Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)

Director:

Carl Franklin

Writers (WGA):

Walter Mosley (book)
Carl Franklin (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 September 1995 (USA)

Genre:

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:

African American | Detective | Jazz Club | Murder | Dress

Awards:

3 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | 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:

ABC in 1998 was planning a pilot based on the film.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: During the scene were Easy is questioning Junior while Mouse is enjoying a plate of Pigtails, the music is the background is of Gospel Music Legend, James Cleveland. The setting is 1948, while the recording of Cleveland and the Angelic Choir singing, "Peace Be Still" was released in 1962. This style of Gospel music singing was still in it's pioneering days, thanks to Thomas Dorsey, during the late 40's and yet evolved into the style of singing that is featured in James Cleveland's much later arrangement of the hymn.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Featured in Century of Black Cinema (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

I CAN'T GO ON WITHOUT YOU

Dazzling atmosphere, Washington make this a winner

Denzel Washington plays Easy Rawlins, a down-on-his-luck sometime machinist, sometime detective in late-1940's L.A. Seems someone wants him to find a mysterious white lady in a blue dress (Jennifer Beals)who's thought to have been seen in a blacks-only club. Enter Easy, who with his connections can get into the club and find the girl. But, of course, there's more to this plot than just that, or else it'd be a mighty short film.

The atmosphere is a major asset here; director Carl Franklin has done a magnificent job not only of recreating the Los Angeles of the late forties but also of showing the story from the black perspective, a rarity in film. All the sights and sounds are there, and if you concentrate real hard you can even detect the smells, too. Washington's aces, of course, as usual; makes you wonder if he'll do any more adaptations of Walter Mosley books starring Easy Rawlins. He's aided by a very good supporting cast, including Beals and Tom Sizemore (playing a heavy, surprise surprise!). Fans of Washington should watch this, but really anyone who likes film noir will approve.