Around the Island

Greed and treachery in a film noir classic

 

COURTESY PHOTO
COURTESY PHOTO

Back in the 1940s, motion pictures reigned supreme as America’s most popular form of art and entertainment. Although a brand new medium called television was edging onto the cultural landscape, it would not become a dominant force until the next decade.

Many of the movies from that era — sometimes referred to as “the golden age” of American cinema — were hardboiled crime dramas that were heavy on cynical attitudes, snappy dialogue and sexual provocation. The best of them were so distinctive that they became enduring classics and, in the process, formed their own genre. It was called film noir.

Over the years since the heyday of film noir, several directors have paid tribute to the genre with their own work, and ranking at or near the top of these homage pictures is the 1997 film “L.A. Confidential,” which will be shown by Movies at the Library next Tuesday, May 12  at 7 p.m.

Based on a novel by James Ellroy, the film probes the dark underbelly of Movieland’s hometown in the early 1950s. The violent story it tells of sleazy police corruption and brutal treachery stands in sharp contrast to the glitz and glamour of the Hollywood celebrity cult that flourished in Los Angeles during those years.

One of the movie’s more ingenious conceits is a deluxe call-girl service that offers prostitutes who have had their facial features altered by plastic surgery to resemble film stars. The most prominent among them is Lynn Bracken, a Veronica Lake look-alike who is played by Kim Basinger. But the other major characters are all men — tough-as-nails cops who are driven by ambition, greed and other unsavory appetites.

The complicated plot revolves around a bitter rivalry between two members of the LAPD: Officer Bud White (played by Russell Crowe) and Sergeant Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) who, early in the film, manipulates a promotion to detective lieutenant.

Two other cops who are involved in the story are a narcotics detective, Sergeant Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey), who moonlights as a technical adviser on a popular TV police drama series, and a honcho on the force, Captain Dudley Smith (James Cromwell), a shady boss who has plenty to hide.

The central crime that drives the plot is known as the “Nite Owl Killings” and as they investigate it, White, Exley and Vincennes pursue different trails in the case that, in time, lead each of them to explosive evidence of violence and corruption within the LAPD itself.

This being a film noir, “L.A. Confidential” also features some steamy sexual encounters. Both White and Exley have the hots for Bracken, which further aggravates the tension in their relationship. In the end, one of them wins the girl while the other one gets what really matters most to him.

In a bold casting move, the director, Curtis Hanson, entrusted the roles of White and Exley to a couple of blokes who grew up in Australia, although in fact, Crowe is a New Zealander and Pearce was born in England. What made that decision even more daring is that at the time the movie was released, both actors were virtually unknown in North America.

Thanks to the success of “L.A. Confidential,” that changed dramatically, especially for Crowe. His dazzling performance as Bud White propelled him to superstar status in the Hollywood firmament, and while Pearce didn’t get that big a boost, his portrayal of Exley is just as impressive.

The supporting cast is also excellent. Spacey, coming off his recent, big-time triumph in “The Usual Suspects,” turns in another stellar performance as Jack Vincennes. And that fine character actor, Cromwell, brings a chilling menace to his role as the depraved police captain. As for Basinger, she won an Academy Award for her work as the sultry Veronica Lake look-alike.

All in all, “L.A. Confidential” bagged nine Oscar nominations, but garnered only two awards. (The other one went to Hanson and his co-writer, Brian Helgeland, for Best Adapted Screenplay.)

The main reason for that is because Hanson’s film had the misfortune of coming out the same year as the blockbuster “Titanic,” which iceberged all its competitors in the Academy Award sweepstakes. The epic sea drama captured 11 Oscars to tie an all-time record.

But “L.A. Confidential” was a very solid critical success. Among other accolades that came its way, Time magazine ranked it as the best movie of 1997. And over the years since then, its reputation has not diminished.

So if you’re an admirer of the original film noir classics from the 1940s — such as those two great Bogart pictures, “The Maltese Falcon” and “The Big Sleep” — then be assured that “L.A. Confidential” measures up to that high standard. But judge for yourself by joining us in the Community Room at the Shelter Island Library next Tuesday at 7 p.m.