Eyes of Laura Mars
Encyclopedia
Eyes of Laura Mars is a 1978 thriller film starring Faye Dunaway
and Tommy Lee Jones
and directed by Irvin Kershner
. The screenplay, adapted from a spec script titled Eyes, written by John Carpenter
, was Carpenter's first major studio film. Producer Jon Peters
, who was dating Barbra Streisand
at the time, bought the screenplay as a starring vehicle for the actress, but Streisand eventually decided not to take the role because of "the kinky nature of the story", as Peters later explained. The role went to Dunaway, who had just won an Oscar for her performance in Network
.
The film's theme song, "Prisoner", was performed by Streisand, and was included in the soundtrack.
Eyes of Laura Mars is said to be an example of an American version of the giallo
genre. The film is also noted for its twist ending.
) is a glamorous fashion photographer who specializes in stylized violence. Amid controversy over whether her photographs glorify violence and are demeaning to women, Laura begins seeing, in first person through the eyes of the killer, real-time visions of the murders of her friends and colleagues.
John Neville (Tommy Lee Jones
), the lieutenant in charge of the case, shows Laura unpublished police photographs of unsolved murders that very closely mirror Laura's fashion shoots. Laura's visions continue, including visions of the killer stalking her. The murders continue until a final confrontation between Laura and the killer.
and New Jersey
. The famous sequence where the Laura Mars character photographs a group of models against a backdrop of two burning cars was filmed over four days at New York's Columbus Circle
. The $7 million production wrapped on January 9, 1978, after 56 days of filming. It was reported that Peters and Dunaway had a tense relationship while making the film, and that Streisand visited the set on a few occasions.
called the ending of the film "dumb," but otherwise liked it. She wrote of it: "It's the cleverness of "Eyes of Laura Mars" that counts, cleverness that manifests itself in superlative casting, drily controlled direction from Irvin Kershner, and spectacular settings that turn New York into the kind of eerie, lavish dreamland that could exist only in the idle noodlings of the very, very hip."
Roger Ebert
was less enthusiastic and pointed out its clichéd "woman in trouble" plot.
As of May 2010, the film had only a 47% fresh rating on the Rotten Tomatoes movie review website.
On its release, the film received mixed critical reviews, but it was a box office hit, earning $20 million off of a $7 million budget.
George Lucas
hired director Kershner for The Empire Strikes Back
because he was very impressed after seeing an early rough cut of the film.
Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway is an American actress.Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown...
and Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
and directed by Irvin Kershner
Irvin Kershner
Irvin Kershner was an American film director and occasional actor, best known for directing quirky, independent films early in his career, and then Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. -Background:...
. The screenplay, adapted from a spec script titled Eyes, written by John Carpenter
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
, was Carpenter's first major studio film. Producer Jon Peters
Jon Peters
Jon Peters is an American movie producer.-Early life:Peters was born John H. Peters in Van Nuys, California, the son of Helen , a receptionist, and Jack Peters, a cook...
, who was dating Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
at the time, bought the screenplay as a starring vehicle for the actress, but Streisand eventually decided not to take the role because of "the kinky nature of the story", as Peters later explained. The role went to Dunaway, who had just won an Oscar for her performance in Network
Network (film)
Network is a 1976 American satirical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer about a fictional television network, Union Broadcasting System , and its struggle with poor ratings. The film was written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Sidney Lumet...
.
The film's theme song, "Prisoner", was performed by Streisand, and was included in the soundtrack.
Eyes of Laura Mars is said to be an example of an American version of the giallo
Giallo
Giallo is an Italian 20th century genre of literature and film, which in Italian indicates crime fiction and mystery. In the English language it refers to a genre similar to the French fantastique genre and includes elements of horror fiction and eroticism...
genre. The film is also noted for its twist ending.
Plot
Laura Mars (Faye DunawayFaye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway is an American actress.Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown...
) is a glamorous fashion photographer who specializes in stylized violence. Amid controversy over whether her photographs glorify violence and are demeaning to women, Laura begins seeing, in first person through the eyes of the killer, real-time visions of the murders of her friends and colleagues.
John Neville (Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
), the lieutenant in charge of the case, shows Laura unpublished police photographs of unsolved murders that very closely mirror Laura's fashion shoots. Laura's visions continue, including visions of the killer stalking her. The murders continue until a final confrontation between Laura and the killer.
