The film noir legacy of LA Confidential and dark history of 1950s Los Angeles
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- čas přidán 15. 09. 2023
- #laconfidential #neonoir #1990 #crimemovie
"LA Confidential," a neo-noir masterpiece released in 1997, takes audiences on a riveting journey through a city teeming with corruption, scandal, and moral ambiguity. Based on James Ellroy's best-selling novel and directed by Curtis Hanson, the film stars Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Kim Basinger, and James Cromwell.
LA Confidential recreates Los Angeles, a city characterized by glitz, glamour, but one that hides a dark underbelly seething with darkness. The film is a exploration of the city's many facets, painting a vivid portrait of the City of Angels where the veneer of prosperity often conceals a world of corruption, violence, and sleaze.
"LA Confidential" delves deep into the intricate web of deceit that entangles the LAPD and its officers, portraying a morally ambiguous landscape where the line between right and wrong blurs into obscurity.
LA Confidential is one in a long line of LA based noir films where the City of Angels and its history take center stage.
📚You can buy the novel here ➡️ amzn.to/3Zk5ZCZ
🍿you can buy the movie here ➡️ amzn.to/3EHYX1o
watch the full video featuring Eddie Muller's interview here ➡️ • Los Angeles: City of F...
More reading recommendations:
Dark City the Real Los Angeles Noir amzn.to/3PJC4RO
LA Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City amzn.to/45ScGik
‘L.A. Confidential’ Remains the Most Honest Depiction of Los Angeles" by Mike Muny
collider.com/la-confidential-...
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Great shout out to Devil in a Blue Dress, which is the cousin to L.A. Confidential and one of the most underrated and underappreciated movies of the last 30 years. In a just world, we'd have gotten 10 more Denzel-led Easy movies.
We were robbed. We deserved more Easy Rawlins mysteries and more Mouse.
Amen! Walter Mosley is one of my favorite writers. Don Cheadle’s performance as Mouse, in Devil in the Blue Dress, was phenomenal.
I screamed when I saw it pop up! It is so good, and the way LA Confidential had gay characters, and this one had Black characters....the neo noir genre has some elements still left untapped (save for say, Bound 1996) and I'd like to see more of Easy!! Maybe a series or a film trilogy with John David Washington?
@@CinemaCities1978 Mouse has to be the most underappreciated Don Cheadle performance. As someone who's read several Mosley books, he captures the menacing, volatile nature of that character to a T. Staggering work.
@@JaiProdzthe big issue is that, traditionally, movies billed as noirs or neo-noirs don't make a lot of money and require some investment, but for the most part, they always tend to have something to say and even the less successful ones are, at the very least, interesting.
James Ellroy is one of my favorite authors. He NEVER pulls his punches.
I stumbled upon your channel thanks to the algorithm. (All hale the algorithm!) I really quite enjoy your low key delivery and references to films noir I have yet to discover. I followed your link to Gun Grazy and The Fast and the Furious and enjoyed both emensely.
Welcome! I'm so glad you enjoyed Gun Crazy. It's such a groundbreaking film and it really deserves a wider audience. I'm happy that I could introduce it to you.
I remember that when this came out Kevin Spacey was seen as the major star in the cast, coming so soon after his Oscar for The Usual Suspects, while Pearce and Crowe were nearly unknown (by the general American public) Australian imports. At this moment, Spacey might have been the most critically-admired movie actor in America.
Yes. He was very big and I think this was his transition period from supporting to leading man roles in films like American Beauty.
As was Kim Bassinger and Danny DeVito
Sadly, embarrassingly, it was more important to Spacey to allegedly act in ways that dishonored his obvious talents more than to promote them.
Flynn, Allen, Ratner, Weinstein, CK, Cosby, Rose, Diddy, Kelly, Simpson - all men of commensurate “talent”
who it seems “refused to let well enough alone”…
Fame is intoxicating, alright.
Like mainlining arsenic.
Simon Baker was in there too. He played Matt Reynolds. That's a hattrick of Aussies.
Crowe’s character in Romper Stomper was likely the reason he was considered for the role of Bud White. They share the same sense of menace and capacity for extreme violence.
Stranger when you consider producers were doing everything in their power to get him OUT of the movie. They even stopped paying for his hotel.
