Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)

An African-American man is hired to find a woman, and gets mixed up in a murderous political scandal.

Director:

Carl Franklin

Writers:

Walter Mosley (book), Carl Franklin (screenplay)

Stars:

Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore, Jennifer Beals

3 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denzel Washington	...	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	...	Odell
Lisa Nicole Carson	...	Coretta James
Jernard Burks	...	Dupree Brouchard
David Fonteno	...	Junior Fornay (as David Wolos-Fonteno)
John Roselius	...	Mason
Beau Starr	...	Miller
Steven Randazzo	...	Benny Giacomo
Scott Lincoln	...	Richard McGee

Storyline

It is 1948 in LA and Ezikeal "Easy" Rawlins, an African-American World War II veteran, is looking for work. At his friend's bar, he is introduced to a white man, DeWitt Albright, who is looking for someone to help him find a missing white woman assumed to be hiding somewhere in LA's Black community. This woman, Daphne Monet, happens to be the fiancée of a wealthy "blue blood," Todd Carter, who is currently the favorite in the city's mayoralty race. Daphne Monet is known to frequent the Black jazz clubs in LA. Easy, innocently, accepts Albright's offer; however, he quickly finds himself amidst murder, crooked cops, ruthless politicians, and brutalizing hoodlums. This is a Chandler-esque "who-done-it" with an African-American theme.

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Plot Keywords:

african american | jazz club | private detective | missing person | jazz music | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, sexuality and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Carl Franklin reunited with Denzel Washington for the thriller [linktt0313443], which was also a murder mystery also involving corruption and deception involving public officials in a small town in Florida.

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Goofs

Towards the beginning, when Easy is paid by Albright, the top $20.00 bill is signed by Nicholas Brady, who was Secretary of the Treasury under George H.W. Bush. The bill is from the late-'80s.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Easy Rawlins: It was summer 1948, and I needed money. After goin' door-to-door all day long, I was back again at Joppy's bar trying to figure out where I was gonna go looking for work the next day. The newspapers was goin' on and on about the city elections - like they was really gonna change somebody's life. But my life had already changed when I lost my job three weeks before.

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Connections

Featured in A Century of Black Cinema (2003)

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Soundtracks

CHICA BOO
Written and Performed by Lloyd Glenn
Courtesy of Tuff City / Night Train International

User Reviews

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.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 September 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Devil in a Blue Dress

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$27,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,422,385, 1 October 1995

Gross USA:

$16,140,822

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$16,140,822

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures, Clinica Estetico, Mundy Lane Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR SDDS (8 channels) Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1