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The Black Dahlia
In 1940s Los Angeles, two former boxers-turned-cops must grapple with corruption, narcissism, stag films and family madness as they pursue the killer of an aspiring young actress.
2006 · Directed by Brian De Palma · 121 min · Crime · Thriller · Drama · Screenplay in the scene database · 17 frames
Tagline
Inspired by the most notorious unsolved murder in California history.
Plot
In 1947, LAPD detectives Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert and Lee Blanchard are made partners after engaging in a boxing match to raise public support for the department. Lee introduces Bucky to his girlfriend Kay Lake, and the trio becomes inseparable. Bucky is shocked when Kay tells him she is not sleeping with Lee. When she later tries to seduce him, he refuses. Bucky also discovers that Kay has been branded with the initials "BD", for Bobby DeWitt, the gangster whose arrest and conviction for a big bank robbery made Lee's career.
Soon after, on January 15, Elizabeth Short's dismembered body is found and she is dubbed "The Black Dahlia" by the press. Bucky learns that Elizabeth was an aspiring actress who appeared in a pornographic film and hung out with lesbians. He goes to a lesbian nightclub and meets Madeleine Linscott, who bears a slight resemblance to Elizabeth.
Madeline comes from a prominent family, and tells Bucky that she was very close to Elizabeth. She asks him to keep her name out of the papers in exchange for sexual favors. Madeline later introduces Bucky to her wealthy parents Emmett and Ramona.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Josh Friedman
- Cinematography: Vilmos Zsigmond
- Edited by: Bill Pankow
- Music: Mark Isham
- Production design: Dante Ferretti
- Produced by: Avi Lerner, Rudy Cohen, Moshe Diamant, Art Linson
Cast
- Josh Hartnett as Bucky Bleichert
- Scarlett Johansson as Kay Lake
- Aaron Eckhart as Lee Blanchard
- Hilary Swank as Madeleine Linscott
- Mia Kirshner as Elizabeth Short
- Mike Starr as Russ Millard
- Fiona Shaw as Ramona Linscott
- Patrick Fischler as Ellis Loew
- James Otis as Dolph Bleichert
- John Kavanagh as Emmett Linscott
Production
- Country: United States of America, France, Germany
- Language: English, German
- Studios: Linson Entertainment, Signature Pictures, Davis Films, Millennium Media
- Budget: $50,000,000
- Box office: $49,332,692
- Themes: pornography, observer, los angeles, california, neo-noir, murder hunt
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