L.A. Confidential
Country: USA Year: 1997 Language: English
Cast: Kevin Spacey (Jack Vincennes), Russell Crowe (Bud White), Guy Pearce (Ed Exley), James Cromwell (Dudley Smith), Kim Basinger (Lynn Bracken), Danny DeVito (Sid Hudgens), David Strathairn (Pierce Patchett), Ron Rifkin (D.A. Ellis Loew), Matt McCoy ('Badge of Honor' Star Brett Chase), Paul Guilfoyle (Mickey Cohen), Paolo Seganti (Johnny Stompanato), Elisabeth Granli (Mickey Cohen's Mambo Partner), Sandra Taylor (Mickey Cohen's Mambo Partner), Steve Rankin (Officer Arresting Mickey Cohen), Graham Beckel (Dick Stensland), Allan Graf (Wife Beater), Precious Chong (Wife), Symba Smith (Jack's Dancing Partner), Bob Clendenin (Reporter at Hollywood Station), Lennie Loftin (Photographer at Hollywood Station), Will Zahrn (Liquor Store Owner), Amber Smith (Susan Lefferts), Darrell Sandeen (Buzz Meeks), Michael Warwick (Sid's Assistant), Simon Baker (Matt Reynolds (as Simon Baker Denny)), Shawnee Free Jones (Tammy Jordan), Matthew Allen Bretz (Officer Escorting Mexicans), Thomas Rosales Jr. (First Mexican), Shane Dixon (Officer - Detective at Hollywood Station), Norman Howell (Officer - Detective at Hollywood Station), Brian Lally (Officer - Detective at Hollywood Station), Don Pulford (Officer - Detective at Hollywood Station), Chris Short (Officer - Detective at Hollywood Station), John Mahon (Police Chief), Tomas Arana (Breuning - Dudley's Guy), Michael McCleery (Carlisle - Dudley's Guy), George Yager (Gangster at Victory Motel), Jack Conley (Vice Captain), Ginger Slaughter (Secretary in Vice), Jack Knight (Detective at Detective Bureau), John H. Evans (Patrolman at Nite Owl Cafe), Gene Wolande (Forensic Chief), Brian Bossetta (Forensic Officer), Michael Chieffo (Coroner), Gwenda Deacon (Mrs. Lefferts), Mike Kennedy (Bud's Rejected Partner), Ingo Neuhaus (Jack's Rejected Partner), Robert Harrison (Pierce Patchett's Bodyguard), Jim Metzler (City Councilman), Robert Barry Fleming (Boxer), Jeremiah Birkett (Ray Collins - Nite Owl Suspect), Salim Grant (Louis Fontaine - Nite Owl Suspect), Karreem Washington (Ty Jones - Nite Owl Suspect), Noel Evangelisti (Stenographer), Marisol Padilla Sánchez (Inez Soto - Rape Victim (as Marisol Padilla Sanchez)), Jeff Sanders (Sylvester Fitch), Steven Lambert (Roland Navarette (as Steve Lambert)), Jordan Marder (Officer at Detective Bureau), Gregory White (Mayor), April Breneman (Look-Alike Dancer), Lisa Worthy (Look-Alike Dancer), Beverly Sharpe (Witness on 'Badge of Honor'), Colin Mitchell (Reporter at Hospital), John Slade (Photographer at Hospital), Brenda Bakke (Lana Turner), Kevin Maloney (Frolic Room Bartender), Patrice Walters (Police File Clerk), Rebecca Klingler (Police File Clerk (as Rebecca Jane Klingler)), Irene Roseen (D.A. Ellis Loew's Secretary), Scott Eberlein (West Hollywood Sheriff's Deputy), David St. James (Detective at Hush-Hush Office), Bodie Newcomb (Officer at Hush-Hush Office), Jeff Austin (Detective), Robert Foster (Detective), Kevin Patrick Kelly (Detective (as Kevin Kelly)), Henry Marder (Detective), Monty McKee (Detective), Henry Meyers (Detective), Michael Ossmann (Detective), Dick Stilwell (Detective), Jess Thomas (Detective), Robert Thompson (Detective (as Samuel Thompson)), Jody Wood (Detective), Jonathan Adler (Photographer (uncredited)), William Boyd (Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)), Hennen Chambers (Reporter (uncredited)), Priscilla Cory (Brunette Police Woman (uncredited)), T.K. Durham (Senator's Aide (uncredited)), Deborah Kerr (Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)), Virginia Mayo (Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)), Scott McKinley (Cop (uncredited)), Marilyn Monroe (Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)), Jimmy Ortega (Second Mexican (uncredited)), Gilbert Rosales (Third Mexican (uncredited)), Nectar Rose (Marilyn Monroe (uncredited)), Jane Russell (Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)), Rocco Salata (Uniformed Patrol Officer (uncredited)), Frank Sinatra (Himself (archive footage) (uncredited))
