Film Facts:

Cast:

Directed by: Curtis Hanson

Writing credits (WGA)
James Ellroy (novel L.A. Confidential)
Brian Helgeland
Curtis Hanson

Produced by:
Curtis Hanson .... producer
Brian Helgeland .... co-producer
Dan Kolsrud .... executive producer
Arnon Milchan .... producer
Michael G. Nathanson .... producer
David L. Wolper .... executive producer

Cinematography by: Dante Spinotti (director of photography)
Film Editing by: Peter Honess
Casting by:Mali Finn
Production Design by: Jeannine Oppewall
Art Direction by: William Arnold
Set Decoration by: Jay Hart
Costume Design by: Ruth Myers
Dialect coach: for Mr. Crowe, Jessica Drake

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Cast: [partial, as there were some 80 characters]

Kevin Spacey .... Sgt. Jack Vincennes
Russell Crowe .... Officer Wendell 'Bud' White
Guy Pearce .... Det. Lt. Edmund Jennings Exley
James Cromwell .... Capt. Dudley Liam Smith
Kim Basinger .... Lynn Bracken
Danny DeVito .... Sid Hudgens
David Strathairn .... Pierce Morehouse Patchett
Ron Rifkin .... Dist. Atty. Ellis Loew
Matt McCoy .... Brett Chase
Paul Guilfoyle .... Meyer Harris 'Mickey' Cohen
Paolo Seganti .... Johnny Stompanato
Steve Rankin .... Officer Arresting Mickey Cohen
Graham Beckel .... Sgt. Richard Alex 'Dick' Stensland
Allan Graf .... Wife Beater
Precious Chong .... Wife
Bob Clendenin .... Reporter at Hollywood Station
Lennie Loftin .... Photographer at Hollywood Station
Will Zahrn .... Liquor Store Owner
Amber Smith .... Susan Lefferts
Darrell Sandeen .... Leland 'Buzz' Meeks
Michael Warwick .... Sid's Assistant
Simon Baker .... Matt Reynolds (as Simon Baker Denny)
Thomas Rosales Jr. .. Officer #1 at Hollywood Station
Shane Dixon .... Officer #1 at Hollywood Station
Norman Howell .... Officer #2 at Hollywood Station
Brian Lally .... Intoxicated Officer at Hollywood Station
Don Pulford .... Officer #4 at Hollywood Station
Chris Short .... Officer #5 at Hollywood Station
John Mahon .... Police Chief
Tomas Arana .... Det. Michael Breuning
Michael McCleery .... Det. William Carlisle
George Yager .... Gangster at Victory Motel
Jack Conley .... Vice Captain
Ginger Slaughter .... Secretary in Vice
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 .... Raymond 'Sugar Ray' Collins
Salim Grant .... Louis Fontaine
Karreem Washington .... Ty Jones
Marisol Padilla Sánchez .... Inez Soto
Brenda Bakke .... Lana Turner
Jack Knight .... Detective at Detective Bureau
John H. Evans .... Patrolman at Nite Owl Cafe
Gene Wolande .... Forensic Chief
Matt McCoy .... Brett Chase

Runtime: 138 minutes

Shooting Schedule - May 6 to Aug 22, 1996

Location:

In and around Los Angeles, California.
Boardner's of Hollywood - 1652 North Cherokee Ave., Hollywood
Church of the Blessed Sacrament - 6657 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood
City Hall - 200 N. Spring St., Downtown
Crossroads of the World Center - 6671 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood
Formosa Cafe - 7156 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood
Frolic Room - 6245 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles
Lacy Street Production Center - 2630 Lacy St., Los Angeles
Pantages Theater - 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles
The Lovell Health House, Dundee Drive, Los Feliz, Los Angeles
(Pierce Patchett's house)

Awards: Selected Awards and major nominations for LAC

Oscar - Kim Bassenger, Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson, Best adapted Screenplay

Oscar, nominations - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -Jeannine Claudia Oppewall and Jay Hart
Best Cinematography -Dante Spinotti
Best Director- Curtis Hanson
Best Film Editing -Peter Honess
Best Music, Original Dramatic Score - Jerry Goldsmith
Best Picture - Arnon Milchan, Curtis Hanson, Michael G. Nathanson
Best Sound - Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, Kirk Francis

Australian Film Institute - Won Best Foreign Film Award

BAFTA - Best Editing
Best Sound

BMI - Film Music Award

Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards - Best Picture
Best Screenplay

Golden Globes - Kim Basinger, Supporting actress

Golden Globes, nominated - Best Director
Best Picture
Best Original Score
Best Screenplay

LA Film Critics - Best Cinematography
Best Director
Best Picture
Best Screenplay

National Board of Review - Best Director
Best Picture

National Society of Film Critics - Best Director
Best Film
Best Screenplay

Screen Actors Guild - Supporting actress, Kim Basinger

Screen Actors Guild nominated - Outstanding Performance by a Cast.

