Mulholland Falls (1996)

In 1950's Los Angeles, a special crime squad of the LAPD investigates the murder of a young woman.

Director:

Lee Tamahori

Writers:

Peter Dexter (story) (as Pete Dexter), Floyd Mutrux (story)

Stars:

Nick Nolte, Melanie Griffith, Jennifer Connelly

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nick Nolte	...	Max Hoover
Melanie Griffith	...	Katherine Hoover
Chazz Palminteri	...	Elleroy Coolidge
Michael Madsen	...	Eddie Hall
Chris Penn	...	Arthur Relyea
Treat Williams	...	Colonel Nathan Fitzgerald
Jennifer Connelly	...	Allison Pond
Daniel Baldwin	...	McCafferty
Andrew McCarthy	...	Jimmy Fields
John Malkovich	...	General Thomas Timms
Kyle Chandler	...	Captain
Ed Lauter	...	Earl
Larry Garrison	...	Perino's Maitre d'
Chelsea Harrington	...	Lolita
Johnna Johnson	...	Bar Woman

Storyline

This film is about the adventures of a 1940's special anti-gangster police squad in Los Angeles, the infamous 'Hat Squad.' The four members of this squad are big, tough, no-nonsense cops who don't hesitate to break the law, if it suits their purposes. When a local woman is murdered, their investigation turns up the fact that she had been romantically linked to several prominent men and had secret films taken of her liaisons. Since one of those men is the powerful U.S. Army General at the head of the then-new Atomic Energy Commission and another is the (married) leader of the Hat Squad, complications ensue. The FBI even gets involved in an attempted cover-up.

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Plot Keywords:

neo noir | murder | military | 1950s | breasts | 

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Taglines:

The power of love vs. the love of power

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality, violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

MGM's Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 April 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Abuso de poder

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Studios - 5800 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$29,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,306,221, 28 April 1996, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$11,500,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Largo Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Polygram Filmed Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

DTS DTS-Stereo

Color:

Black and White (home movie sequences) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jack Nicholson was offered the role of Chief Bill Parker. He declined, but he did recommend Bruce Dern for the part.

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Goofs

It is assumed that they drove from Los Angeles to the Nevada Atomic test sites, as no atomic testing ever took place in California. Even in 2019, the one way driving time is over 4 hours. In the early 1950's, it would have been longer, and that does not take into consideration the time to go out to any of the test site entrances. The scenes where they supposedly do this, is accomplished in the daylight of a single day.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Perino's Maitre d': Good evening, gentlemen can I check your hats, please?

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Connections

Referenced in Psych: The Movie (2017)

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Soundtracks

So Tired
Written by Russ Morgan and Jack Stewart
Performed by Kay Starr

User Reviews

Nice Nostalgia piece

Nick Nolte must have thought he died and went to heaven when he was offered the part of Max Hoover in Mulholland Falls. Consider, in the film Hoover is married to the lovely Melanie Griffith while simultaneously involved in a torrid affair with ultra sexy Jennifer Connelly. Now I ask you, what sane man could turn down such a part? To Nolte's credit he kept his mind on business and turned in a excellent performance.

As Hoover, Nolte is head of a post world war 2 Los Angeles police division assigned the task of keeping organized crime out of the city of Angels. Given cart blanch by their superiors Hoover's crew often resort to brutal even murderous means in carrying out their duty. Their favorite disposal site for human garbage is Mulholland Falls; a rocky cliff nestled in the hollywood hills.

One day the squad investigates the death of a young woman found in the nearby desert. To Hoover's horror he discovers the body to be that of Allison Pond, (Connelly), a pretty prostitute who was his former mistress.

Finding no clues on the murder site Hoover checks out Allison's apartment. While there Hoover realizes the apartment is the site of sex film anonymously sent to him days before. Hoover quickly discovers the films origin point in a neighboring apartment. He then just as quickly makes contact with the individual who took the films. Said person was secertly taking the movies to blackmail some of Allison's more influential clients including Hoover himself. Unfortunately, for Hoover the films are stolen before he can take them into custody.

Later, when Hoover begins zeroing in on one of Allison's especially influential clients as a possible suspect in her killing he is pressured by everyone from the FBI to his superiors to backoff. He refuses but soon has second thoughts when a mysterious source threatens to use the missing film to reveal his affair to his wife.

As previously stated Nolte's protrayal is top notch but he is not alone. Several solid supporting performances including Griffith, Connelly, Bruce Dern and Chazz Palmeterri lend quality to the proceedings.