Keywords: Police, Diner, 1950s, Violence, Corruption, Movie Star, Murder, Shotgun, Detective, Police Corruption, Slit Throat, Arrest, Scene During End Credits, Reference To Veronica Lake, Hollywood Sign, Premarital Sex, Rainstorm, Police Brutality, Crime Scene, Police Interrogation, Police Vigilantism, Millionaire, Organized Crime, Two Way Mirror, Morgue, Drunkenness, Mansion, Face Slap, Police Chase, Crotch Grab, Mob Hit, Christmas Party, Marijuana, Extramarital Affair, Drug Overdose, Fight, Bandage, Scandal, Reporter, Elevator, Loss Of Daughter, Voice Over Narration, Trespass, Film Making, Shot In The Back, Police Raid, Eyeglasses, Acronym In Title, Redemption, Boxer, Autopsy, Rape Victim, Double Cross, Frame Up, Flashback, Blackmail, Prologue, Tragedy, Place Name In Title, Ledge, Closeted Homosexual, Knife In Thigh, Crime Boss, Police Officer, Birthmark, Good Cop Bad Cop, Gay Slur, Famous Score, Restaurant, Celebrity Look Alike, Bodyguard, Surprise After End Credits, Impersonation, Racial Slur, Comic Relief, Crawl Space, Mass Murder, Window Smashing, Neo Noir, Gun In Mouth, Toilet, Shot To Death, Los Angeles California, Shot In The Chest, Parking Garage, Motel, Interrogation, Criminal Syndicate, Stabbed In The Leg, Liquor Store, Jewish Mobster, City Name In Title, Shot In The Face, Mirror, Bar, Cynicism, Pornographer, Plastic Surgery, Police Detective, Drug Dealing, Alderman, District Attorney, Police Officer Killed, Russian Roulette, Secret, Wetting Pants, Racism, Revenge, Bad Smell, Police Coverup, Corpse, Murder Mystery, Shootout, Female Nudity, Hard Boiled, Ensemble Cast, Jail, Domestic Violence, Femme Fatale, Mystery Woman, Heroin, Call Girl, Switchblade, Drink Thrown In Face, Rogue Cop, TV Show In Film, Handcuffs, Photographer, Bisexual, Actor, Blood Splatter, Prostitute, Hidden In Crawl Space, Surveillance, Journalist, Pimp, Tabloid, Death Of Friend, Based On Novel
Summary: 1950's Los Angeles is the seedy backdrop for this intricate noir-ish tale of police corruption and Hollywood sleaze. Three very different cops are all after the truth, each in their own style: Ed Exley, the golden boy of the police force, willing to do almost anything to get ahead, except sell out; Bud White, ready to break the rules to seek justice, but barely able to keep his raging violence under control; and Jack Vincennes, always looking for celebrity and a quick buck until his conscience drives him to join Exley and White down the one-way path to find the truth behind the dark world of L.A. crime.
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Body count: 30
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Curtis Hanson cast Russell Crowe after seeing his performance in Romper Stomper (1992). Studio execs were adamantly against the idea of casting two Australians (Crowe and Guy Pearce) in an American period piece. Kevin Spacey was told to play his character loosely based on Dean Martin.
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To pitch the movie to backers (and, later, to explain his aesthetic ideas about it to various cast and crew members), director Curtis Hanson put together a group of 18 period images illustrating different aspects of what he hoped to convey with the movie. These included the "Welcome to Los Angeles" postcard that's in the first shot of the movie. Photos of tract housing, orange groves, and the glamour shot of Veronica Lake are framed on Lynn Bracken's wall. Hanson also chose studio photos of two lesser-known 1950s actors (Aldo Ray and Guy Madison) to show to Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe what he envisioned as models for the characters Ed Exley and Bud White. Exley's model was Madison, while White's was Ray. This film takes it's name from "Confidential", a notorious 1950s-era movie star tabloid, which is fictionally portrayed herein as "Hush-Hush".
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The role of Bud White was supposedly offered to Michael Madsen.
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The fictional TV show "Badge of Honor", on which Sgt. Jack Vincennes is the technical adviser, is loosely based on "Dragnet" (1951). Throughout the film, fellow officers tease Jack by saying "Just the facts!", which is Sgt. Joe Friday's famous line from the series.