Cast
- Faye DunawayFaye DunawayFaye Dunaway is an American actress.Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown...
as Laura Mars - Tommy Lee JonesTommy Lee JonesTommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
as Lieutenant John Neville - Brad DourifBrad DourifBradford Claude "Brad" Dourif is an American film and television actor who gained early fame for his portrayal of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and has since appeared in a number of memorable roles, including the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play franchise, Younger Brother in...
as Tommy Ludlow - Rene AuberjonoisRene AuberjonoisRené Murat Auberjonois is an American actor, known for portraying Father Mulcahy in the movie version of M*A*S*H and for creating a number of characters in long-running television series, including Clayton Endicott III on Benson , Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Chef Louis in The Little...
as Donald Phelps - Raúl JuliáRaúl JuliáRaúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay was a Puerto Rican actor.Born in San Juan, he gained interest in acting while still in school. Upon completing his studies, Juliá decided to pursue a career in acting. After performing in the local scene for some time, he was convinced by entertainment personality Orson...
as Michael Reisler - Frank AdonisFrank AdonisFrank Adonis , sometimes credited as Frank Martin, is an American film and television actor.-Selected filmography:*The French Connection as Bidder*Eyes of Laura Mars as Sal Volpe...
as Sal Volpe - Lisa Taylor as Michelle
- Darlanne FluegelDarlanne FluegelDarlanne Fluegel born is an American actress.Fluegel appeared in the TV series Crime Story and the final season of Hunter. She was featured in Sergio Leone's 1984 film Once Upon a Time in America as Robert De Niro's girlfriend Eve , and in 1986's Tough Guys as Kirk Douglas' girlfriend...
as Lulu - Rose GregorioRose GregorioRose Gregorio is an American character actress. She began her career appearing mostly in theatre in Chicago and New York City during the 1950s and 1960s. During the 1970s she became more active in television and film, appearing mostly in supporting roles...
as Elaine Cassel - Bill BoggsBill BoggsWilliam "Bill" Boggs III is an Emmy Award–winning American television presenter and journalist.Boggs was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania...
as Himself - Steve Marachuk as Robert
- Meg MundyMeg MundyMargaret "Meg" Mundy is an English-American actress. She was born in London, but moved to the United States in 1921.Mundy is the daughter of the Australian opera singer Clytie Hine who studied at the Elder Conservatorium of Music in Adelaide, South Australia...
as Doris Spenser - Marilyn Meyers as Sheila Weissman
Production
Production began on October 17, 1977. It was shot entirely in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. The famous sequence where the Laura Mars character photographs a group of models against a backdrop of two burning cars was filmed over four days at New York's Columbus Circle
Columbus Circle
Columbus Circle, named for Christopher Columbus, is a major landmark and point of attraction in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South , and Central Park West, at the southwest corner of Central Park. It is the point from...
. The $7 million production wrapped on January 9, 1978, after 56 days of filming. It was reported that Peters and Dunaway had a tense relationship while making the film, and that Streisand visited the set on a few occasions.
Reception
The movie received a broadly positive review in The New York Times, in which Janet MaslinJanet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
called the ending of the film "dumb," but otherwise liked it. She wrote of it: "It's the cleverness of "Eyes of Laura Mars" that counts, cleverness that manifests itself in superlative casting, drily controlled direction from Irvin Kershner, and spectacular settings that turn New York into the kind of eerie, lavish dreamland that could exist only in the idle noodlings of the very, very hip."
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
was less enthusiastic and pointed out its clichéd "woman in trouble" plot.
As of May 2010, the film had only a 47% fresh rating on the Rotten Tomatoes movie review website.
On its release, the film received mixed critical reviews, but it was a box office hit, earning $20 million off of a $7 million budget.
George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
hired director Kershner for The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay, based on a story by George Lucas, was written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan...
because he was very impressed after seeing an early rough cut of the film.
In popular culture
- In the Malcolm in the MiddleMalcolm in the MiddleMalcolm in the Middle is an American television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Network. The series was first broadcast on January 9, 2000, and ended its six-and-a-half-year run on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons and 151 episodes...
episode "Lois Battles Jamie", a flashback scene shows that Francis broke Hal's LaserdiscLaserdiscLaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
copy of the film. - Tori AmosTori AmosTori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
refers to Laura Mars in her song "Gold Dust", off the 2002-album "Scarlet's WalkScarlet's WalkScarlet's Walk is the seventh album released in singer-songwriter Tori Amos' solo career. The 18-track concept album details the cross-country travels of Scarlet, a character loosely based on Amos, as well as the concept of America post-September 11th . The album was the first released by Amos on...
". - A parody of the film titled Eyes of Lurid Mess was published in Mad Magazine. It was illustrated by Angelo TorresAngelo TorresAngelo Torres is an American cartoonist and caricaturist whose work has appeared in many comic books, as well as a long-running regular slot in Mad magazine, typically film or television parodies.-Biography:...
and written by Larry SiegelLarry SiegelLarry Siegel is a comedy writer who was one of the "Usual Gang of Idiots" at Mad from 1958 to 1990.At Mad, Siegel had an aggressive writing style that did not shy away from being occasionally provocative or inflammatory to make a point. He was fond of attacking purveyors of bad taste, such as...
in regular issue #206, April 1979.