FILM · 1997 · USA
L.A. Confidential
- Directed by
- Curtis Hanson
- Runtime
- 138 min
- Studio
- Regency Enterprises, Wolper Organization
75 archived facts 8 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.
75 Interesting Facts About L.A. Confidential
Interesting Facts (4)
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Russell Crowe recalled that James Ellroy told him that Bud White doesn't drink, so Crowe didn't have a drink for the entire shoot, which he described as the most painful period of his life. In order to enrich their performances, director Curtis Hanson provided a lot of background information on the characters to the actors. He told Crowe that Bud White did not drink beer because beer is a social drink and White was not the type to socialize. He told him that White drinks whiskey, but does so only on his own.
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Production Story (25)
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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), Curtis Hanson put together a group of eighteen 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 Bud White and Ed Exley. Exley's model was Madison, while White's was Ray. This film takes its name from "Confidential", a notorious 1950s-era movie star tabloid, which is fictionally portrayed herein as "Hush-Hush".
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Warner Bros. executive Bill Gerber showed the script to Michael G. Nathanson, CEO of New Regency Productions (who had a deal with the studio). Nathanson was bowled over by the screenplay, but knew he would have to get approval from his company head, Arnon Milchan. He got Curtis Hanson to prepare a presentation that included pictures of orange groves, beaches, and the opening of the Hollywood Freeway to symbolize how prosperous the area appeared to be at the time. Then Hanson would show the darker side of Hollywood at the time, with scandal rags and the famous shot of Robert Mitchum coming out of jail, following his drug bust. Hanson took great pains to emphasize that the period detail would be in the background, with the characters fully in the foreground. Milchan was immediately impressed with his presentation, and agreed to finance the film.
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The "Hush Hush" drug bust scandal was based on a number of actual occurrences. One concerned Tommy Kirk; one of the most popular child actors in mid-century Disney films. When it was suspected that he was not straight, film offers began to dry up but when his photo appeared in the scandal rags for a marijuana bust, this caused him to be fired and roles recast with other actors. One example was the role of Bud Elder in John Wayne film The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), which was lost due to Wayne's ill disposition towards both issues.
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James Ellroy's relationship to the film is famously ambivalent. Upon its premiere in 1997 he proclaimed it "a work of art on its own level" and admitted to seeing it multiple times in theaters. In a 2016 obituary he wrote for director Curtis Hanson he called the film "problematic," finding Hanson's style "finely crafted, painstakingly realized...characterized by emotional stasis and suffused with muted yearning," while acknowledging that "I don't make movies, Curtis Hanson didn't write novels. He gave me the gift of my words in a luminous new form." In 2023 he was much less courteous, calling it "turkey of the highest form...it is about as deep as a tortilla," and disparaging the performances, particularly citing Russell Crowe and Kim Basinger as "impotent." Despite this, he still considered it the best film adaptation of his novels.
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According to Guy Pearce on the DVD commentary, he attended a James Ellroy one-man show in his native Melbourne, Australia, while the film was in pre-production. Pearce notes that during a Q&A session following Ellroy's performance, an audience member asked if any of Ellroy's books would ever be adapted into film. Ellroy replied that not only was L.A. Confidential in pre-production, but two Australian natives (Pearce and Russell Crowe) were cast in the film. The audience erupted into laughter, thinking that Ellroy was playing a wry joke on the audience by randomly naming two local actors and claiming they were cast in a big-budget Hollywood film. Pearce, who was sitting in the audience, was mortified. It was only a year later that the audience learned that Ellroy was, in fact, telling the truth.
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The title of the film (as well as James Ellroy's novel) is based on a popular series of books by Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer: New York Confidential (1948), Chicago Confidential (1950), Washington Confidential (1951), and USA Confidential (1952), which purported to expose the dirty underside of the title locales, focusing specifically on corruption, organized crime, and sex - the three elements of the crime plot in L.A. Confidential. A magazine named Confidential, fictionalized in the novel and film as Hush-Hush, began publication in December 1952 and also took its name from that book series but focused largely on celebrity gossip. Over the next few decades many other films have reused the title format of Lait and Mortimer's series - Kansas City Confidential (1952), High School Confidential! (1958), etc., but most of these have made no attempt to follow the primary themes of the original book series and none have done so as closely as this film.
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In the special feature documentary "Off the Record" from the DVD, book author James Ellroy says, "In 1988 and '89, I wrote L.A. Confidential. It was big, it was epic, it was huge; it was a book for the whole family, if the name of your fucking family is the Charles Manson family." Ellroy furthers states, "Nat Sobel, my agent, and I laughed like hell, because we thought this fucker was movie adaptation-proof. It was big, it was bad, it was bereft of sympathetic characters; it was unconstrainable, uncontainable, and unadaptable!"
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The project was pitched twice to television. First, producer David L. Wolper wanted to produce the project as a mini-series, and later, it went into development as a weekly series by HBO. A very poorly-executed pilot that starred Kiefer Sutherland as a completely unrecognizable Jack Vincennes was produced, but the series was not picked up afterwards.
