Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)

Director:

Carl Franklin

Writers (WGA):

Walter Mosley (book)
Carl Franklin (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 September 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Private detective Easy Rawlins has been caught on the wrong side of the most dangerous secret in town.

Plot:

An Afro-American private detective is hired to find a woman and gets mixed up in a murderous political scandal.

Plot Keywords:

Police Brutality | Blood Splatter | Racial Slur | Violence | Middle Class

Awards:

3 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Denzel Washington	...	Ezekiel 'Easy' Rawlins
Tom Sizemore	...	DeWitt Albright
Jennifer Beals	...	Daphne Monet
Don Cheadle	...	Mouse Alexander
Maury Chaykin	...	Matthew Terell
Terry Kinney	...	Todd Carter
Mel Winkler	...	Joppy
Albert Hall	...	Degan Odell
Lisa Nicole Carson	...	Coretta James
Jernard Burks	...	Dupree Brouchard
David Wolos-Fonteno	...	Junior Fornay
John Roselius	...	Detective Mason
Beau Starr	...	Detective Jack Miller
Steven Randazzo	...	Benny Giacomo
Scott Lincoln	...	Richard McGee

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, sexuality and language.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #33509) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Iceland:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Denmark:16 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Clinica Estetico

Goofs:

Plot holes: Easy has a telephone, which makes it very easy for him to communicate with various other characters in the movie. How does an unemployed black man in 1948 Los Angeles, who is two months behind on his mortgage payments, has other debts, and can barely afford a loaf of bread at 15¢, afford to keep up his payments on a telephone (still a fairly expensive luxury in 1948)?

Quotes:

Easy Rawlins: A man once told me that you step out of your door in the morning, and you are already in trouble. The only question is are you on top of that trouble or not?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Grosse Pointe: Devil in a Blue Dress (#1.4)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

BLUES AFTER HOURS

Deserves more attention.

I am glad I caught this film on TV; it was great entertainment and executed well.

I don't want to ramble on too much, so here goes. The acting is great - Washington giving another good performance. His narration was suitably dry too. Cheadle just chewed on the scenery. He was hardly in the film, but when he was, his impact as Mouse was powerful. Elsewhere, Beals was good as the titular devil in the blue dress. Sizemore was good as the sleaze ball who hires Washington - yet he seems to good at playing these types in all his films.

The aesthetic of the film was enticing. The smooth camera-work was mesmerising. The first shot that tracks through the busy streets and then cranes up through the window to Easy is so Hitchcock - or any director of film noir for that matter. The colours are beautiful too, from the orange skies in the day, to the hazy blues at night.

The story is gripping, if a tad predictable. If you like your Sam Spade and your Marlowes this film will be fine for you. The ending where Washington closes in on a house in the hills is very 'Big Sleep'.

Devil In A Blue Dress is unique in terms of perspective. The story is told from a black males view point and this makes the film very interesting to watch. No more all-white worlds of the 40's generation. This film shows both sides of the coin, and doesn't end up with a chip on both shoulders.

The film may be a tad predictable, but this should not deter you. This film is underrated and deserves your attention. Very entertaining.