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:

Film Noir | Dress | Blood Splatter | Missing Person | Comic Relief

Awards:

3 wins & 7 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Sept. 14	4:45 PM	TMC
Thur. Sept. 18	8:00 PM	TMC

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
L. Scott Caldwell	...	Hattie May Parsons
Barry Shabaka Henley	...	Woodcutter
Nick Corello	...	Shariff
Kenny Endoso	...	Manny
Joseph Latimore	...	Frank Green
Renée Humphrey	...	Barbara (as Renee Humphery)
R.J. Knoll	...	Herman (as Robert J. Knoll)
Kai Lennox	...	Football
Poppy Montgomery	...	Barbara's Sister
Brendan Kelly	...	Norman, Terell's Chauffeur
Peggy Rea	...	Carter's Secretary
Vinny Argiro	...	Baxter
Deborah Lacey	...	Sophie
Brazylia Kotere	...	Neighbourhood Woman
Jeris Poindexter	...	Alphonso Jenkins (as Jeris Lee Poindexter)
Frank Davis	...	Butcher
Matthew Barry	...	Cop in Car (as Matt Barry)
Mark Cotone	...	Cop in Station
Brian E. O'Neal	...	John's Band Singer
G. Smokey Campbell	...	Nightclub Owner
Alan Craig Schwartz	...	Johnny
Steve Sekely	...	Abe
J.D. Smith	...	Pool Hall Owner
Nigel Gibbs	...	Bootlegger
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shann Johnson	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Carl Franklin

Writing credits (WGA)
Walter Mosley		(book)
Carl Franklin		(screenplay)

Produced by
Jesse Beaton	....	producer
Jonathan Demme	....	executive producer
Donna Gigliotti	....	associate producer
Gary Goetzman	....	producer
Thomas A. Imperato	....	associate producer
Walter Mosley	....	associate producer
Edward Saxon	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Elmer Bernstein

Cinematography by
Tak Fujimoto

Film Editing by
Carole Kravetz

Casting by
Victoria Thomas

Production Design by
Gary Frutkoff

Art Direction by
Dan Webster

Set Decoration by
Kathryn Peters

Costume Design by
Sharen Davis

Makeup Department
Elaine L. Offers	....	assistant makeup artist
Edna Sheen	....	makeup artist
Kenneth Walker	....	hair stylist
Scott Wheeler	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Charles Skouras III	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mark Cotone	....	first assistant director
Katterli Frauenfelder	....	first assistant director
Eric Oliver	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Chris Alvarez	....	welder
Will Blount	....	property master
Martin Charles	....	graphic designer
Randy L. Childs	....	propmaker (uncredited)
Scott C. Garrett	....	drapery foreman
Guy Hietala	....	set painter
Marisol Jiménez	....	art department coordinator
Lauren E. Polizzi	....	set designer (as Lauren Polizzi)
Greg Sanger	....	set dresser
Cheryl Tyre Smith	....	set designer (as Cheryl Smith)
Chris Snyder	....	construction coordinator
Gaylene West	....	set dresser
Steven Kissick	....	carpenter (uncredited)
Wendy Weaver	....	buyer (uncredited)

Sound Department
David W. Alstadter	....	foley mixer
Steve Bartkowicz	....	re-recording engineer
Gary C. Bourgeois	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Gary Bourgeois)
Claudette Cucci	....	foley artist
John T. Cucci	....	foley artist
Michael Dressel	....	foley editor
Robert Grieve	....	supervising sound editor
Mark Lanza	....	sound effects editor
Steve Mann	....	sound effects editor
Roy Seeger	....	first assistant sound editor
Ken Segal	....	production sound mixer
Douglas Shamburger	....	second boom operator
Brad Sherman	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Dan Sherman)
Dan Yale	....	dialogue editor

Special Effects by
Scott Coulter	....	special effects crew
Thomas R. Ward	....	special effects (as Tom Ward)

Visual Effects by
Marc Scott	....	digital compositor (uncredited)