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Erotica B-movie diva Monique Parent filmed a small part playing what she called a "glorified extra who had been surgically altered into a Grace Kelly clone." She hoped being in such a prominent film would help her move from low budget erotica into mainstream films, but her scene ended up on the cutting room floor.
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Kevin Spacey asked Curtis Hanson who he would have cast as Jack Vincennes if he was making the film in the '50s, expecting the director to say someone like William Holden. He was quite surprised when Hanson said Dean Martin, citing one of his more serious pictures, Some Came Running (1958). The combination of the laconic attitude, slick but loose style, and questionable character portrayed by Martin (and which resembled Martin's own nature to a degree) were spot-on for the Vincennes persona.
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According to Guy Pearce on the DVD commentary, he attended a James Ellroy one-man show in his native Melbourne, Australia, while the film was in pre-production. Pearce notes that during a Q&A session following Ellroy's performance, an audience member asked if any of Ellroy's books would ever be adapted into film. Ellroy replied that not only was L.A. Confidential in pre-production, but two Australian natives (Pearce and Russell Crowe) were cast in the film. The audience erupted into laughter, thinking that Ellroy was playing a wry joke on the audience by randomly naming two local actors and claiming they were cast in a big-budget Hollywood film. Pearce, who was sitting in the audience, was mortified. It was only a year later that the audience learned that Ellroy was, in fact, telling the truth.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
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 Bugsy Siegel, when Siegel came to Los Angeles to run the rackets. 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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Contains a major spoiler — show
Curtis Hanson received a great deal of resistance to having three lead characters. At first, he was told to delete Exley and Vincennes and make the film a star vehicle for the actor playing Bud White. When he explained why Exley was essential, they told him to delete White and Vincennes. When he insisted that all three were essential, he was given a budget of only $15 million, which meant he couldn't afford to hire a big-name actor to headline the film, even if he wanted to, which he didn't. He wanted to hire actors who brought no audience expectations to the kind of role they would be playing. An exception to this rule was James Cromwell, whom audiences would expect to be one of the heroes after seeing him in Babe (1995).
Behind the Scenes (18)
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Kim Basinger stated that when she was preparing for her role she had to dye her long hair blonder than usual, but the intense chemical procedure in short time destroyed her natural hair entirely and she had to cut it short days before shooting started, making the makeup team rush to find a wig made with real hair that could fit to the character. The hairstyle she has at the 1998 Oscars is the result of that mishap.
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Curtis Hanson did not want the film to be overly nostalgic, so he had cinematographer Dante Spinotti shoot it like a contemporary film, and use more naturalistic lighting than in a classic film noir. He told Spinotti and the film's production designer Jeannine Oppewall to pay great attention to period detail, but to then "put it all in the background".
- #032
Russell Crowe recalled that James Ellroy told him that Bud White doesn't drink, so Crowe didn't have a drink for the entire shoot, which he described as the most painful period of his life. In order to enrich their performances, director Curtis Hanson provided a lot of background information on the characters to the actors. He told Crowe that Bud White did not drink beer because beer is a social drink and White was not the type to socialize. He told him that White drinks whiskey, but does so only on his own.
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White encounters Stompanato at the Formosa restaurant. Established in 1938 and located at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and North Formosa Avenue in West Hollywood, is still in business and its interior is virtually unchanged. Photos on the restaurant's web site include some of the same angles seen in the film, along with the exact same celebrity photos arranged around the top of the walls. Director Curtis Hanson noted that L.A. has many locations that date back to the period in this film but most of the classic homes and buildings have fallen to the city's never ending private development projects. Beyond this, there is so much film and television production going on in the area that many places, such as the old Spanish-style apartment buildings refuse to cooperate. The Formosa, having been in continuous operation for forty-eight years by the time of filming, was one of the classic sites that retained the ambiance of bygone times. In preparation for this film, Hanson had the cast watch a number of classic L.A. film noir and suspense movies and he took them to such places as the Formosa. It was during their visit there that he told the cast that it would be one of the shooting locations.
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The former offices of Pacific Gas and Electric in Los Angeles, located one Main and 6th Street, served as the location for the interiors of the police station and various offices. The arched windows on the top floor are recognizable as the office of the district attorney. It was vacant at the time and the crew built a few walls and made other minor changes. It was later turned into a condo.
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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 principal photography had ended. Much to Curtis Hanson's dismay, Pearce had shaved his head within the time-span, and had to wear a wig. During a Q and A session, Pearce referred to it as a "very expensive wig", and noted that in Australia, there is no concept of returning to shoot pick-ups several weeks or months later.
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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 principal photography had ended. Much to Curtis Hanson's dismay, Pearce had shaved his head within the time-span, and had to wear a wig. During a Q and A session, Pearce referred to it as a "very expensive wig", and noted that in Australia, there is no concept of returning to shoot pick-ups several weeks or months later.