That is the film Curtis saw him in.
@@etherealtb6021 totally makes sense!
Oddly so did the genuine Russell Crowe of the era.
I almost only watch period films. The Perry Mason first season on HBO is my current favorite. I have worked in the areas where the Danny Devito character had his office. The Crossroads complex on sunset
I loved the first season of Perry Mason. When they prominently featured Angels Flight in the firs episode I was hooked. I haven't gotten to the second season yet.
@@CinemaCities1978 My exact same response to seeing Angel's Flight. I've gone up and down that thing so many times since they reopened it 20 years or so ago.
Nice shout out for "Devil in a Blue Dress" - unknown by most, but it should be celebrated. Well, hell, outside of cinema lovers, "LA Confidential" is practically forgotten. It certainly competes with "Chinatown" as a neo-noir depiction of LA. Curtis Hanson earlier in the 90s did an ok noir called "Bad Influence" in which LA also plays a role. Glossy, soulless. Like the skyscrapers that stand lifelessly on what used to be Bunker Hill. I love old LA, and I love this movie, and any movie that depicts old LA. One of my absolute favorites.
I need to get my Devil In A Blue Dress video made. It's one of the ones at the top of the to do list.
I saw L.A.Confidential in the theaters when it was first released. I loved it and it hasn't missed a beat over the years. This one, along with Chinatown, Devil in the Blue Dress and The Grifters are the best of the neo-noir genre. Imho. Great vid. 👍 You included some great ones. In addition to the aforementioned, you've got Crime Wave, Act of Violence and The Big Sleep. Classic L.A. film noirs. I'd include Criss Cross and the first half of On Dangerous Ground too. So many...Ty. And keep up the fine work. I've got to take it on the lam. 😂
Great list, but On Dangerous Ground (one of my most favourite noirs, if not the most favourite -along with Out of the Past) is set in NYC (and then up-state NY, from the grittiest, densest street-level shots to the vast, snowy expanses of up-state NY, two contrasting sites of desolation, the film's visual structure is just as extraordinary as the rest of its elements) not L.A.
As a native New Yorker, you'd think I would've known. Although, I don't think the actual location is made clear in the narrative. But, given the weather, I go with NY. I really like On Dangerous Ground, but I favor the first part more than the second. Ryan busting heads and dealing with all that urban angst... I feel that Nicholas Ray was going for two films in one. Still, I enjoy watching it. Cheers.
Read the book: saw the movie.
When I read the book, I thought, “well, this is never going to be a film”.
When I saw the film, I thought, “I guess they had to change it up.” What surprised me was that I loved them both. I loved the LA of the film, it felt real too me.
I’m an Ellroy fan, but I think the only way to film them is to adapt them. I think this film is a near perfect adaptation.
Much love, ❤
I agree. I think this is the masterclass on how to adapt a novel to the screen.
*_LA Confidential_* is one of my very favorite films.
I think it is better than the book for the simplified plot lines, but it did water down the 3 main characters.
Nonetheless it's a 10/10 for me.
My take is maybe they had to make the three main characters more likable.
@@CinemaCities1978Except none of them are likeable, but we still are made to care about them. Proof characters don't have to be likeable.
@@etherealtb6021 I've personally never believed that characters have to be likable for us to care about them or to become invested in their journey. Don Draper, Michael Corleone, and Amy Dunne are all awful people. In the case of LAC, the screenwriters took 3 very, very terrible people and made them more sympathetic on film than they were in the book.
@@CinemaCities1978 Exactly! All studio heads should be forced to watch this movie monthly, to remind them of this fact and what great filmmaking actually looks like!
@@CinemaCities1978 I do wonder how the movie would have been accepted by audiences if the characters were presented as darkly as the book versions.
Certainly there's a segment of movie goers that would be completely turned off (perhaps revolted), while another segment would adore the bold characterization.
From a money making aspect, the screenwriter made the right decision.
Great presentation! Thank you. BTW, tonight is Saturday movie and popcorn, and I'll be watching Kiss of Death, 1947. You rock!
Love Kiss of Death. Richard Widmark in that is 🔥
It’s a masterpiece. On my all time list. Genius.
