Carl Franklin - Devil in a Blue Dress

0:00 You know, we've covered some great films that employ the use of film noir. Are you Are you aware of the terms origin? I don't think I am. Okay, well, it originated in France right after World War Two and translates from French as black cinema. These films typically require the following archetypes, and Scott, I'm gonna ask you to just check the boxes here because we're on topic today and I want to. I want to see, like, how many of these fit the bill? Starting off with a hard boiled detective check, a fem fatale check. Corrupt officials triple check, an innocent bystander absolutely check, a fallen hero or an anti hero check. Yeah, But a hero on a rise okay? All right? How about powerful and wealthy politicians ugh check? And finally gangsters no check. All right?

1:12 So yeah, I think we agree that each and every one of these can be found in the film we're discussing today. So let's talk about a film by Karl Franklin, his nineteen ninety five underrated hard boiled detective film Devil in a Blue Dress. So on the job, it depends what kind of job it is. I'm gonna get mixed up in that Walk Up the Dorn and Morning Easy. He mixed up with something only thing that matters if you mixed up to the top or not. Hello everybody, I'm Jeff Johnson and I'm Scott Hoffman and this is a film by podcast. So this film was recommended by a friend of the show and one of our Patreon producers, James Buckley. James joined us on last year's Top five Courtroom Movies episode, and as one of our Patreon subscribers at the producer tier, he has the option to suggest directors and films for the show, Scott, which so far I got to say, he is batting a thousand.

2:25 That's great. It's always appreciated. Thank you, James. Yeah. Do you remember the first time you and I discussed a James Buckley suggestion? It was actually on our Patreon we did a fish called Wanda for him. Yes, yes, and very much, thank you, James. Yeah. Yeah, Well, James, we hope you'll enjoy this one, and we look forward to your next pick for us, Scott. Seeing us how Valentine's Day is approaching and we love all of our Patreon subscribers, how about we give every new paying subscriber this month a chance to select a director or a film for us to cover. Can we do that? Oh? Sure, sure, I'll allow it. All right, all right, So listeners, if you're not on Patreon already, head over to www dot patreon dot com, slash a film by podcast and sign up for as little as three dollars a month. And if you do, you too can select a film for us to discuss.

3:20 Just like our good friend James Buckley Scott, we got to get to it. I'm excited because you know, you're this is your first time with the new format. I think we've we kind of tweaked how we do things a little bit. So, uh yeah, I think it's a new flow. Yeah. Listened to a few of these, uh, more than a few of these, and it's a I think it's a great new flow. So I'm looking forward to getting into it. Well, let's let's talk. We gotta talk about Carl Franklin. Let's do let's do some trivia. Let's do a couple of facts about Carl Franklin. Maybe maybe a quote or two. Before he was a director, he was actually an actor. From nineteen seventy five to nineteen eighty five, he was a regular cast member in four television series Kareebe or Keribye.

4:04 I don't know if I'm saying. I don't know which way you say that, Scott, So I Do'm not a stologize the Fantastic Journey. He was in McLean's Law, which was a James Arness show, and Scott, you most likely remember him as Captain Crane from one of our eighties favorites, The A Team. Yeah. Yeah, I mean he's got a very lengthy career in a lot of different capacities director, actor, producer. He's got a lot of work to dig into. How about this one. In nineteen ninety three, he won the MTV Movie Award for Best New Filmmaker for his film One False Move.

4:47 Oh yeah, well deserved, Yeah. Scott, you want to take a wild guest at who presented him. The award, Denzel Washington. You are correct, Sir, Denzel Washington, who in turn won the MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance for Malcolm X that very night. You gotta wonder. You gotta wonder if that was their first time discussing working together. Yeah, that'd be interesting, Yeah, Scott. His AFI thesis short film Punk, about an African American boy in South Central dealing with his sexuality in manhood not only got him a job working for Roger Corman's Concord Films, it garnered him enough attention to get hired to direct his first big budget project, which was a film written by Billy Bob Thornton starring Billy Bob Thornton and Bill Paxson, which is again one false move, which we've we've mentioned already a lot of cool stuff. Listen, we usually do like three facts, but I gotta ask any facts you dig anything up.

5:46 Yeah, So in terms of you know, you've gone over a lot of what he has done. I found some interesting tidbits about some unrealized things that hopefully we get a chance to see in the future at least one of them as we get into this movie. It's interesting to know that this is something that Franklin and Denzel both plan to collaborate on for a trilogy of films starring the lead character that we'll talk about in a few minutes. He was also directed to attach He was also attached to direct Will Smith in A Star Is Born What at one point, Yeah, Smith passed up the role for Ali when that was being made.

6:27 I wonder, So I wonder was Smith the star or was he the you know, because like typically, I mean, what do we got like four versions of that movie, and it's always an up and coming young singer, you know, female singer who like the like kind of like the washed up male singer is like helping. So I'm wondering was Will Smith like the. I think he would have been the established singer. Yeah, yeah, he would have to have been, right. Yeah. Well, you know, we didn't lose out there because like he was, he was he was pretty phenomenal. Ali. Back in twenty thirteen, there was news that he was directed biopic about singer songwriter Sam Cook, one of my Favoritesarently, Franklin was developing the film with a script that he wrote himself based on biography about Sam Cook Dream Boogie.

