying they should stop seeing each other. Before he leaves Waldo says she and Mark will have an “earthy” relationship, implying a descent into physical crudeness, and then tells Mark to listen to his recorded radio broadcast that evening on the history of love, a subject he really knows nothing about in his own life.

As Waldo heads toward the stairs outside, his shadow looms behind him, revealing his larger, darker self. He seems to be worried about something. Inside, the apartment, the duplicate clock in Laura’s apartment chimes, as it did at Waldo’s place. Mark says all he needs is “the gun.” We now realize that is what he was looking for in Waldo’s clock. Mark finds the way to open the bottom of the timepiece’s compartment, and discovers the murder weapon, the danger beneath the supposedly beneficial appearance. Mark says Waldo saw Diane who looked like Laura in the darkened room wearing Laura’s negligee and shot her, thinking if he couldn’t have Laura, he would deprive anyone else from having her. When Shelby surprised him by running out, Waldo hid on the stairway and placed the gun in the clock, since he knew how to open it, having given it to Laura. The little silver balls have now fallen into place. 

Laura confesses that she felt that Waldo could be the killer, but didn’t want to admit it because of all the man had done for her. Despite the man’s poisonous actions that tried to destroy her innocence, Laura still looked for the good in the man. But, she saw that he was trying to point the guilt at Shelby, as he had done with Jacoby, the painter. She feels guilty about Diane’s death because she should have discouraged Waldo’s obsession with her. Mark tries to dispel her blaming herself. He replaces the gun in the clock with a towel and says he will have the clock brought in as evidence and will arrest Waldo. He has her lock her door, and recalling the prior attack, tells her not to answer the doorbell. They kiss goodnight, as they reveal openly their affection for each other. After he leaves she shuts out the lights to get some sleep. But as the clock chimes sound again, Waldo, who snuck into the room next to the clock, comes out of hiding. Doorbells and clock chimes have become warning signals of the presence of danger. Waldo opens the clock and retrieves and reloads the shotgun. In her bedroom, Laura turns on the radio and Waldo’s program is on, where he talks about love being “eternal,” and the strongest “motivation” throughout history. But love is about caring for another over one’s own wants, and Waldo does not understand that. He surprises Laura, and says he won’t allow her to be “pawed” by Mark, showing how he views the detective as a wild animal unworthy of touching his artistic creation.

Outside, a policeman says he tracked Waldo to Laura’s place and didn’t see him exit the building. Mark and his men run up the stairs, and Mark breaks into the apartment just as Laura is able to deflect Waldo’s first gunshot. She runs to Mark and another policeman shoots Waldo as he discharges the rifle. Waldo fittingly falls in front of Laura’s portrait, since he fell in love with his creation in life and does so now in death. His shot destroyed the clock, the symbol of Waldo’s desire to possess Laura throughout time. The last shot of the film is the same as the first, the painting of Laura. She is a femme fatale, but not of her own devising, but instead created out of another’s self-destructive jealousy.

The next film is Groundhog Day.