There are very few films which I can watch over and over, endlessly. L. A. Confidential is certainly one of them (as is Chinatown). There is something about mid 20th century L.A. that just fascinates me. James Ellroy's novels speak to that fascination in a very real way which is why I love them as well. Thanks for insights about the film which you have done so well as always.
I have the same fascination with Los Angeles. I devour anything set there between the 1930s and 1970s. That's one reason that I love Columbo so much. On top of the mysteries and the guest stars it's giving 70s Los Angeles.
I love this film so much. It's still just as fresh today!
It really is a classic. I can hold its own against the greats in the genre.
Do I think this is the BEST LA movie? I think it's one of the best. .
"LA Confidential" stands as one of the best book-to-screen adaptations ever. While I personally love the book, it's valid to criticize it as being overstuffed. The film, on the other hand, presents a more streamlined narrative, constructed upon the foundation of an exceptionally rich and detailed world that skillfully weaves together elements of pulp fiction and historical fact. It’s actually remarkable in the way this massive story was able to make it, maybe not completely in tact, but in spirit to the screen. It’s not uncommon to hear someone say they prefer the movie to the book.
Another great video!!! LA Confidential is one of my all-time favorite books. I read it and savored every page well before the movie was made. Around the turn of this current century, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting the intriguing James Ellroy at a book signing and had a brief exchange of wry conversation with him including a quip from me about his dog that elicited a thumbs up reaction from him. (I wish I could remember the exact words.)
My dad was in law enforcement in Hellay and in the early 1950s (and luckily for him and his family), was transferred to a better environment in another state. Rotten city. I count my blessings. I don't think I'd be alive today to be writing this if we had stayed in SoCal.
@@emilien. I'm a native Angeleno, and totally disagree with your description of my hometown. Still here, still thriving. It's far from "rotten", has a rich and interesting history and a lot of fantastic people live here.
I'm also an Ellroy fan and the movie as well. Sadly, we didn't get the entire quadrology but still, we can hope.
@@MothGirl007 I respect your opinion. There's abso-freakin'-lutely(!!) good (people places & things) in every city and I venture to say you're part of what's good, but I still stick with my overall opinion.
@@jamesallard7223 I loved the movie as well and realize I did not articulate that in my initial comments. Ellroy for president!!!
I enjoyed LA Confidential. The casting seemed spot on and I was easily transported into LA of the 50’s. It was a time and a place where America’s “Greatest Generation” were occasionally less than great.
Nicely done! Thanks so much.
Glad you liked it!
the movie and your work is a beautiful combination of glamour, sex, fame, city, american dream, death and police in cold war era..Amazing
thank you!
Damn, I love this film. I met the author of the novel at a sneak preview in Westwood and even framed my ticket. The adaptation was brilliant. My favorite composer scored this film as well as "Chinatown". Thank you for mentioning "Devil With the Blue Dress", another great example of modern neo noir. BTW, I used to live on Bedford Drive in Beverly Hills, mere blocks from the location where Lana Turner's daughter dealt with Johnny Stompanato.
James Ellroy wrote a fine foreword to "The Choirboys" by Joseph Wambaugh, in the Delta Books edition of that great novel about L. A.'s cops.
God bless Curtis Hanson. He deserved a much better end. Great talent good dude
💯
Love your film images from 1950s L.A. You really establish time and place.
I love 'LA Confidential', and think you did a great job discussing it. I wish Elroy's 'Black Dahlia' had been a better film, but... 'LA Confidential' did a marvelous job of recreating mid-century LA, and every performance was masterful. It's a movie I can watch, again and again. Thanks, as always, for doing these movie discussions. You're really good at it. :)
I'm glad you enjoyed it. And yes, that Black Dahlia film was AWFUL.
There have been rumors of a 4-hour cut of Black Dahlia that is much closer to De Palma's original vision for the movie than the studio-butchered cut that came out. Despite not being super successful, the movie as it stands still has phenomenal photography (sort of the only color noir that feels like the classic noirs) and some astounding camerawork.
