Plot
In 1950's Los Angeles, a special crime squad of the LAPD investigates the murder of a young woman.
Release Year: 1996
Rating: 6.0/10 (8,614 voted)
Director:
Lee Tamahori
Stars: Nick Nolte, Melanie Griffith, Jennifer Connelly
Storyline This film is about the adventures of a 1940's special anti-gangster police squad in Los Angeles, the infamous 'Hat Squad.' The four members of this squad are big, tough, no-nonsense cops who don't hesitate to break the law, if it suits their purposes. When a local woman is murdered, their investigation turns up the fact that she had been romantically linked to several prominent men and had secret films taken of her liaisons. Since one of those men is the powerful U.S. Army General at the head of the then-new Atomic Energy Commission and another is the (married) leader of the Hat Squad, complications ensue. The FBI even gets involved in an attempted cover-up.
Writers: Peter Dexter, Floyd Mutrux
Cast: Nick Nolte
-
Max Hoover
Melanie Griffith
-
Katherine Hoover
Chazz Palminteri
-
Elleroy Coolidge
Michael Madsen
-
Eddie Hall
Chris Penn
-
Arthur Relyea
Treat Williams
-
Colonel Nathan Fitzgerald
Jennifer Connelly
-
Allison Pond
Daniel Baldwin
-
McCafferty
Andrew McCarthy
-
Jimmy Fields
John Malkovich
-
General Thomas Timms
Kyle Chandler
-
Captain
Ed Lauter
-
Earl
Larry Garrison
-
Perino's Maitre d'
Chelsea Harrington
-
Lolita
Johnna Johnson
-
Bar Woman
Filming Locations: City Hall - 200 N. Spring Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA
Gross: $11,500,000
(USA)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Cameo:
[Rob Lowe]
Hoodlum.
Goofs:
Anachronisms:
When Hoover and his men are caught trespassing by Colonel Fitzgerald and the MP's, there is an offstage ADR line heard as one of the men speak on the radio, "Sierra, Tango, Zero, One." "Sierra, Tango" is the phonetic alphabet representing the letters "S" and "T". However, this is the current phonetic alphabet which became effective in 1957. The ADR line should have read, "Sugar, Tare, Zero, One" to be authentic to the period.
Quotes: General Timms:
Some people die before their time so that others can live. It's a cornerstone of civilization.
User Review
Solid Falls
Rating: 8/10
Interestingly enough, at this moment the life and career of the movie's
director seems to be at a maximum high, having just released the latest
James Bond, while actor Nick Nolte seems to be in some kind of personal
trouble in his private life, and without any major role for the last few
years. 'Mulholland Falls' might remain his last great role - he is giving an
outstanding performance here, in a solid and well paced film.
The 'Falls' not only is located in the 50s, but it is also done like a 50s
movie. Were not for the recorded sex scenes, hard to distinguish that the
film was made in the mid 90s. The level of detail and authenticity is
perfect.
The only minus of the film is in the rather artificial manner that the story
line is resolved - it looks again like a 50s B-movie end, but a bad one.
'LA Confidential' came one year later, and referred to a similar story line
and environment. It got much more attention, and better critical reception.
In my opinion, 'Mulholland Falls' does not fall behind, and later critics
will place the two films on the same shelf of the movie history. 8/10 on my
personal scale.
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