(Otto Preminger, US 1944, 85 min., 35mm)

On Valentine’s Day we present one of the most hauntingly romantic of all films noir. Tough and crude cop McPherson (Dana Andrews) investigates the murder of beautiful advertising executive Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney) and falls in love with her portrait. The chief suspects are Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), Laura’s cynical friend and companion; Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price), her good-for-nothing fiancé; and Ann Treadwell (Judith Anderson), her rich, unscrupulous aunt who loves Shelby. Filled with shocking twists and revelations, Preminger’s classic gracefully mixes elegance with decadence.