@@CinemaCities1978You can't shoot a movie so dependent on L. A. anywhere but L. A.! You just can't. I'll always be awful and never look right. 🤷♀️
@@Mouthfilm I completely forgot about the DePalma cut of 'The Black Dahlia.' I doubt they'll ever release it. I recall reading somewhere that Josh Hartnett saw the cut and thought it was amazing. Fun fact: one of the very first videos I uploaded to this channel (over 3 years ago) was about 'The Black Dahlia.' I ended up deleting it.
@@CinemaCities1978I know these are a lot of work and require enthusiasm, which might be tough for a movie you don't love, but if you ever decide to give it another go, I'd obviously really love to watch that video.
I can't believe I've never seen this film. As a self-proclaimed cinephile, I have some weird blind spots. Thanks for putting this one on my radar!
you MUST watch it! It's one of the very best LA/Neo-Noir/90s/crime films ever made.
@@CinemaCities1978 Well, if I must, I must. Disc ordered! 😊
@@CinemaCities1978it's just one of the best films ever made, period.
It is so good!😊
That was a great video about one of my all time favorite movies. 👍👍
I love the movie and enjoyed your personal commentary and the worked in Noir history. Your channel is a highlight of my youtubing
Thank you!😊
The idea of a miniseries being a better way to get all the interlaced threads of history and corruption in the story of Los Angeles together makes sense, but that's not easy, either. A couple of years ago they started out trying it in Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels. It was set in the late 1930's and started out with 'Chinatown'-like corruption, mixed in the history of the Mexican-American community, an Aime Semple McPherson type evangelist, a secret group of Nazi plotters, etc. etc. etc. until it all became too much to follow. They abandoned it after one season, which was probably for the best.
@@PBFoote-mo2zr Yeah, I stayed with it hoping it would come together, but when it didn't I was all too glad to leave it unfinished.
Great work! I really enjoyed it. I guess I'll have to watch LA Confidential tonight. It's been a few years since the last time I watched it.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Give it a rewatch. It's one of those films that gets better with every viewing.
I never read the book,but the movie is on my best list. Just a great, great movie.
Thank you and excellent work again! I have not read the book, but have always been fascinated by the movie. So many layers of a very rotten onion…🍿
Really good! I loved your video. LA Confidential is one of my favorite movies. Loved your insights!
Thank you so much for watching. It's always cool when I cover someone's favorite movie and they love the video.
Saw this movie on VHS in the 90s. Will have to find it again!
It totally deserves a rewatch. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
And it has a Making Of. Brilliant
I saw your girl Lila Leeds(from the newsletter fame), shown briefly in the snippets of the newspaper. This is really a terrific film, its probably the best of the neo noirs that were done around this time, along with the Last Seduction and Devil in a Blue Dress.
easter egg 😂
The cinematography in L.A. Confidential reminds me of some of the 50s era painted illustrations by renowned commercial artist Tom Lovell.
To the point where I wonder if it wasn't absolutely an intentional emulation.
I've been obsessed with this story since I saw the film in the summer. It's delicious!!!
I love this movie though it's been awhile since I've watched it. I forgot that they mentioned Johnny Stompanato! My favorite real life story involving him is when 007 himself Sir Sean Connery got in a fight with him. Stompanato was trying to harass his then girlfriend Lana Turner on set. If ever there was a moment in time to be a fly on the wall that would be one I'd pick. I love your work with these mini documentaries of films I've enjoyed (though I only recently watched The Grifters and liked it) and can't wait to see more from you!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the video!
That's a GREAT story. Connery beat up Stompanato when he barged onto the London set of Another Time, Another Place. The story goes Connery took him down with one punch.
@@CinemaCities1978I believe Connery was a boxer so I wouldn't be surprised if that were true.
Loved the movie, loved the book. Well done!
thank you
This was so good I watched it twice, one straight after the other. You really hit a high point with this video and that's saying something as all of your stuff is HQ. But hell, this was special. Great insight into the novel, perfect contrasts with the excellent film and all round very entertaining and suave. What more can I say, this is top tier movie content!
Thank you, my friend!!!! That's some high praise, and I'm basking in ALL of it ☀️😎. I did an LA Confidential video a couple of years ago, and I really wanted to do it better. I wanted to get more into the book and look at the history of the time and place. I'm really happy with this version.