7:20 So it would have been interesting to see that happen. Maybe well, like you said, maybe we will still have an opportunity to catch that one at some point. Yeah. Yeah, how about how about a quote? You got a quote from this guy? Yeah, So obviously we're in Black History Month, so it was interesting to see one of his perspectives on the realities for black Americans in the television film industry. He had said, when I came up, the only legitimate dramatic actor was Sidney Potier, the bankable star was Richard Pryor, and the other choice roles were action parts that went to Jim Brown. Even someone as good as Billy D. Williams had a couple of great moments and then couldn't get a decent part. I for when I'm glad to see Franklin's career take off and how much he has been able to, uh not only dive into expanding film for black actors and filmmakers, but he's he's elevating stories that are very important in black literature, like Walter Mosley's Devil in a Blue Dress.

8:32 Well, you know, when we talk about this guy's body of work, you know there's not a lot of big feature films for us to discuss. But I want to do take I do want to take a quick moment and talk about Franklin's direction in television because Scott, he has been involved with some of the biggest television series in recent history, and I want to I want to just blitz through these real quick, because I have to believe you've probably watched some, if not if not most of these. I know I have and our listeners probably have as well. So this this is the guy who has directed episodes of Rome, the Pacific mini series if you remember that one, kind of like the Follo up, the Band of Brothers.

9:21 Yep. He did The news Room with Jeff Daniels House of Cards, which kind of think about this, how House of Cards like, we've we were kinda we're kind of numb to it right now, but we've got all these great prestige television shows on all these streaming options, right and Netflix kind of may they maybe maybe they kind of started that with House of Cards way back when, you know, it's kind of, at least for me, it was like the first must watch television show on a streaming platform. Yeah, say that's fair. Yeah. He also directed episodes for Homeland, The Leftovers Ray Donovan, one of my favorites, mind Hunter another Netflix favorite of mine, and most recently he did a Manhunt on Apple Plus.

10:12 Did you see that one? The series about a Lincoln assassin, John Wilkes. Booth not yet interesting? Yeah, And he also did Monsters for Netflix, which is kind of like their anthology True Crime Serious. Okay, Yeah, lots to catch up on Man. Lots to catch up on, but let's start. Let's get our listeners. Caught up on Devil in a Blue Dress Scott A synopsis If You. Will, Based on the mystery thriller novel by Walter Mosley. This is the origin story of a private detective whose first case turns Los Angeles inside out while changing his life forever. Denzel Washington plays Ezekiel Easy Rawlins, a war hero living in the La Watts area in nineteen forty eight who's desperate for work after losing his job at an aviation manufacturer. While searching through one ads in a friend's bar, he's given the chance to make some money under the A man named DeWitt Albright offers him a few hundred dollars to find a woman whose mysterious disappearance is shaking up the race for mayor of La Her name is Daphne Monette, and she vanished just before candidate Todd Carter dropped out of the race. Easy's job is to get into the clubs where Daphney used to hang out and find anyone who can give a clue about where she's gone. Easy dives into a mystery that entangles his friends, and his life uncovers more questions with every answer he finds and reveals a far more scandalous side of the race for mayor, murder, racism, and intrigue. We've through this critically acclaimed nineteen ninety five thriller as a follow up to Franklin's Breakthrough a Movie, One False Move, and for the propels his impressive career as a successful filmmaker.

11:43 So I want to go ahead and open up with the statement that the set design is excellent. Yes, I mean, we're filming in and around Los Angeles. We're led to believe, you know, the story places us in Los Angeles in the summer of nineteen forty eight, and we're there. I absolutely believe it. Yeah. He transports people very easily with his with his the setup of the sets, but also the shots, Like it's these giant, kind of sprawling shots that take in all of the atmosphere and transport you pretty quickly. Like we're not talking about the heart of the city of La It's a lot of neighborhoods, it's a lot of docks, a lot of things that you might not necessarily associate with a with a big city. But he also he uses them all with great effect.

12:39 Yeah, well, you know, and it's easy to say that's nineteen forty eight, so we need a couple of picture cars that that that are period accurate. But it's the little things like even down to the yard tools that are that are period accurate, and you know, the clothing, the music. Can we talk about the music for us a quick minute. We got a score by Elmer Bernstein, and one thing this film certainly has going for it is the music. It's almost like a background character in the film that not only breathes life into the setting, but informs on the characters' motivations throughout the film. Yeah, for sure, it transports.

13:19 Yea, I absolutely love it. Well, Scott, you know, our resident expert on film composers, Wayne Whited, has something to say about Elmer Bernstein's work for Devil in a Blue Dress. So here he is with another scoring session. Take it away, Wayne. Devil in the Blue Dress, the motion picture starring Denzel Washington, stands as a nearly forgotten film of the nineteen nineties. A beautifully shot noir mystery film directed by Carl Franklin. He crafts a rich and moody atmosphere to a nineteen forty setting, gritty and grounded to the period and settings. Frankly needed a score to perfectly compliment the image that he brought to the screen, to match the look and feel of the period, and to convey the emotionally driven script he wrote. So it's no surprise that he turned to one of the senior musical legends in Hollywood, Elmer Bernstein.

