The leading men act REALLY gay

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Laura's apartment is garish and cluttered with the most awful ruffly lamps, curtains and more (maybe to signify wealth? Was interior design that hideous in the 40s?).

I don't get how they 'acted gay' at all. The men in that time displayed themselves with an air of class and dignity. Just because you act like a gentlemen does not make you gay.

Cary Grant always appeared effeminate to me yet he was one of the most admired, sexiest and greatest looking men around the time. So was Gary Cooper. I think it was a thing of the time.

I do not know if either Price or Webb were gays but they did appear very effeminate. Maybe being such a way wasn't really gay back then?

The only thing that struck me as "gay" was when Price's Shelby says to Tierney's Laura "I approve of that hat" regarding one her ugly floppy hats, and then much later, to Anderson's Ann, "That's a completely wonderful hat, darling". Of course you could argue his compliments are just to show what a gigolo he is, as opposed to the way a "real man" would ignore a woman's clothes.

"Laura's apartment is garish and cluttered with the most awful ruffly lamps, curtains and more (maybe to signify wealth? Was interior design that hideous in the 40s?). Gene Tierney's wardrobe is horrid - stripes, checks, the oddly cut dress she wears at the party, etc. Gene Tierney's wardrobe is horrid - stripes, checks, the oddly cut dress she wears at the party, etc."

Well, if you remember, at the beginning Waldo explained to McPherson that Laura deferred to him in matters of taste. He taught her the "right" clothes to wear, which hairstyles were more becoming to her, etc." So, to take your reasoning a bit further, her questionable taste was a reflection of Waldo's "gay" influence.

"All the characters but Laura are despicable. Why would such a nice, lovely woman surround herself with such vipers?"

MacPherson asks her that exact question towards the end of the movie. I don't know why that would make this a bad movie.

I think the dress Laura wore to Ann's party was beautiful.

Edit: The OP hasn't been active since June 2011, a troll, maybe?

"I told you a million times not to talk to me when I'm doing my lashes"!

I agree that this film is overrated, but not because of Webb and Price, but because of being excessively melodramatic and with characters that are somewhat stereotypical.

An actual woman with the described positive characteristics of Laura would never have kept such a friend as Waldo Lydecker for very long. She would have been dismayed by his arrogance. The fact that she let him lavish money and promote her business speaks for her lack of character, but this is never explored well in the film. She is given excessive praise that is unseemly, and Tierney is definitely out of her league here, as you so noted.

I think the "gayness" you see has more to do with the way Webb and Vincent Price hold themselves than with the story. Price seems more like a Mama's boy to me, and I think that's what was wanted. I can't see Laura hanging out much with either one of them, unless she's witless and clearly she isn't.

Mark, as played by Dana Andrews, doesn't have the same affectations, but he is really an annoying character even with the persona of being a detective solving a murder. The whole idea of falling in love with someone from a painting and "eulogies" reeks of the type of excessive melodrama for which Preminger is known. I would say this film is one to see, but not particularly great.


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The Eyes of the City are Mine! Mother Pressman / Anguish (1987)

I read your comment before watching the movie today and I did note one thing as it related to how she dressed:
In the one scene where shes wearing 'check' and that weird hat/cap, she was dressed to head out to the country/mountains. If you notice, in these older movies, middle to upper class dress 'down' in their best 'country' outfits - jeans, plaids, wool shirts, hiking boots etc., ya know, so they'll fit in with the areas common folk.
Today, she would have done an on line order from LL Bean or Lands End - all new outfits, sleeping bags etc., shipped to her door maybe a week before she was scheduled to leave the city for a weekend of 'roughing it'.
Early on in the movie, when Webb 'discoverers' her, shes shown cutting/pasting pictures at some office - clearly not a girl of 'breeding'. Webb describes how he had to teach her how to dress etc. While hes telling the Lt about this part of their relationship, Laura is shown trying on some pretty nice outfits. Webb was the one with 'class' and 'breeding', not her. The ' nouveau riche' have been known to be tacky/gaudy. :-)