One of my favorites! I watch it every couple years. I haven't read the book and I ordered it after watching this. I do think that noir is such a good genre because it gives people a glimpse into how the world really is which is a stark contrast to how we like to view the world. Most of us are never exposed to the seamier side of human existence. And that's a good thing. Noir reminds us of what is under the veneer. I don't often watch the standard "cop" movies. I would just pick them apart after 20 years on the job. I do enjoy the way they are portrayed in noir. Human beings with all of the baggage human beings carry and a lot they add to the load on the job. I can't say I worked with a Bud White, Ed Exley or Jack Vincennes but I recognized character traits of guys I did work with in those screen portrayals.
Great examination, Basinger at her most glorious role and Yes james Cromwell as the ultra Wasp Cop of the fifties LA
Definitely *not* a WASP. Dudley is Irish.
@@pinverarity orangemen are WASPs
My family and I moved to LA in 1954. I was in the 3rd grade. The movie is excelent and has the strong ring of truth. I also am a fan of Devil In A Blue Dress.
A good companion to L.A. noir lore would be Hollywood Babylon by Kenneth Anger, written in a tabloid style. It shows up in used bookstores and library sales.
If you read it, just be aware that most of the stories in it are not true. It's entertaining, but not factual at all.
@@MothGirl007 I found it to be just as you said, and somewhat annoying.
@@sarahalbers5555 It's extremely annoying and Anger wrote it at a time when he was absolutely flat broke and in desperate need of money, so he went all out with the exploitation and outright lies. He knew that would sell the book and that was all he cared about. Sadly, a lot of people who don't know very much about the history of Hollywood have read it and, without knowing any better, believe all the ridiculous stories. A truly awful book, in every way.
This is wonderful. Thank you. A masterpiece
thank you!!!!
Ellroy - the damaged genius!
very true
That was wonderful, thank you so much
Glad you enjoyed it!
Jack was always my favorite character as a ten year old when i first saw this movie back in 97 on VHS wit my uncle & my brother & my friend , my brother always liked Bud & my friend always loved Shotgun Ed but i loved Jack cuz he was too cool for school & dressed nice & was smooth & was also the smartest of the three even over Ed cuz he literally solved the entire case just by saying Rolo Tomassi to his killer !!!! I never thought everyone else i ever watched this film with as a pre teen would fall in love with it as much as i did but they all did because even a 10 year old kid can look up to these types of characters & relate to them!!! This film is a masterpiece & the best film of the late 90's hands down!!!! Im so glad it hit the algorithm & others are finally seeing this film for the first time & keeping it alive & remembered because otherwise it would just be a lost gem that most folks would never see!!!! This is also the film that got Russell Crowe famous & its the first film i saw any of these actors in tbh !!!! Wow how the time flies & its crazy how i watched Crowes career from early on to at his peak to now not seeing him barely at all in films lolz i feel older than i am & im only 37 !!!!
Love your work so commenting for the algorithm.
Thank you so much! I appreciate that! It's a silly game we all have to play.
Yes, ma'am, I am blown away by how informed your videos are,
How completely enjoyable, I tag some of them "movies" along with actual movies!
Thank you! And I'm going to read the book now, thank you very much for the tip.
I'm so happy that you enjoy this channel! Thanks for being a loyal viewer!
PS - The book is a WILD ride.
I would consider Devil In The Blue Dress on the same level as LA Confidential. Both are well made and well acted. It takes a lot of work to make movies like these 2 seem real not hokey. They succeeded on both. They both are well shot. The scripts are well done and both directors had sense of making everything look right. I have the Criterion Collection of Devil In A Blue Dress and it's wonderful to watch. I wish they would do the same for LA. It needs to be done in 4K.
Great video : ) Would LOVE more noir films. Hell, ANY non superhero reboots would be pleasant. The bar is so damn low right now.
Great video! Thank you
Whoever was in charge of casting was amazing at their craft. Everyone looks like a real life version of someone from either a comic bookor a drawing from an ad in the era.
Actually wardrobe compliments the cast as well so yea and great job on them as well!!
Another excellent vlog. I have never read the book, however, I will do so now to in order compare it to the movie. I find it interesting that the two protagonists (and one the supporting actors) are from Australia.
Guy Pearce. I have a bromance there.