14:13 At this point in his career had been scoring film and television for over forty years, with over one hundred and fifty movies under his belt, which had brought him five Grammys and an Academy Award. His score were legends, and his hits were numerous. The Ten Commandments, the Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Animal House, Cape, Fear, Ghostbusters. I could go on and on naming the success stories that Bernstein had placed his music to. He was a master of every genre of film imaginable, so it was no question that they had the right man for the job. With Devil in a Blue Dress, Bernstein gave us a classic noir score drenched with mood and class, with jazzy piano and noir trumpets that paint the picture of a seductive yet oppressive summer grounded by a fantastic main theme that gives the hero a noble accomplishment, along with a beautiful light piano and string melody godded throughout the nearly fifty five minute score. He has created one of the best and most melodic modern noir scores of the nineteen nineties, and this decade was full of those type of scores, very similar to the score of Bernstein's composer friends Jerry Goldsmith, who a year later delivered his own film noir masterpiece in Melee Confidential. The original soundtrack album, released back in nineteen ninety five by Columbia Records, is more of a complimation than a soundtrack containing fourteen tracks of blues and funk music heard in the film by various artists like

15:45 t bone Walker, Duke Ellington, and Roy Milton. Alma Bernstein's actual score was only given the last three tracks, the main theme, Malibu Chase, and the end credits, totally about eight minutes of the score. Time. Back in the late twenty tens, lal Aleian Records was working on getting the rights to release the complete score to this film on CD. But ten years on and there has been no sign of any official release of Bernstein's score. Fans of the film will just have to wait and hope that one day we will see it finally materialized complete remastered. But until then we'll have to just rewatch the film and listen to the beautiful melodies underlying the picture.

16:26 I tell you, Scott, the more we get Wayne scoring sessions involved in these episodes, the happier I get. I just I love his take on the music because I don't think we ever really did it justice in the past seasons. Yeah, I mean, especially knowing that he's a musician himself. I mean, the guy's an encyclopedia of knowledge about these things. But he truly loves these scores and all the composers. So I always love hearing from Wayne, and. I can't tell you how excited I am about this Friday's Bonus episode. David is getting Wayne in our loving buddy Chuck Bryan from the Cinematic Flashback podcast. Together, they're going to discuss their top five favorite Jerry Goldsmith scores.

17:09 So no good, Yeah, that'll be good. I was happy to hear Chuck coming back to join us, and sounds like it'll be a great, great. Chat let's just hope it doesn't turn into a backdoor phaser set to Sun episode, because. Hey, I'll just take a week off. That's fine, Yeah, that's it. Right. Well, while you take that week off, let's take a quick break and when we get back, we'll discuss the cast. Welcome back to a Film by podcast. We are talking about Carl Franklin's Devil in a Blue Dress. Denzel Washington as Ezekiel easy rawlins Scott nine time Oscar nominee, two wins Best Supporting Actor for Glory in nineteen ninety and Best Actor for Training Day in two thousand and two. I mean, I mean, the man can do no wrong right nine times, nine times? Good?

18:07 Eighty six? Uh spot there, there's always room for eighty six. But yeah, I mean, none of those accolades are any kind of surprise. I absolutely love Denzel Washington. He is captivating to watch and this movie is is no different. And it's an interesting time to catch him in his career. Right. Well, yeah, because he's he's red hot. I mean again, he could pick any project he wants. He's he's got, He's got Philadelphia and Malcolm X behind him at this point. But nineteen ninety five is a hell of a year for him. He's got Crimson Tide, virtuosity, and Devil in a Blue Dress. Yeah, I mean Denzel is all over the uh the box.

18:49 Office for sure, and I mean showing no signs of slowing down. So thank you, Denzel, please canine to do so. It's interesting how you mentioned kind of where he is in his career at this point, because it's the same year as Crimson Tide. When I'm looking at IMDb, it fits squarely between Virtuosity and Courage under Fire, and I feel like in this role, it's fascinating to watch the range of his career as someone who easily transitions from the in depth dramatic roles like you mentioned Philadelphia to thought provoking action like Crimson Tide. Right, that feels like it fits squarely within virtuosity and Courage under Fire. It kind of reminds me of Fallen or The Equalizer. But Franklin Is the director does a great job of bringing out Denzel's dramatic depth and range even in the high action moments. And That's what I've noticed with, you know, watching some of his other work. He has this affinity for drawing out those emotionally driven stories in these rich settings.

19:48 Scott, he did Power in nineteen a six. You mentioned Courage under Fire, which he did that and The Preacher's Wife in nineteen ninety six, and we had limited series covering both those years, and we slept on Denzel both times. Who's in charge around here? You're forgetting that, j'ell just to do bonus episodes for those So it's fine. Well, I mean outside of our Spike Lee episode for Inside Man, we we've kept our listeners. Pretty Denzel starved for almost six seasons, so we we got we got some work to do. I think, hey, there's always room. There's always room. I love when a hard boiled detective has an unassuming hobby, you know, like like take John Woo's Hard Boiled where Inspector Tequila plays a saxophone.

