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A friend came over and I conned him into watching Laura. He was going to watch just some and leave. Well, he finished it because he wanted to know who did it.
I'm making an assumption, but if he wasn't already an old movie fan, two things worked. One, you chose well as Laura is a classic for a reason: solid script, well-above-average acting and it is beautifully shot and directed (and even has a hauntingly beautiful leitmotif). And, two, for a non-fan to get into an old movie (and even better, become a new fan), something has to be right in the zeitgeist at the moment they are watching.
I don't know if it's the person's mood or concentration, his or her willingness to see something not from a modern-movie perspective or movie kismet, but something has to be "in the air" at that moment they are watching the movie. I have a few friends who it took three or four tries at watching old movies to get them hooked. One is now such a fan that he saves them on his DVR for when the wife and kids aren't around (they aren't fans) so that he can watch them. And he used to make snarky comments about "those old black and white films with silly plots," but it was "Casablanca" on TCM one night when he was alone that finally did it.