James Cromwell grew up in LA. I think that informs his performance here.
Cromwell is so quietly menacing; I love his performance. His character, from the book to the screen, is translated perfectly.
He was great in Six Feet Under
I believe his father was a well respected film director
@@paulkitt-er9drJohn Cromwell.
His dad was a very good (and underappreciated) director in the Golden Age!
Kudos to you Cinema Cities for having read L.A. Confidential.
Another very good look around LA & the film. Time for a rewatch to see what I missed & informed by your comments. The City of Angels is a misnomer, still weighed down by the dark underbelly.
🙄 Many of us who were born and still live here feel differently.
Excellent, as usual.
thank you!
As a born and raised Angeleno, I have to say "and how", about the greatness of this book and film. And now in LA as well, there are too many rats overstuffed into the cage. Unless you are filthy rich, and can afford to live in the "good" areas, LA has become just too filthy.
Yet another excellent entry in your ongoing series.
I've loved the movie since it came out (IIRC I had only recently finished reading the quartet and was surprised anyone would attempt a film), but I think I'm overdue for another rewatch. There's so much to enjoy!
Is the novel "overstuffed"? I would say no, not for a novel (and the cumulative effect of reading all 4 is quite exhilarating - White Jazz seems not to take a single breath for the whole novel). I'm still amazed they were able to extract a pretty intact cross-section of plots and characters into a coherent film.
Maybe a feature on Richard Widmark at some point?
Thank you for this fantastic video!
Your documentaries are so good, they make you feel as well as entertain, I would also like to add if get chance to look up the Pc game LA Noire it pushes the envelope in the same way the LA Confidential does but also pushes further
thank you! I really love the subjects I talk about and I'm glad that comes through.
My comfort movie. Thank you for this video. Will you do a video on the book ‘Hollywood Babylon’ by Kenneth Anger, out of curiosity ?
One of my favourite films. Also, Devi In A Blue Dress, is another.
L.A. itself being a major character in noth films.
I really do need to make a video on Devil in a Blue Dress.
I loved the movie. I watched it several times and then I read the book. The casting was perfect. I didn't think much of the book. It seemed like Elroy threw in everything from Confidential Magazine except the sink. Dudley Smith having an affair with Betty Davis. Give me a break.
I just reread the book, I missed that Bette Davis part! To be fair, the book is so overstuffed I'm not surprised it was missed.
Ellroys dad managed and had an affair with Rita Hayworth, stranger things have happened
Same as you, I watched the movie then read the book.
I remember about 2/3 - 3/4 of the way through the book, thinking "Wow this has really gone off the rails.", but before that I was very much enjoying the book.
I always thought that the Lana Turner (yes that is Lana Turner) Johnny Stompanato case would make a good neo-noir. But then it's probably been done. Excellent video. I'll definitely will re-watch it.
I actually don't think it's been done. I'd love to see that story on the screen.
@@CinemaCities1978 I could see Danny DiVito as her lawyer Jerry Giessler.
I kind of doubt that they would tell the whole truth about it, though, and perhaps never will.
@@MothGirl007 No doubt that you are right. But it would make for great drama. Forget it Jake it's Hollywood.
@@CinemaCities1978 The movie, "Where love has gone", starring Susan Hayward and Bette Davis, by some, was supposed be about and/or inspired by the Turner/Stompanato case.
When this was being filmed, I worked in a bar in Silverlake and would go home heading west on Santa Monica Boulevard at about 3:30 in the morning. When I drove past the Formosa Cafe, it was surrounded by an awesome collection of old cars from the late 40's and early 50's. It was obvious that some movie was being made, but I had no way to know what movie. It was fascinating, because I love old cars from that era. A bunch of big, bulbous fastbacks. This went on for several nights, so I could sense that whatever it was, it was a big production. They were filming inside the Formosa, so all I really saw was the cars, but that was good enough. Eventually, I saw L.A. Confidential, and then I immediately knew what production I had been driving past all those months before.
I've been looking for a video about one of my favorite films of all time 😊❤ you did great work!
Today I learned about the book "The Americans", will probably pick it up. Thanks! :)
Devil in a Blue Dress and LA Confidential are GREAT movies. I believe the LAC movie is set from Christmas 1952 to about March-April 1953.
