Script To Screen: “L.A. Confidential”
The 1997 movie L.A. Confidential won two Academy Awards including Best Adapted Screenplay, written by Brian Helgeland & Curtis Hanson…
The 1997 movie L.A. Confidential won two Academy Awards including Best Adapted Screenplay, written by Brian Helgeland & Curtis Hanson, based on a novel by James Ellroy.
Setup: A scene from Act One of the movie that sets the tone of police violence.
INT. PRECINCT HOUSE - MUSTER ROOM - NIGHT A large impromptu bar has been set-up. The party is in
full swing, the floor packed with nightwatch blues. A
PHONOGRAPH SPEWS DIRTY CHRISTMAS CAROLS. Stensland pours eggnog and Old Crow into the water cooler
as Bud elbows his way in with another case. STENSLAND
Hey, partner. Grab a cup. BUD
I got to write my report first. PASSING COP #1
Hear about Helenowski and Brown?
They got into a helluva scrap with
six taco benders at some bar.
Helenowski lost six pints of
blood. Brown's in a coma. PASSING COP #2
We ought to teach Paco and his
friends a lesson. More cops vocie their agreement. Bottles are passed.
Only Bud doesn't seem as caught-up as the rest. INT. PRECINCT HOUSE - NARCO PEN - NIGHT Jack Vincennes at his desk. Holding the Fleur-de-Lis
card, Jack dials the number. A corkboard on the wall is
posted with press clippings. "Dope Crusader Wounded in
Shootout." "Actor Mitchum Seized in Marijuana Shack
Raid." That one includes a shot of Jack ushering Mitchum
into jail. WOMAN (V.O.)
(over phone, like
silk)
Whatever you desire. JACK
Hi... I'd like to get a delivery
to Beverly Hills. WOMAN (V.O.)
(over phone)
I don't think I know you. CLICK. The line goes dead. Jack redials. WOMAN (V.O.)
(over phone)
Whatever you desire. JACK
Look, a friend of mine gave me
this number. I just -- The line goes dead again. Jack dials a new number. OPERATOR (V.O.)
(filtered)
Pacific Coast Bell. JACK
This is Sgt. Vincennes.
Requesting a name and address on a
phone number. Hollywood zero-one-
two-three-nine. OPERATOR (V.O.)
(filtered)
Please hold the line... No such
number is assigned. JACK
I just called it. OPERATOR (V.O.)
No, Sergeant. I checked twice. JACK
(realizes, hangs up)
A bootleg... INT. MUSTER ROOM - NIGHT Exley surveys the carousing rowdies. Raising his
voice... EXLEY
All right, men. You've had your
fun. Time to break it up. The party continues undiminished. From across the room,
Stensland eyes Exley with disdain. STENSLAND
Fucking Exley. Guy's got a pole
so far up his ass, every time he
farts the flag waves. WATCH COMMANDER'S OFFICE The command not really his, Exley reads a report, ignores
the party, though his window looks into the thick of it. Suddenly a ripple goes through the room. The men begin
to push out through a rear door. Exley stands, stops a
COP. EXLEY
What's going on? COP
They got the spics who japped
Helenowski and Brown. Helenowski
lost an eye and Brown's got brain
damage. EXLEY
I have the report right here.
They're home with bruises and
muscle pulls -- Oh shit... Exley starts out after them. INT. CELL BLOCK - NIGHT Stensland in the lead. Pulling out a blackjack, he
enters Cell #4, begins wailing on one of the Mexicans --
Dinardo. STENSLAND
For ours, Pancho. And you're
getting off easy. Cheered on by drunks in the tank and his fellow officers,
Stensland goes wild. He's joined by Lentz, Crumley and
Tristano. Shaking his head, Jack Vincennes moves away. INT. SQUAD ROOM - NIGHT Bud types his report with one finger. Jack looks in. JACK
White, you better get a lease on
Stens before he kills someone. INT. CELL BLOCK - NIGHT Followed by Jack, Bud forces his way through the crowd.
The men who see it's him quickly clear a path. Swigging from a pint of gin, Stensland works skinny
GARCIA. Head saps. The kid drops to his knees drooling
blood. Bud grabs Stensland, hauls him off of Garcia who looks
up. GARCIA
Fuck you, pendejo. BUD
Yeah yeah... GARCIA
And fuck your mother too. Bud sees red. Letting go of Stensland, Bud White picks
up Garcia by the neck. There are cheers, "Attaboys" and
"Holy Fucks" as Bud bangs Garcia's head on the ceiling. EXLEY
(arriving)
Stop, Officer! That's an order! Cops block Exley's way. As Bud looks over, Garcia kicks
him in the balls. A dangling shot. Bud keels into the
bars, Garcia stumbles out of the cell, smack into Jack. Jack looks down aghast at blood on his cashmere blazer,
then puts Garcia down with a left-right. Exley pulls a pad of paper and pen form his pocket. EXLEY
You're going in my report! All of
you! Exley has just started taking names when Bud grabs him by
the scruff of the neck and hauls him off balance into... HALL As Exley struggles, a cop opens the door to the store
room. Bud slings Exley inside, then slams the door
tight. Exley is locked in. As Bud moves off, we hear
POUNDING. EXLEY (V.O.)
Let me out! That's an order! CELL BLOCK The Herald Reporter and photographer enter unchaperoned
and unnoticed. Stensland swings like a madman. That's
when a flashbulb goes off. Freezing everyone in black
and white.
Here is the scene from the movie:
I’ll see you in comments for a discussion of this gripping scene from L.A. Confidential.
One of the best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a weekly series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.
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