Where to watch L.A. Confidential (1997)

Trivia & production notes

• Director Curtis Hanson was drawn to the characters in James Ellroy's novel rather than its plot, finding that he initially disliked them but grew to care about them as he read.
• Screenwriter Brian Helgeland wrote seven drafts of the script for free while working with director Curtis Hanson over a two-year period.
• The film's eight plotlines from the novel were condensed down to three for the screenplay adaptation.
• Curtis Hanson pitched the film to investor Arnon Milchan using 15 vintage postcards and photographs of 1950s Los Angeles mounted on posterboards, including images of Robert Mitchum's jail mugshot and period jazz musicians.
• Russell Crowe was cast after director Hanson saw him in Romper Stomper and found him both repulsive and captivating.
• Director Hanson deliberately avoided watching Guy Pearce in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert before casting him, fearing it would influence his decision.
• Investor Arnon Milchan objected to casting two Australian actors in lead roles of an American period piece, though both Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce were relatively unknown in North America at the time.
• Curtis Hanson told Kevin Spacey to think of Dean Martin while playing Jack Vincennes, intentionally casting the actor against type as a charismatic character with a hidden darker side.
• Before filming, Curtis Hanson held a weekly mini-film festival for cast and crew, screening five classic films including Kiss Me Deadly and In a Lonely Place to establish the visual and tonal style of 1950s Los Angeles.
• Cinematographer Dante Spinotti studied photographer Robert Frank's 1958 book The Americans and convinced Hanson to shoot in Super 35 widescreen format with spherical lenses to capture the look of still photography.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article L.A. Confidential (film), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.