Great video for a great movie. I love your historical deep dives on movies. BTW thanks for mentioning devil in a blue dress, really good underrated Denzel movie.
I kind of see Devil in A Blue Dress and LA Confidential as two sides of the same coin. They work very well as companion pieces.
I adore this movie! Saw it opening night in 1997! Even though they are set in the past, Ironically, L. A. Confidential and Chinatown are the films that *looks* like the city I live in.
I just read Helgeland and Ellroy couldn't get a sequel green lit. After reading the book and all the plot points they couldn't fit in, this is the only sequel I ever really wanted to see! Think how great Guy Pearce would be in the 70's as Chief of the LAPD and Crowe as an older Budd!
BTW, I don't think Jack is a drug addict in the film? I think it was in the book (been awhile), but no hint to me in the film of that.
This movie is so rich, you can watch it each time for different things. Like, watch it once just looking for all of the reflections of the characters and how each time it mirrors (get it) how that character is feeling about themselves at that moment. So flipping brilliant!
I just read that article about the sequel proposal to Netflix. What a missed opportunity! Netflix will make the most ridiculous romcoms and then make it a trilogy, but they won't greenlight this. I hate it here.
@@CinemaCities1978 Can we start some noise? If they realized the fans LAC has, maybe?
Sadly, I don't think they would care 😞
@@CinemaCities1978 Well, signatures mean eyeballs! 🤷♀️
Wonderful treatment 👌
thank you!
Great video! I saw this when it came out but need to watch it again.
A favourite film. The novel is a dense read, it would as you say require a lot more screen time to adapt the book faithfully. That said the film's re-ordering of events culminating in the shoot out at the Victory Motel makes for a more logical story, but at the expense of characterisation, not only of the three detectives but of others such as the DA.
Great video
Thanks!
Really enjoyed this. Excellent.
Nice touch mentioning the japanese american internment in this wonderful review.
Ellroy originally praised the film effusively, but trashed it 20 years later after Curtis Hanson died --- I still think the movie is great.
Great presentation. Growing up in LA from 1950 on, I can really relate to these films. Having a parent who dabbled in the fringes of the gritty Los Angeles these films show, I am drawn to them like onlookers to a train wreck...thanks for putting it all together in a lovely video...
you're welcome! thanks for watching!
I just watched it again the other day. Wonderful movie and it was such an interesting cast choice that two of the three detectives were Australian actors (Crowe and Pearce) who were relatively unknown in the U.S. They were excellent. The production design, music score and the many, many aspects of life depicted in the early 50s were superb. Curtis Hanson deserves to be commended for this film.
One Hanukkah I got my wife a copy of the dvd and she got one for me. Love it so much.
Brilliant!!!!
TRES Cool/Heavy Tribute to Film Noir of the Late 40s!
Grew up in Noir LA, it was more wonderful and beautiful than any city I have lived in since. Now it's a toilet. That said I always preferred Paris. now I live with Apaches in New Mexico. Nobody has ever got LA right - My dad knew everyone in LA, e went fishing with Sterling Hayden, we caught tons of Bonita and a few tuna. He was a member of Hollywood playhouse and worked for Huston and Ford.
My Dad and his brother Stan were picked up for the Blue Dahila murder, and released. Taoists - accept change ...
I have too dive back into an old Rockstar game. LA Noir after this.
yes! I have that one on playstation VR and it really puts you in the time and place.
That sounds awesome. Only on the switch for me but brilliant story none the less. 💙
Awesome!
I’m a big fan of the movie, and an even bigger fan of the books. I have once met James Ellroy, he’s quite the character. :)
I would love to see the L.A. Quartet adapted in a mini series, although I don’t think it will happen. I can always dream.
The L.A. Quartet is one of the few series of crime fiction book I want to re-read. It’s tough in many ways, but also very rewarding.
Cheers, lady!
Form the interviews I've seen with him over the years, Ellroy does indeed seem like quite the character. There's always talk of new adaptations of his books but nothing ever comes of it.