20:33 Mm hm. I just love how passionate Easy Rawlings is about gardening and taking care of his lawn. Yes, and protecting from the neighbor that wants to constantly chop down this tree. I mean, it's just it's a it's a nice character trait, like where because he's it's peppered through the whole the whole movie. Yeah, he's always he's alway getting back to his house. He's protective of his house. He loves his house, and I just love that. I mean, he could easily be sitting inside being a hard boiled detective type, just drinking. You know, he could be like he'd be like a decker and blade runner. But he's just out in his yard, you know, tend and tending to the flowers. I love that about this guy.

21:13 Well, speaking of speaking of caring about his neighborhood, I found kind of an interesting last minute tidbit that I was I was amazed to hear. Okay, one of the kids in the neighborhood that has a cameo as a a young boy running through the street with a rifle like he's just got like a toy rifle, is you know? Yeah? Uh, played by John David Washington, Denzel's son. You gotta be kidding me. No, John David Washington was in this. Yes, yeah, I got a blake and you miss it cameo, But yeah. I did not see that. So, you know, because here's the thing about John David Washington. He he he makes it on his own. No one, there's no there's no nepotism. Here.

22:02 He was very it was very important to him that no one knew that Denzel was his father m until after the fact. Now he's he's a big star, and it's like, well, it's we're gonna we're gonna find out. But yeah, my question was always why wouldn't they do Why wouldn't they work together? How come there is hasn't been a film that has father and son in it already and you've just just broke the story. It has happened officially, you know, even if he's you know, wasn't didn't technically have a role per se. But all right, well that's amazing. I'm glad they're both busy and hey, you know, let's consider that the first time they worked together, not the last. I like it. I'll tell you what I I like and don't like. We got to talk about Tom Sizemore as de Witt Albright. Yeah, so you mentioned in your synopsis, you know, easy meets Albright. He after he had unfairly lost his job at the factory, puts him on the beat looking for work and you know, along come Tom Sizemore, Scott.

23:02 When someone is looking to hire you and you ask them what it is they do for a living an answer like I do favors, I do favors for friends. That that should tell you that no goodwill will come from the situation. This, This is not gainful employment. Am I right? You are correct? I don't you know. I find it very hard to separate Tom Sizemore from his role in Heat. And I will say that the gaze of Tom Sizemore is very hard to break, very electric and intimidating. And I think if I got that job offer at that point, I would find the best excuse that I could not to take the job and try to politely do so and not make him mad.

23:50 You're not gonna work for Tom Sizemore, huh No, Tom Scott, I love size more and everything, but it's it's hard to do here because he's such a degenerate. Yes, yes, for sure. And I mean, you know, relating the easy situation, it is not it. You know, I'd say the word easy. It's not easy to come by work, and it's this time and it's it's a it's a horrible state that he's put in. But you know, it's a desperate situation. Yeah. Jennifer Biels as Daphne Monette. Wow. Yeah, talk about a heartbreaker. Yeah, she's She's smooth and seductive in a role that starts with this air of suspicion because the you know, the titular character of the devil into blue Dress quickly turns into empathy because her life is turned around for the worst reasons. Even though she has good intentions and the chance to keep an abysmal and twisted man from rising to power, she barely escapes with her life, and the life that she's left with is far from what she wants deserves.

25:01 I think let's talk about the life of Jennifer Biel though the career. She became a household name in nineteen eighty three after Flash Dance, but never quite capitalized on it. And keep in mind she's been working very steadily from then until now, like up until last year. I think I've got a theory on why Kimi. So my theory is that she was going to have Demi Moore's career but chose education instead. And here's here's where I here's where I will support that. It turns out Joel Schumacher asked her to audition for the role of Jewels in sant Almo's fire, and she turned him down to pursue a degree at Yale. So the rule of jewels went to de Me Moore, who at that point had pretty much only done blaming on Rio in eighty three and then launched her into the stratosphere. She was part of the brat Pack, and then you know, she became Demi Moore, who box off a superstar. Interesting what happens if Jennifer Bials doesn't go to Yale and instead says, sure, Joe, I'll play the part of Jules. Because Jennifer Bills is a stunning actress. She's a sensational actress. She's very talented. Yes, love her and everything she's done, But I feel like it's the Demi Moore uh filmography that she should have had.

26:27 I think that's a that's an interesting trip. You just recommended to the alternate reality video store. Yeah, where we have to pick that up with the Bride starring Sting and Demi Moore to see what we're Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Now you know we said Denzel was having a good year ninety five. Ninety five is a good year for her too. She's got Devil in a Blue Dress and she's got the anthology film Four Rooms with several of our favorite directors, and that we should we should cover that one at some point, maybe like a New Year's ual. I think Jennifer Bial's when I see her in a role, it's like you're seeing a friend on screen, Like, Oh, it's Jennifer Biles, you know. I mean, she has a very storied career. It's not a surprise when you see her on screen. But she's just got a very iconic presence that I feel like, as somebody who grew up with her, it's just always always great to see her on screen.

