Laura / Advise and Consent

LAURA, 1944, 20th Century Fox, 88 min. Dir. Otto Preminger. Investigating a murder, chain-smoking detective Dana Andrews falls in love with the dead woman – only to find out that it wasn't her that was murdered. Even in a genre known for its twists, LAURA is a one-of-a-kind. With Gene Tierney, Clifton Webb and Vincent Price.

ADVISE AND CONSENT, 1962, Preminger Films, 139 min. Adapting the Allen Drury bestseller, director Otto Preminger blazed new trails of frankness in this skewering of American politics, revealing the behind-the-scenes skullduggery and scandal-mongering endemic to the system. With Henry Fonda, Franchot Tone, Charles Laughton, Walter Pidgeon, Gene Tierney, Lew Ayres and, of special note, Don Murray as a bisexual politician outed with tragic results.