I may be an outsider on this, but I think this is a case where the film is better than the book! I tried reading the novel but found it too sprawling a scope and (not being a mystery/crime novel fan) was put off by its staccato writing style. To me the movie pared things down to a manageable cast of characters while still delivering its essential message. It is one of my favorite flicks. . .
L.A. Confidential, to me, rivals Heat as The great Hollywood Crime film of the 90s.
Definitely!
Except it's not indicative of the 90s due to being a period piece.
Same cinematographer on both films though: Dante Spinotti.
@@Geronimo_Jehoshaphat I just meant in terms of quality in that decade, not about the decade.
@@Geronimo_Jehoshaphat I believe the comment was referring to both of them being released in the 1990s, rather than being reflective of the 1990s as an era. But, period films can certainly be indicative of the times they are made in. For instance, 'Chinatown,' set in the 1930s, reflects the cynicism and government corruption of the 1970s during the Watergate era. 'High Noon,' a western taking place in the 1890s, comments on the 1950s Red Scare. LA Confidential with it's corrupt LAPD is a mirror to the 1990s scandals within the LAPD.
@@CinemaCities1978
Except I don't buy that they reflect those events. Mistrust of authority and rampant corruption ain't a contemporary phenomenon, nor an attitude that ever goes out of style. I think ridiculous pundits project their pontificated analogies in desperate vie to prove their glib blather has any relevant value whatsoever. Artists themselves may go along with that line of hooey too as it makes them also sound more cleverly insightful and socially vital. But if that really was their impetus to create, then I say that's pathetic. Therefore I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and pretend they're not so susceptible to being driven by the zeitgeist hogwash.
I had seen the movie before I read Ellroy's novel and was surprised how much the movie had changed from the book (the framing plot of the corrupt Walt-Disney-like character was discarded entirely). As you note, to adapt the book faithfully would be probably a week-long mini-series, and trying to remember where you are among the plot and characters as the plot thickens (considerably) would be a challenge. Ellroy's novels don't really adapt to film; the movie of his book The Black Dahlia was...pretty bad (if you hadn't read the novel, it made no sense). I can only admire how much Hanson and his screenwriter did manage to catch the aura of Ellroy's dark world in his quartet of novels, which are as convoluted and personal as Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County's stories. And congrats for your video bringing that out about this film!
I agree, although a lot of the book is left out, the mood and major themes are left intact. This is really a case where I love the movie as much as the book, and I don't say that often. The film rightfully won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
I love that you mentioned William Faulkner, I am a big fan. And a lifetime lover of all things noir.
What's hilarious is, NOTHING had changed in LA all the way into the 90s when this was filmed. LOL
That's why it was so easy to film such period pieces all over LA, because the buildings and surroundings and the way the city was managed hadn't really changed, it was all totally corrupt, disorganised and a completely mess.
Gentrification into the 00s in part also with work with the buildings preservation societies etc and a shake up at City Hall and a brand new Police Dept building changed all that.
I loved la this movie..l had watched lussell for the first time.
Still one of my favorite movies. But the movie takes place over a much shorter period of time than the ten years of the novel.
Heat is my favorite LA movie this might be second
What Siskel and Ebert would once have said 👍👍
Very good commentary on a very good movie 👍👍
thank you!
"L.A. is the city that's always trying to take or impurify your precious bodily fluids."
-Gen. Jack D. Ripper
Curtis Hansen gave the cast a film list of old films to watch. CANNOT find it anywhere!!!
Included: The Bad And The Beautiful
This vid was genius!!! Thank you
I think I read it (or saw it) in an old interview. If I can find it, I'll get back to you.
He says what they were in the feature, which must be on CZcams by now!
I freaking love this movie
Me too!
I live in Vegas. The worst thing about living in the Southwest is the lack of architectural variety and the absence of any sense of history. Everything is obviously temporary.
I would say that the TV show The Rockford Files was the 1st TV series to show the LA slimy underworld. Later on The Shield showed a modern day version. I think LA & Hollywood are synonymous with fake, phony, hidden & menacing people who are made up to look pretty but not far under the surface is an ugly reality. I have a great DVD that features both Chinatown & LA Confidential. I have to watch those today.
I've read My Dark Places and it's companion The Hilliker Curse but I have not read Crimewave. I just might order that one today.
Love love this movie. Even Ellroy thought it was good.