"LAURA" (1945)

Inspired by a "Dear John" letter from his wife, David Raksin composed the instrumental theme for the 1944 film noir classic "Laura." Director Otto Preminger wanted to use Duke Ellington’s "Sophisticated Lady" as the film’s theme, but Raksin, who had composed the score, protested that the song had nothing to do with the plot. Preminger, well known for his dictatorial ways, told Raksin on a Friday that he had until the following Monday to come up with something else. William Zinsser in his book Easy to Remember described how Raksin came to write the "Laura" theme. The young composer had just received the unwelcome letter from his wife and stuffed it in his pocket to avoid dealing with it. By Sunday night he hadn’t been able to come up with anything. Later Raksin recalled, "I knew my big chance was fading fast: I didn’t really believe in any of the themes I had written. As a boy, when the music wouldn’t flow, I would prop a book or a poem on the piano and improvise. The idea was to divert my mind from the conscious awareness of music-making. I hadn’t done that for a long time, but I took the letter out of my pocket, put it up on the piano and began to play. Suddenly the meaning of the words on the page became clear to me. She was saying: Hail, farewell, better luck next life – and get lost! Knowing that, I felt the last of my strength go, and then, without willing it, I was playing the first phrase of what you now know as "Laura." I knew it was the real thing, and I stumbled through it again and again in a sweat of catharsis and self-indulgence."
Released in 1944, the film "Laura" was an immediate success, winning an Academy Award for Best Black and White Cinematography and nominated in three other categories. Interestingly, the film score was not mentioned at the time, but film critic Roger Ebert, who considers the plot absurd, attributes much of the film’s enduring popularity to its musical theme. He writes, "Film noir is known for its convoluted plots and arbitrary twists, but even in a genre that gave us ''The Maltese Falcon,'' this takes some kind of prize. ''Laura'' (1944) has a detective who never goes to the station; a suspect who is invited to tag along as other suspects are interrogated; a heroine who is dead for most of the film; a man insanely jealous of a woman even though he never for a moment seems heterosexual; a romantic lead who is a dull-witted Kentucky bumpkin moving in Manhattan penthouse society, and a murder weapon that is returned to its hiding place by the cop, who will ''come by for it in the morning.'' The only nude scene involves the jealous man and the cop. That "Laura" continues to weave a spell -- and it does -- is a tribute to style over sanity. No doubt the famous musical theme by David Raksin has something to do with it. The music lends a haunted, nostalgic, regretful cast to everything it plays under, and it plays under a lot."
The soundtrack theme became so popular as an instrumental that filmgoers wrote to the studio that released the film, Twentieth Century Fox, requesting that it be made into a song with lyrics. Seeing an opportunity to increase profits, the studio conveyed this public interest to publisher Abe Olman of Robbins Music. In his Mercer biography Skylark, Philip Furia related the circuitous route by which Olman selected Johnny Mercer to be the lyricist. Olman first had asked Oscar Hammerstein, the premier Broadway lyricist at that time, to write the lyrics, but Hammerstein insisted that his own music company publish the song. Olman didn’t want to give up the royalty income from a song that had the potential to become a major hit, so approached another lyricist, Irving Caesar. Caesar had written some of the biggest hits of the 1920s, such as "Tea for Two" and "Swanee," but his success had declined as lyrics became more sophisticated. He wrote something he titled "Two Dreams," even though Raksin had written the first two notes of the melody to be set to the word "Lau-ra." Raksin labeled it "an abominable lyric." Olman thought the lyric was adequate but, as a songwriter himself, he could sympathize with Raksin and asked him whom he would prefer. Raksin said, "Well, there’s a guy I don’t know, but he’s such a wonderful lyricist I would adore to have him." When Olman asked, "Who’s that?," Raksin responded "Johnny Mercer." Olman sent the following telegram to Mercer, neglecting to mention that he was the third choice:
DEAR JOHNNY HAVE PHONED DAVE RAKSIN TO CONTACT YOU IN REGARD TO THE LYRIC FOR THE MELODY FROM LAURA TREMENDOUS CALLS FOR THIS TUNE FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY AND POSITIVE IT CAN BE A NUMBER ONE HIT STUDIO ADVISED THEY HAVE RECEIVED SEVERAL THOUSAND LETTERS CONCERNING SONG HOPE YOU CAN HOP ON IT RIGHT AWAY
Mercer, as was his custom, went off alone to work with the melody, having been told that he had to use "Laura" as the title, even though he wanted to use "Footsteps in the Dark." Although most lyricists would have watched the film to get a sense of the plot and characters, Mercer instead immersed himself in the melody and wrote the lyrics without seeing the film. He reasoned that if the melody adequately captured the mood of the film, then he should be able to write the lyrics based solely on hearing the melody. He told an interviewer, "I hadn’t seen the film it came from when I did the lyric. I simply absorbed the tune and let it create an atmosphere for me." Furia said, "In just sixty-two words, Johnny Mercer had brought out the emotional meaning in the seventy-two notes of David Raksin’s melody. When Raksin heard the lyric, he was as stunned by its quality as he was by Mercer’s characteristic nonchalance. "I thought Johnny’s achievement was amazing, that he should get that feeling into the lyric. And I know that Johnny worked hard, sweated blood sometimes, but you would never have known it. He would show up without a hair out of place – with this thing he had written on the tip of his little finger." After Mercer had written the lyrics, he told Raksin that a song like that needed a verse. Raksin quickly composed one and Mercer added lyrics, but the verse almost never is performed. Whenever Mercer was asked how he knew his lyrics had brought out the emotional meaning of a melody, he would always refer to "Laura" as the classic example.
Cole Porter said that "Laura" was his favorite song among those he didn’t write. The public agreed with his and Raksin’s assessment of Mercer’s skills as a lyricist. In 1945 Woody Herman and his Orchestra made a recording of "Laura" with Herman as vocalist that sold a million records. The song appeared on the pop charts five times that year: Woody Herman and His Orchestra (#4), Johnnie Johnston with Paul Baron and His Orchestra, (#5), Freddy Martin and His Orchestra (#6), Jerry Wald and His Orchestra (#8), and Dick Haymes with Victor Young and His Orchestra, (#9). In 1946 "Laura" held first place on the Hit Parade for 14 weeks. Five years later it reached the charts again with a recording by Stan Kenton that featured Art Pepper on alto saxophone (#12).