Stunts
Brad Bovee	....	stunts
Alex Brown	....	stunts
Tony Brubaker	....	stunt coordinator
Tony Brubaker	....	stunts
Vince Deadrick Jr.	....	stunts
Dick Hancock	....	stunts
Joy Hooper	....	stunts
James C. Lewis	....	stunts
Vinita McClennon	....	stunts
Dwayne McGee	....	stunts
John-Clay Scott	....	stunts
Gwynn Turnbull	....	stunts
Big Daddy Wayne	....	stunts
Shawn D. Woodyard	....	stunts (as Shawn Woodyard)

Camera and Electrical Department
John C. Cole	....	dolly grip
David Dunbar	....	lighting technician
Thomas Enright	....	rigging electrician
Adam Glick	....	set lighting technician
Bob Rose	....	key grip
P. Scott Sakamoto	....	camera operator
P. Scott Sakamoto	....	steadicam operator
D. Stevens	....	still photographer

Casting Department
Matthew Barry	....	casting assistant
Terrence Harris	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Cynthia Black	....	costumer
Cathy Crandall	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Chris Figler	....	first assistant editor
David Rogow	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Alex Gibson	....	music editor
Dan Wallin	....	score mixer

Transportation Department
Larry Stelling	....	picture car coordinator

Other crew
Sam Bruskin	....	accounting assistant
Gary DeGalla	....	location manager (as Gary De Galla)
Face'	....	production assistant
Pablo Ferro	....	title designer: main title sequence
Anne C. Ford	....	assistant accountant
Karen R. Jones	....	unit publicist
Kathy McDonald Jones	....	assistant production office coordinator
Christopher Lee	....	assistant location manager
Bill McCamey	....	construction nurse
Peter McManus	....	assistant accountant
Wayne Middleton	....	location manager
Steve Shareshian	....	accountant
Miura Smith	....	assistant to producer
Christa Vausbinder	....	production coordinator
Fatima Washington	....	production assistant
John P. Wehn	....	production assistant
Annie Welles	....	script supervisor
Darryl Wharton	....	production assistant
Gina White	....	personal assistant to actor
James Williams	....	security
Wayne Witherspoon	....	production assistant
Neda Armian	....	assistant: Jonathan Demme (uncredited)
John V. Barrile	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Clinica Estetico
• Mundy Lane Entertainment
• TriStar Pictures

Distributors

• TriStar Pictures (1995) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1999) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International (1995) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films de España (Spain)
• Columbia TriStar (Brazil) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar (video)
• Home Box Office (HBO) (video)
• LK-TEL Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• LK-TEL (1996) (Argentina) (VHS)
• LK-TEL (2000) (Argentina) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Bill Dance Casting  extras casting

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:

Iceland:16 (video rating) | Iceland:14 | USA:R (certificate #33509) | 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

Trivia:

Poppy Montgomery's film debut.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Easy gets paid by Albright the first time, the twenty dollar bills are not "Silver Certificate" twenties but "Federal Reserve Notes," which didn't come in until the '60s.

Quotes:

Kid: What do you want?
DeWitt Albright: What do I want?
[Produces gun]
DeWitt Albright: I want to see your brains.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Married with Children: The Weaker Sex (#10.6)" (1995)

Soundtrack:

THE LORD BROUGHT US OUT

A Different Shade Of Film Noir

This is the kind of film that can stay with you for awhile after you watch it: a haunting kind of film that isn't always pleasant or easy to understand but you remember it. It also helps to have a fondness for the 1940 film noir movies.

It doesn't help that it appears racist in nature with people of one color all being the bad guys while people with another color all the good guys. I won't say which is which, but if the colors were reversed, there would have been an outcry about the obvious bias here by screenwriter-director Carl Franklin. Despite this, it's still a fascinating movie that just oozes with the 1940s atmosphere. Great narration in there, a la film noir, great automobiles and great sets. It puts you right into the late 40s in Los Angeles, a little bit like the film Chinatown.

Denzel Washington does a nice job with the narration and the lead role, the character of "Easy Rawlins," off the book by Walter Moseley (which I read and recommend). Tom Sizemore and Don Cheadle play very intense characters in supporting roles, particularly Cheadle as the trigger-happy "Mouse." Jennifer Beals is alluring as the mysterious "Daphne Monet."

The film is a bit confusing in parts and was especially so for me since the book was not exactly the same and had a totally different ending. Nonetheless, the film has always fascinated me and drawn me back for multiple viewings. It's good storytelling and it would be fun to see more of Moseley's books translated to the big screen.