27:27 It's great to see her. There's a Nicholas Cage vampire comedy called Vampire's Kiss. Oh dear, it's a Bonker's Nicholas Cage performance. It's one of his greatest acting performances of all time, I promise you, okay. And she's this seductive vampire who's who's kind of feeding off him and mentoring him in a way. I'll say no more. You got to check it out. It's so good. It's so good. Hey, maybe one of our friends with a with a podcast could take on Vampire's Kiss versus Once Bitten. I have no stake in the fight but I'd be very interested to see what happens that.

28:09 I would Jennifer Beals versus Lauren Hutton. I'm I'm there for that one. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, let's let's put that into the podcast atmosphere and hopefully someone grabs it. Got it? Don Cheatle playing Mouse, Alexander. Listen, this is Denzel's movie, but don Cheedle is basically stealing every scene he's in. Am I right? You're absolutely right. Yeah, he's a standout role. He's got that. I feel like it's a focused determination as the only friend the Easy can trust, even though I kind of say that in air quotes, because even though there are times, there are a lot of times when he always has Easy's back, but Easy also has to hold him back quite a bit. Like remember the scene where he got that's a little drunk. Oh gosh, she's holding a gun to his face, and it's like this could go several bad ways all at once.

29:08 Mouse is that friend that you don't necessarily want to be around, but you're glad you know him when you're in a bad situation because like, yeah, that scene where he like he he wakes up, don Cheedle, he's just drunk, out of his mind and he's got a handgun and he's waving around his face like that's not the buddy I want to I want to wake up, you know. Yep. It's it's amazing to me that we almost didn't get don cheedele here. Uh. He was reluctant. He didn't want to audition for the role because he thought he was too young. M And you know when you look at him, I mean he he is very youthful, you know. And it's not like Denzel was was, you know, an elder statesman in nineteen ninety five. You know, he's he's, uh, he's young and handsome, but cheatle next to even looks much younger.

30:03 But I think that played to us. I think that played to his performance, honestly for sure. Yeah. I mean he's wise beyond his years. There's a lot of history in that youth, right. I mean, he definitely commands attention and in every scene that he's in. I know that. I had seen an interview with Carl Franklin where he talked about the fact that he was adding a lot of humor to a lot of the scenes, even though he wasn't playing it for humor, but still it was it was coming out that way to great effect, not in a distracting way, but it's a very tense it's a very kind of in depth, intrigued kind of movie. So for him to be able to do so, I think it definitely helps the film.

30:44 You know, it's interesting that you say he's bringing the comedy, whether it's intentional or not, to this role, because David Alan Greer almost got this role. Yeah, I just can't see Dave. I mean, I love David al green On in Living Color. He was hilarious on that show, but I've never I've never seen him do dramatic acting. So it's kind of hard to picture Mouse Alexander when he's being played by David On Greer. So you know, I'm glad I worked out the way it did, because you know, I remember this is we don't know who don Cheatle is in nineteen ninety five. He's still he's still his Stars on the Rise. True, although you know, I mean, let's add that to the cart in the Alternate reality video store. I think having the comedic sensibility helps you figure out whether to play it dramatic or play it intentionally, like lean into the humor I'd be interested to see what David Ellen Greer would have done with it. I think he probably would have played along similar lines to what Don Cheedle had done. I wonder, if you know, you say that Jennifer Beals, what if she had taken to me Moore's trajectory.

31:59 I wonder what another universe looks like if you know the same had happened with David Allen Greer and Don Cheatle. David Allen Greer as Roady war Machine in the Marvel universe. And how they possible. Yeah, let's talk a little bit about this film's background, Scott. As you mentioned in your synopsis, the film is based on Walter Mosley's nineteen ninety novel of the same name. Moseley served as an associate producer on the production, which was in turn produced by director Jonathan Demi. How about that. Yeah, Yeah, apparently, after working with Denzel on Philadelphia ninety three, he actually considered directing this picture until he saw one false move and decided that Franklin was a better option.

32:44 Wow, that's interesting. Yeah, I know that I had seen I haven't read a lot of Walter Mosley's work. I know that there's a lot that I get the impression there's a lot that dives into Easy's character beyond this story, and I know it's regarded as an important contribution to African American detective fiction. I'm glad that he was so close to this. I'm glad that he was so involved. It seems like this is something that would have gone further. I mentioned in the beginning, this could have been a trilogy of films at one point. Apparently ABC at one point was thinking about turning this into a pilot for TV.

33:28 Oh okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna go ahead say, I'm glad that didn't happen. Yeah, and here's why. And you know, with all respect to to the subject matter, you couldn't have done this on primetime television. I mean you could have, but it would have been really, really bland. They could not capture the they couldn't capture the vibe that this that this this story has. There's just no way. Yeah, you know, it's it's a little too adult, it's a little too violent for for primetime TV in my opinion. Yeah, you know, this was like, like we said, this was shot mostly in La two famous locations of scott We got the Griffith Park Observatory, which we've seen many times throughout cinema. You know, obviously probably the most famous rebel without a Cause. And then it's one of those places where you see in the movie and you spotted immediately and you're like, oh, I know that, you know, I always remember from The Rocketeer honestly, because yeah, yeah, Rocketeer is amazing.

