"Barbed Wire and Forget-Me-Not", The Radio Adventures of 'Laura'

This article explores the audio rendition of films within the movie adaptation series that proliferated on US radio from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s. Focussing on several versions of the 1944 film Laura, the article examines the institutional, ideological and representational negotiations involved in translating this property from the cinema screen to the airwaves. A celebrated example of film noir, Laura reveals an unusual handling of questions of gender and sexuality as well as highly eccentric storytelling strategies and a distinctive visual style. Drawing on a range of critical approaches, reviews and trade materials, as well as offering detailed textual analysis of filmic and radio material, the article considers what happens when such a distinctive film is adapted to a medium that communicates exclusively through sound and which operates within more tightly regulated commercial and institutional imperatives.