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Mickey Cohen, the mobster who gets locked up which causes the war for control of the drug trade in the story, was a real-life Los Angeles mobster from the late '30s until his death in 1976 after two imprisonments for tax evasion. He was a small-time hood who joined forces with New York gangster Bugsy Siegel when Siegel came to L.A. to run the rackets (see the film Bugsy (1991)). After Siegel's murder in 1947, Cohen took over the rackets that Bugsy had built up, including labor union shakedowns at the studios, drug trafficking, gambling and prostitution. He was so hated by the police that he was constantly arrested for any crime, big or small (he was once arrested for using foul language on the street). As shown in the movie, he was eventually imprisoned for income tax evasion and spent nearly ten years in prison. After his release, he was semi-retired from the rackets and lived off his wealth, remaining a colorful character in Los Angeles until his death in 1976.
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"L.A. Confidential" is the third installment in author James Ellroy's "L.A. Quartet" series.
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Many of the events in the movie were based upon real events. These include the Bloody Christmas scene where drunken police officers brutally beat up Hispanic prisoners suspected of beating up two uniformed cops; the plot line of real-life gangster Mickey Cohen's arrest touching off a gang war for control of the rackets; the LAPD Goon Squad which would kidnap out-of-town gangsters, beat them up and threaten to kill them if they ever tried to come back to set up their operations; Lana Turner dating gangster Johnny Stompanato. In real life, Turner's daughter Cheryl Crane stabbed Stompanato to death after catching him beating her mother.
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At the end of the opening credits, where you see a copy of Hush-Hush Magazine before Curtis Hanson's director credit appears, the magazine's main cover story is an interview with mob boss Mickey Cohen. The other front page story is Ingenue Dykes in Hollywood. This leads into the scene a short time afterward, when Sid Hudgens, Hush-Hush's editor, approaches Jack Vincennes. Jack introduces Sid to his dance partner, Karen, who walks away. Jack then asks what's wrong and Sid explains "We did a piece on Ingenue Dykes and her name got mentioned."
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According to an Australian radio interview with Guy Pearce, the role of Lynn Bracken was offered to Jennifer Jason Leigh, who turned it down because she had already played a few prostitutes.
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The character of Brett Chase is modeled after 'Jack Webb'.
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The closing credits include old footage of famous cowboy star William Boyd as his character Hopalong Cassidy on horseback at a parade. Special effects make it appear that he is marching just in front of the cast of the films fictional police show Badge of Honor.
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The shotguns used by the LAPD in this film are Ithaca Model 37s, easily identifiable by the lack of an ejection port on the right side (they eject from the bottom). White and Exley both carry Colt Detective Specials.
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In preparation, Curtis Hanson showed his cast and crew Kiss Me Deadly (1955), Bad Influence (1990), The Killing (1956), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), In a Lonely Place (1950), Private Hell 36 (1954) and The Lineup (1958).
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The film has 80 speaking parts.
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Izabella Scorupco was offered the lead female role but turned it down.
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Twice the project was pitched to television: first, producer David L. Wolper wanted to produce the project as a mini-series, and later, it was being developed as a weekly series by HBO.
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After the success of the film, a pilot was made for an HBO TV series with Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Vincennes. But L.A. Confidential (2003) (TV) was not picked up for series.
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In Mickey Rooney's autobiography, he makes a passing reference about The T and M Studio, a brothel where the women were film star lookalikes.
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Pierce Patchett's business is based on the long-time rumor that there really was a house of prostitution in Hollywood that supplied ladies meticulously dressed and made up to resemble famous movie stars. In his memoir "Hollywood: Stars and Starlets, Tycoons and Flesh-Peddlers, Moviemakers and Moneymakers, Frauds and Geniuses, Hopefuls and Has-Beens, Great Lovers and Sex Symbols", screenwriter Garson Kanin describes a visit to a place called Mae's where the madam dressed as Mae West and presided over a cast of replicas of Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford, Carole Lombard, Marlene Dietrich and Ginger Rogers, among others.
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Jerry Goldsmith, who got an Academy Award nomination for this movie's score, replaced Elmer Bernstein.
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Some of the close-ups of Guy Pearce's face in the scene where he and Russell Crowe get into a fight were shot four months after principle photography had ended. Much to Curtis Hanson's dismay, Guy Pearce had shaved his head within the time-span and had to wear a wig. During a Q and A session, Pierce referred to it as a "very expensive wig" and noted that in Australia there is no concept of returning to shoot pick-ups weeks or even months later.
Release Date: Wednesday, May 14, 1997
Budget: $35,000,000 Gross: $64,604,977 Profit: $29,604,977
Rating: 8.4 Votes: 142,305
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