34:31 Oh yeah, absolutely. And then we got the the Ambassador Hotel, which was prominently featured in Pretty Woman seven, The Mask True Romance. It's always great when you've got these iconic locations that are that are a part of the city. They've they've been a part of the city for decades and decades, and they get to become it's almost like they become characters in the movie to an extent. For sure. And I mean, especially in Carl Franklin's Hands. You and I talked before about the set and the scenery and the uses of those He does so so effortlessly and it I think those are the great locations to include in here, and I'm glad they have a space.

35:18 Yeah. One thing that I had noticed, so speaking of locations, there's a movie theater. Oh I was about to tell you about this, you know it? Yeah, yeah, okay, go ahead. Oh well you're run with that ball. Well okay, so we're talking. You're talking about the movie theater that easy passes by, uh with the marquee that says the Betrayal, Yes, okay, all right, so not I mean again, the attention to detail in this film is just amazing because they got everything right. The Betrayal, that's not a fake movie title for the for the Marquee. The Betrayal actually was a very popular film released in nineteen forty eight, which is period accurate. Scott. The term race film describes a genre of film produced in the United States between nineteen fifteen and the nineteen fifties. These films were produced for black audiences, starred black casts, and were very popular despite being produced outside the Hollywood studio system.

36:22 Now of the five hundred produced, sadly, most of them were lost over time until some of them started receiving a resurgence in the nineteen eighties on the bet cable network. And here's a here's a cool, cool bit of trivia for you. Oscar Michelle, who wrote and directed The Betrayal, was also the first African American to produce a film. And that's one of the things I love about this is that it's a it's a bread krom, It's a thread that you can follow. Two more black history in cinema, right, you can follow that thread. I had no idea about, you know, all of what you had just said. I had, you know, a note about Oscar Micheau being the first black producer on a feature linked film. That's a lot of fascinating background on that.

37:18 Well, yeah, I mean you think that's that's a whole genre I wasn't aware of. Yeah, and we got a connection to you know, if you're a Carl Franklin fan, it's a way to dive into that through this movie. Same thing if you're a Denzel Washington fan, a Don Cheetle fan. A lot of great ways to keep that history life. Well, Scott, let's talk about noteworthy scenes and the pivotal moment in this film. Let's try let's try a little bata back and forth, because I'm betting you've got a few that maybe I don't have, and vice versa. I want to start with easy sleeping with his best friend's girl to get information about Daphne. So here's the thing.

38:03 A film no our hero will always be flawed, right, his actions can be deemed unlikable at times, and I think this scene informs us that we're not going to agree with everything he does from a moral point of view. I think that's definitely fair. It also adds a layer of guilt that he feels throughout the movie, a sense of personal responsibility, something he's ashamed that he had done to a certain degree. You know, obviously he's cheating on one of his best friends from the next room. Yeah, his best friend is passed out drunk in the next room, and you know it's Buddy's wife's just coming on to him. And he he he, I get that.

38:44 He's it's not about passion for him. He's still trying to get information about Daphne. But come on, man, your best friend's. Girl and and he's he's using her to get information. So it definitely. He's hitting that spot, she says, And you know, it's just it's just it's a but you know, you need a scene like that, because what film noir always teaches us is you sleep with the wrong person, they're gonna end up dead like kredit In, you know. And then we're off and we're off and running. So well, I think it definitely adds to you know, like I said in the synopsis, this is a detective's origin story, right, Yeah, So I think that's something that definitely probably comes out in the novels, something it would have come out if there were subsequent movies, uh, to see how he kind of follows that kind of pattern.

39:32 One of the other scenes that I noticed, speaking of kind of his growth, is where he stands up for himself at Todd Carter's house the first opportunity he sees that I could make some money at this, and I know how much danger is involved in this. I know how much personal risk there is, so I have a right to ask for more money to do these things. And I think we would have seen more of those moments in his subsequent movies. Again, it's it's one of those ropes that I expect in a movie like this, but I love seeing it. He is making money from everyone because he's playing one side against the other back and forth. He's getting money from Todd, he's getting money from Albright, he's getting money from Daphne. Everyone's paying him for information or to get more information. They're putting him to work, and he's working, He's basically working them all. It's fantastic. It's a I love the slide of hand that he's doing here with that.

40:27 That's a great that's a great moment. How about sneaking up to Daphne's hotel room. That was very clever. Another level attention there, because it's a segregated hotel, right. Yet remember what time it is in nineteen. Forty eight, right, not allowing any black guests. And how does he not only get up there, but how does he get out? Well, if I'm him, I don't want to get out because the heat between these two is intense. Jennifer Beals and Denze Washington are melting the screen and that and that and that scene, and I think about the dialogue. I love they've got. They've got this great back, this great bit of dialogue where Denzel is like, you know, I don't want to upset you, but you were the last one to talk to Corretta. And then she fires right back, I don't upset you, but you were the last one with her. Now where does that leave us?

