The Face in the Misty Light

Gorgeous Gene Tierney was, of course, the titular goddess of Laura (1944) and the Johnny Mercer/David Raskin song the film inspired; but for all of Miss Tierney's hypnotizing charm, we can't help but be completely disarmed by Dana Andrews everytime we watch it.

Andrews' biography reads like fantasy fodder: a Mississippi farm boy discovered while working as a gas pump jockey; a ruggedly handsome hunk with a sensitive side -- he even studied opera! During the 1940's, he was a major star, appearing in at least three films considered among the best of the decade; besides Laura, he also starred in The Ox Bow Incident (1943) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). He appeared with the biggest names of the day, from Tierney to Susan Hayward; Linda Darnell to Joan Crawford.


FALLEN ANGEL (1945)


DAISY KENYON (1947)

By the 1950's, however, Andrews' fortunes had dipped drastically; his worsening alcoholism led to scandal and near-fatal accidents. Stories abound of Andrews becoming so inebriated at his favorite watering holes, that he would have to crawl out on his hands and knees, so unable was he to walk or stand. Not surprisingly, such excesses affected his work, and Andrews was demoted to B-films and supporting roles; while he continued to work fairly steadily through the 1960's, his star was a dim shadow of the leading man luster he had enjoyed in his heyday. Andrews became sober in 1968, and bravely became one of the first celebrities to put a public face on the disease when he appeared in a series of Public Service Announcements endorsing Alcoholics Anonymous.

Dana Andrews should be remembered today as the big movie star he undoubtedly was during his brief stay at the top of Hollywood's heap, and as a courageous gentleman who faced his demons in a very public way, at a time when it was neither commonplace nor fashionable.