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Vera Caspary

Writing

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Vera Louise Caspary (November 13, 1899 – June 13, 1987) was an American writer of novels, plays, screenplays, and short stories. Her best-known novel, Laura, was made into a highly successful movie. Though she claimed she was not a "real" mystery writer, her novels effectively merged women's quest for identity and love with murder plots. Independence is the key to her protagonists, with her novels revolving around women who are menaced, but who turn out to be neither victimized nor rescued damsels. Following her father's death, the income from Caspary's writing was at times only just sufficient to support both herself and her mother, and during the Great Depression she became interested in Socialist causes. Caspary joined the Communist party under an alias, but not being totally committed and at odds with its code of secrecy, she claimed to have confined her activities to fund-raising and hosting meetings. Caspary visited Russia in an attempt to confirm her beliefs, but became disillusioned and wished to resign from the Party, although she continued to contribute money and support similar causes. She eventually married her lover and writing collaborator of six years, Isidor "Igee" Goldsmith; but despite this being a successful partnership, her Communist connections would later lead to her being "graylisted", temporarily yet significantly affecting their offers of work and income. The couple split their time between Hollywood and Europe until Igee's death in 1964, after which Caspary remained in New York where she would write a further eight books.

Known For

Laura
7.6

A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating.

Laura

1944
A Letter to Three Wives
7.2

A letter is addressed to three wives from their 'best friend', announcing that she's running away with one of their husbands – but she doesn't specify which one.

A Letter to Three Wives

1949
Les Girls
6.4

After writing a tell-all book about her days in the dance troupe "Barry Nichols and Les Girls", Sybil Wren is sued for libeling her fellow dancer Angele. A Rashômon style narrative presents the story from three points of view where Sybil accuses Angele of having an affair with Barry, while Angele insists that it was actually Sybil who was having the affair. Finally, Barry gives his side of the story.

Les Girls

1957
The Blue Gardenia
6.5

Upon waking up to the news that the man she’d gone on a date with the previous night has been murdered, a young woman with only a faint memory of the night’s events begins to suspect that she murdered him while attempting to resist his advances.

The Blue Gardenia

1953
Bachelor in Paradise
6.3

A bachelor author of sleazy books moves to a family-oriented subdivision where he becomes an unofficial relationship advisor to unhappy local housewives, to the dismay of their respective husbands who suspect him of sexual misconduct.

Bachelor in Paradise

1961
Easy Living
7.1

J.B. Ball, a rich financier, gets fed up with his free-spending family. He takes his wife's just-bought (very expensive) sable coat and throws it out the window, it lands on poor hard-working girl Mary Smith. But it isn't so easy to just give away something so valuable, as he soon learns.

Easy Living

1937
Out of the Blue
6.4

Set in an apartment building whose occupants include Arthur Earthleigh, a meek and mild type married to the beautiful-but-domineering Mae; a Bohemian artist, David Galleo and his always-there model, Deborah Tyler; and Olive Jensen, a Greenwich Village type who is always slightly-but-continuously inebriated, and whose motto is "love and let love." She calls on George while his wife is out, and when she passes out during his attempts to get her out before his wife returns, he thinks she is dead and deposits her on Galleo's terrace. Galleo takes advantage of the situation by using it in a blackmail scheme against Arthur, which is shaky, at best, as Olive refuses to stay dead.

Out of the Blue

1947
Laura
9.7

A detective is assigned to a case of murder. During the investigation he finds himself taking a more than professional interest in the victim, the mysterious Laura.

Laura

1955
Give a Girl a Break
5.4

When the temperamental star of a new Broadway musical revue in rehearsals walks out, director and choreographer Ted Sturgis suggests casting an unknown for the role. When it is announced in the newspapers, throngs of hopefuls show up. The revue's musical composer, Leo Belney, champions ballerina Joanna Moss, while gofer Bob Dowdy is enchanted by novice Suzy Doolittle. Then producer Felix Jordan persuades Ted's former dance partner, Madelyn Corlan, to come out of retirement to try out, much to Ted's great discomfort.

Give a Girl a Break

1953
Working Girls
7.3

Two sisters from Indiana, the wide-eyed and innocent Mae Thorpe, and her more streetwise sister June, move into the Rolf House for Homeless Girls in New York. With June's help, Mae obtains a job as a stenographer for the scientist Joseph von Schraeder, while June gets work as a telegraph operator at Western Union.

Working Girls

1931
Bedelia
5.1

Bedelia Carrington is living happily, it appears, in Monte Carlo with her husband Charlie Carrington. But a cultivated young artist, Ben Chaney, begins probing into her past with curious concern. Chaney, who is really a detective, learns that Bedelia's obsession for money has led her, in the past, to husband-poisoning for the insurance money.

Bedelia

1946
Three Husbands
5.4

When a recently deceased playboy gets to heaven and is granted one wish--granted to all newcomers--he requests that he be able to see the reactions of three husbands, with whom he regularly played poker, to a letter he left each of them claiming to have had an affair with each's wife.

Three Husbands

1950
Lady Bodyguard
6.0

A.C.Baker, advertising executive for an insurance company, approaches test pilot Terry Moore with a proposition that in return for using his picture and endorsement he will get a paid-for-a-year $1000 policy. High-risk Terry agrees. George MacAlister fires his secretary, Miss Tracy, just as she is typing up the policy and she, for spite, changes the amount from a thousand dollars to one million dollars. A.C. delivers the policy, without noticing the difference, to Terry at a party at the Frolics Club, a cheap joint wedged between a burlesque house and a flop house hotel. Three characters, an elderly hat-check "girl" known as Mother Hodges; Avery Jamieson, a broken-down actor; and bartender Harry Gargan are named beneficiaries. When the company discovers the error, A.C. is sent to get back the policy and, pending that, don't let Terry make any test flights.

Lady Bodyguard

1943
Laura
8.0

The detective investigating Laura Hunt's murder finds himself becoming obsessed with the dead woman only to find out she's actually still alive.

Laura

1962
Such Women Are Dangerous
7.0

An aspiring young writer becomes infatuated with a successful romance novelist, who realizes his life as a philandering Lothario is suddenly threatened.

Such Women Are Dangerous

1934
Lady from Louisiana
5.4

Northern lawyer John Reynolds travels to New Orleans to try and clean up the local crime syndicate based around a lottery. Although he meets Julie Mirbeau and they are attracted to each other, the fact that her father heads the lottery means they end up on opposite sides. When her father is killed, Julie becomes more and more involved in the shady activities and in blocking Reynolds' attempts at prosecution.

Lady from Louisiana

1941
No image
9.0

In this musical, a con man makes a good living by promoting bogus charity shows. He gets the communities all revved up and then skips town with all their money. But then he meets three earnest people wanting to garner financial support for an orphanage. This time the con man's loyal assistant finally catches on to the wicked scam and turns him in to the police. Meanwhile, the newly reformed assistant and one of the charity workers fall in loves.

Sing, Dance, Plenty Hot

1940
Claudia and David
7.5

The follow-up film to "Claudia", with Dorothy McGuire and Robert Young reprising their earlier roles as a young married couple living in a small Connecticut town.

Claudia and David

1946
Scandal Street
8.0

Joe McKnight temporarily leaves his fiancée, Nora Langdon, for an expedition in a South American jungle. Nora gets a position as librarian in the small town of Midberg, where she boards with the Smith family. Nora is befriended by her next-door neighbor Austin Brown, who, unknown to his wife, is engaged in a moneymaking scheme with James Wilson.

Scandal Street

1938
Laura
5.7

A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he’s investigating.

Laura

1968