41:21 And they're just sizing each other up. You know, you're watching this and you're you expect a very steamy sex scene. And the funny thing is they shot it, but Carl Franklin cut it from the movie because he didn't feel it was needed to convey their story. I got to ask you, you agree with it, you agree with him? I agree with that. Yeah, And as much as I agree, her presence is very seductive. It you know, there's a lot of temptation for him in that room, but she's a champagne flute full of gasoline, right, Very seductive, but a volatile situation to say the least. If he gets in, if he gives into that heat, it could be pretty explosive.

42:08 So I think he made the right call on that moment. It's a tough call. I got one more scene, but drop another scene on me. What do he got? Meeting Mouse for the first time when he says easiest life. In his home? Oh, that moment. It just specifically the moment where he Mouse puts his gun away and he's like, all right, all right, let me talk to him, So let me tell you something. Let he pulls out the gun and shoot him the shoulder anyway like that, That epitomizes Mouse for for the rest of this movie. And I think it's a dynamic that I would have wanted to see in subsequent sequels between Denzel and Mouse. Look, I love Mouse, and I love Don Cheatle's performance of Mouse. But the scene we're talking about here, just imagine for a second Samuel Jackson's playing Mouse out Alexander, bringing some of that Jewels Winfield vibe to it.

43:04 True, How true? I mean right? That's I mean Cheatle kind of reminded me of of that the aggression that he had, like that boldness that he has where he does not back down from anybody, and maybe he goes a little too far in just about every situation. True. Although I i'd be in, you know, add that to the cart in the alternate movie house because I wonder about the age difference between Denzel and Samuel, because I feel like I'd have to look maybe for some reason in this role, Don strikes me as younger than Denzel. And oh he's probably the way that he kind of carries himself, right, he's a little bit more impulsive. I don't know that we would have seen that dynamic between the two. They would have been more peers in terms of age and experience.

43:59 That's all right, that's fair. I got one more for you. I'm gonna call this what I feel is the pivotal moment. And you're waiting for it because in a movie where we're trying to uncover the mystery and solve the puzzle, you need that one moment where everything pieces together. So how about discovering the pictures inside the Bible? Uh, it's the moment. It's the moment when all is revealed. You find out what's motivating everybody. And I'll tell you that the what really hits home for me here is Uh. I'm reminded of Easies meeting with Terrell in the limo, you know, when he acknowledges the the young Hispanic boy as his quote adopted son, and I just got sick to my stomach. I was like, Oh, this guy's a slime ball.

44:48 Yeah, yeah, it really does. It's horrible. You know, it's all the corrupt politicians, protecting secrets, bribing, bribing people. It brings it brings everything to This is what I feel is the pivotal moment. But I got to ask you. You know, we've talked about several scenes. What is the pivotal moment here, Scott? Is it this moment or have you got something different in mind? So to compound that, Daphne's confession about why she ran away not only because of what she knew from those photographs, but the fact that because of her parentage, Yeah, you know, the racist reasons why she was kind of forced out, culminating in that scene where you see the discussion between her and Todd Carter and he's just not letting her back in and it's just heartbreaking.

45:41 Quick callback to Oscar my Show's The Betrayal from nineteen forty eight. Obviously I haven't seen the movie, but I looked up the synopsis. It's all about a man falling in love with a woman who he believes is white. What isn't interesting? So again tying it to the characters that we have in Devil in. A Blue Dress, Yeah, it's another one to check out. We gotta find that one. But first, uh, let's let's find our way to one last break, Scott, and when we come back, we'll wrap things up. Welcome back, Scott. If someone was unfamiliar with Carl Franklin, which three films would you suggest they watch?

46:26 So I've got two that i'd recommend with one thing in common, and it's that they both start with the word one. Okay, give me the first one. So One False Move is an interesting, interesting movie with Billy Bob Thornton, written by Billy Bob Thornton, Tom Eperson, but also Bill Paxton, one of our favorites yep and in this one, Bill Paxton plays a small town police chief in Star City, Arkansas who gets the warning from l A PD that a trio of killers, including Billy Bob Thornton, is coming back to Star City. One of those killers is basically coming home. So you have this kind of trail of danger that's following them all the way while you've got Bill Paxton trying his best to make a great impression on these LA detectives that he looks up to.

47:30 Uh. It's a it's a very smart thriller. It gets into a little bit more kind of suburbia and more kind of back roads kind of locations. But it's I can see why that one got a lot of attention and why it led to Devil in a Blue Dress. Well, I'll tell you something, I'm gonna agree with you. That was that's one of my that's one of my recommendations, which is a bit of a cheat for me because I haven't seen it, but given the pedigree involved with this film and what it did for Carl Franklin's career, I'm just saying, yeah, we got, I got. I have to see it now, I'm I'm I'm actually excited because you've you've seen it, you're recommending it, So now I know I'm in for a treat because I love Devil in a Blue Dress. So ye, next movie? What else you got?