- #044
Kim Basinger stated that when she was preparing for her role she had to dye her long hair blonder than usual, but the intense chemical procedure in short time destroyed her natural hair entirely and she had to cut it short days before shooting started, making the makeup team rush to find a wig made with real hair that could fit to the character. The hairstyle she has at the 1998 Oscars is the result of that mishap.
- #045
White encounters Stompanato at the Formosa restaurant. Established in 1938 and located at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and North Formosa Avenue in West Hollywood, is still in business and its interior is virtually unchanged. Photos on the restaurant's web site include some of the same angles seen in the film, along with the exact same celebrity photos arranged around the top of the walls. Director Curtis Hanson noted that L.A. has many locations that date back to the period in this film but most of the classic homes and buildings have fallen to the city's never ending private development projects. Beyond this, there is so much film and television production going on in the area that many places, such as the old Spanish-style apartment buildings refuse to cooperate. The Formosa, having been in continuous operation for forty-eight years by the time of filming, was one of the classic sites that retained the ambiance of bygone times. In preparation for this film, Hanson had the cast watch a number of classic L.A. film noir and suspense movies and he took them to such places as the Formosa. It was during their visit there that he told the cast that it would be one of the shooting locations.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Kevin Spacey had a great deal of difficulty playing dead. It was easy enough for him to stare straight ahead when there was an actor or actress in front of him, but his first instinct was to follow James Cromwell with his eyes when he moved. He had to ask a production assistant to draw a circle for him, at which to look, on the opposite wall.
Characters & Cast (8)
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Ed Exley is a rather different character in the books. Far from the straight shooter depicted in the movie, the novel's version of Ed is hailed as a war hero for wiping out a platoon of Japanese soldiers, but in reality came upon the men after they were already dead and staged the scene to make himself look like a hero.
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Jack Vincennes, being a sharp dresser and having an eye for style, also has great taste in stylish automobiles. He drives a 1953 Studebaker Commander. Whereas other cars of the day were bulky and carried forward the look of ten years earlier, the Commander was low, sleek, curvy and a perfect example of the futuristic space-agey mid-century modern style. The 1953-1955 Studebaker Commander was an inspiration for the Incredimobile in The Incredibles (2004).
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Easter Eggs & References (12)
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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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Hudgens tells Vincennes that he wants to produce, "an all hop-head issue; shvartza jazz musicians and movie stars." Well-known marijuana busts of the day included the highly popular jazz drummer (who was not a "shvartza" which is a yiddish racial slur for "black person") Gene Krupa and actor Robert Mitchum.
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The scenes of the police communications department and the police motorcycles leaving the garage are from the film He Walked by Night (1948) which ironically features Jack Webb of Dragnet (1951) fame. Also, this film has a character named Brett Chase who plays a Joe Friday type detective starring in a television series akin to Dragnet.
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In the exterior shots of the Frolic Room, the movie shown on the marquee of the Pantages theater next door is The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). It premiered in Los Angeles on December 25, 1952, which provides a date for "L.A. Confidential"'s setting. It stars Lana Turner, who is a character in "L.A. Confidential".
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Contains a major spoiler — show
When Officer Bud White (Russell Crowe) shoots the rapist in "self-defense", the cartoon playing on the TV is Noah's Outing (1932) by Terrytoons. This shows the film's careful attention to period detail. It takes place in 1953, the year CBS began airing old Terrytoons shorts as part of its morning children's programming.
Deeper Meaning (3)
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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," 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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The real "Bloody Christmas" was an early example of white citizens impulsively calling the police on minorities. In this case, seven Hispanic males were in the "white" part of town, drinking alcohol. White observers called the police. Officers Trojanowski and Brownson checked their IDs and found them to be of legal age, but told them to leave anyway. A fight broke out when they refused. Six of the Mexican were arrested later that night and taken to the lockup. One was beaten in Elysian Park before being booked. The incident was not publicized at Christmas time, as the film suggests, but rather three months later after lobbying by the city's Latin American community. As shown, several police officers were disciplined as a result.
Career & Awards (3)
Life & Family (2)
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During a 2018 interview with Australian television presenter Andrew Denton, Denton asked Guy Pearce for his opinions on a list of his past costars. When they got to Kevin Spacey, with whom Pearce costarred in L.A. Confidential, Pearce said, "Yeah... yeah. Tough one to talk about. {Spacey is an] amazing actor. Incredible actor. Um... Hm. [I had a] slightly difficult time with Kevin. He's a handsy guy. Thankfully I was 29 and not 14."
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Lana Turner's private life posed a serious problem for the studios. Her eight marriages were one element. Another was her relationship with Johnny Stompanato. This film is set five years before Turner's most notorious incident during which Stompanato attacked her. Turner's daughter stabbed and killed him in defense of her mother. The trial and acquittal provided a great deal of gossip for several years to come.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- Wikipedia
- IMDb
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