Writers Guild of America - Best Adapted script

Russell's Weight:

Plot Summary:

Director Curtis Hanson captures the duality of 1950s Los Angeles in this striking film noir adaptation of James Ellroy's novel. The City of Angels might be sunny, inviting, and glamorous to the rest of the world, but it's also filled with corrupt cops, elegant hookers, murder cover-ups, and manipulative paparazzi, all of which are just the tip of the iceberg. It's impossible to know exactly who's trustworthy and who's not as three detectives (Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, and Guy Pearce) each use their own tactics to investigate a coffee-shop massacre.

The script by Hanson and Brian Helgeland maintains the fragile framework of human relationships developed in the novel, while 45 different shooting locations give the film a solidly unique tone and feeling of integrity, immersing the viewer in 1950s Los Angeles. The entire cast is first-rate, with compelling performances from Spacey, Crowe, Pearce, James Cromwell, Danny DeVito, Kim Basinger, and David Strathairn. [Rotten Tomatoes]

Trivia:

Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland wrote seven drafts of the script before settling on the final
version.

In the scenes showing the pot bust the marijuana is shown in a plastic baggie which did not exist in 1953

L.A. CONFIDENTIAL included 80 speaking parts and used 45 different locations.

Hanson cast 3 relative unknowns [in the USA] Australians for the film, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and Simon Baker

In one shot, when Bud White is dangling the D.A. out the window, the actor's safety cable is
visible.

Favorite Scenes:

Notable Quotes:

Sid Hudgeons: Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush.

Captain Dudley Smith: I wouldn't trade places with Edmund Exley right now for all the whisky in Ireland.

Captain Dudley Smith: Wendell, I'd like full and docile co-operation on every topic.

Captain Dudley Smith: You'll do as I say, and ask no questions. Do you follow my drift? Bud
White: In technicolor, sir.

Dick Stensland: My partner stopped to help a damsel in distress. He's got his priorities all screwed up.

Bud White: Merry Christmas. Lynn Bracken: Merry Christmas to you, officer. Bud White: That obvious, huh? Lynn Bracken: It's practically stamped on your forehead.

Bud White: I'd like to see you again. Lynn Bracken: Are you asking me for a date or an
appointment? Bud White: I don't know. Lynn Bracken: Well if you're asking me for a date I should know your first name. Bud White: Forget I asked. It was a mistake.

Lynn Bracken: You say fuck a lot. Bud White: You fuck for money.

Lynn Bracken: There's blood on your shirt. Is that an integral part of your job? Bud White: Yeah.

Lynn Bracken: Do you enjoy it? Bud White: When they deserve it. Lynn Bracken: Did they
deserve it today? Bud White: I'm not sure. Lynn Bracken: But you did it anyway. Bud White:

Yeah, just like the half dozen guys you screwed today. Lynn Bracken: Well, actually, it was only two.

Lynn: You're the first man in five years who didn't tell me I look like Veronica Lake inside of a
minute. Bud White: You look better than Veronica Lake.

Lynn Bracken: I see Bud because I want to. I see Bud because he can't hide the good inside of him. I see Bud because he treats me like Lynn Bracken and not some Veronica Lake look-alike who fucks for money.

Comments by Russell:

You know, I always thought he was just trying to do his best job. You know, he obviously had a history which affected the way that he dealt with certain things. The book describes Bud White as the biggest man in the Los Angeles Police Department. I've been in and out of L.A. a couple times, well I rang up Curtis and I said, "mate, I don't know what ya think you're gonna meet or whatever, but I'm actually not that tall, son! I'm about 5, 11 and half and a bit!" You know, um? And he said, "Russell". Uh, you know, that wasn't his vibe, he didn't need it to be that, you know, physically literal or whatever. He wanted to, you know, to bring the, the size of the man out in other ways.