48:19 The next one is one true thing. So this is Meryl Streep, this is William Hurt, this is Renee Zellwigger. It's actually a film that Meryl Streep won the Oscar for. This one is following Renee zel Wigger. She plays a career New Yorker journalist who is trying her best to break the break a big story and make her career. Her father is William Hurt, her mother is Meryl Streep. She's always looking for William Hurt's acceptance because he is this professor that's always pressuring his family and you know, raising expectation is way too high his loving mother. Though, her loving mother, Meryl Streep, is diagnosed with cancer that progresses quickly, so the dynamics there it's a bit different than the other movies that we're talking about, different than Devil in the buddhas different than One False Move because it's more focused on relationships. But that's another thing that I think Carl Franklin does so well is bring out the drama with the framing of the scenes and also how he's walking the actors through it. It's a tough one to watch, but it's it's worth a watch.

49:38 I haven't seen that one, but remid me, isn't that the one that Streep was? She? Did she get like a Golden Globe nomination for that one? I believe. She got eight nominations? Yeah? Oh, actually, okay, she was nominated for an Oscar and Best Actress. No leading role, but yeah, Golden globally. Well all right, well we we talked about one False Move. I'll give you to I'll give you two more. Uh for for my three, check out High Crimes with Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd. Uh. This is the one. Ashley Judd's husband goes on trial for murdering villagers under a different name while serving in the military, and she's a very successful attorney who decides to defend him. But because she has no idea about military protocol. She enlists the help of Freeman, who's like this washed up military trial lawyer.

50:35 Really cool. Her husband's played by h Jesus aka Jim Caviezel, so you know, powerful, powerful performances. It's a it's a it's a really good movie. I checked that one out and then the other one, Scott, you gotta see because it's so good. A movie called Out of Time. Uh here he's he's back with Denzel Denzel and Eva Mendez. He's a he's a police chief in Florida, you know, kind of a down on his luck, you know guy. You know, he gets mixed up in an affair with a married woman she's she claims she has cancer, so you know, I almost spoil it for you, but basically, a half a million dollars goes missing from an evidence locker.

51:18 She ends up dead, and his ex wife played by Eva Mendez, who happens to be a homicide detective in Miami, is building a case against him while he's trying to figure out who set him up in the first place. It's one of those, like, you know, he is literally running out of time. Really cool movie. Let's talk about a recommendation, Scott, I gotta tell you, I love how upbeat the film's ending is with Easy's narration that he sat on my porch at my house. You know, he's very proud of that house, and I love that about his character. You know, he tells us he's going to use the money that he made to invest in real estate, maybe open up a private investigation and agency. You know, that's such a shame because, like you you've said, you know, you've mentioned a couple of times, you know, I mean, the film was loved by critics, but it wasn't successful at the box office. So you know, the plans to see Denzel play Easy in you know, subse you know, subsequent films based off of Walter Mosley's work, It just it never happened. And that just it makes me sad man because this is such a great film.

52:25 Yeah, although knowing that this can still stand alone on its own, I think it makes it worthwhile. I think if we had, you know, for piling up that cart and the alternate videos to earths, go ahead and do a few of those. I do want to. I would be curious though, on that alternate universe, if you know how that would interfere with other movies involving Denzel, involving Don Cheadle, Jennifer Beals, a bunch of the others. I would want to make sure that it's something that doesn't kind of skip those other tracks on the record. Well, the Devil in a Blue Dress is a film for any fan of Denzel Washington, as well as a film noir genre in my opinion for sure. Well, listeners, what do you think of Devil in a Blue Dress?

53:14 Have you seen it? Did you enjoy it as much as our friend and listener and Patreon producer James Buckley? Did? You can la us know on social media. You'll find us on Facebook, Instagram, and x You can check out a Film by Podcast dot com for all of our episodes streaming free, that is, with exceptions Scott to the Patreon stuff. You can write to us at a Film by Podcast at gmail dot com with your questions, comments and concerns. We may just read your response on the show and send you some of a film by swag. Scott, I gotta tell you you have you alluded to the Alternate Universe video store on several occasions this episode, and I'm not gonna I'm gonna tell you or the listeners everything, but I will tell you this. We got something special coming and it's pertaining to that that very phrase.

54:06 So all right, you know you mean the alternate Ultimate Video starts. Yeah, you know you guys, Scott, you just give us a pretty pretty good review, you and your your buddies over on Phaser Set the Stun for section thirty one, that new Paramount Plus movie. Yes, so here's my question. You you kind of had that crossover situation where it was a film at forty five and it was a Phaser Set the Stun last December. You did you did Star Trek the Motion Picture. How about we get to you know, I'm not trying to tell you all what to do, but how about we get to some of the other track movies, the original six.

54:48 Your wish is granted. We are gonna dive in next week. We're coming back and we're talking about Star Trek to the Wrath of Khan, the arguably the granddaddy of Star films. We've got some time. We're kind of spending some time before we get back into Strange New Worlds, covering a lot of those early movies. All Right, you just made me very happy. I want to thank you for joining me today, Scott. It's always a pleasure. Yeah, thank you, And I mean, you know, listeners, if I would say, go to IMDb, look up Carl Franklin and see which of his direction has come into contact with the series that you follow, and see what other movies he has to discover. I think it can be pleasantly surprised.

55:36 And remember listeners, like easy Rollings tells us, if you mixed up in something, you better be mixed up to the top. So to all of you mixed up in our show, following us on social media and subscribing to our Patreon, we thank you.