Synopsis

In 1947 Los Angeles, police detectives Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert and Lee Blanchard investigate the brutal murder of aspiring actress Elizabeth Short. As the case draws them into a maze of corruption, sexual obsession, blackmail, and Hollywood secrets, their partnership and personal lives begin to unravel. The investigation ultimately exposes a disturbing conspiracy buried beneath the city's glamorous surface.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film is adapted from James Ellroy's 1987 novel, which fictionalizes the still-unsolved 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short.

• David Fincher was attached to the project before production and envisioned a much longer, five-hour television version.

• The recurring screen-test footage was created for the screenplay rather than taken from Ellroy's novel. Although Short was known to have sought film work, no verified screen-test footage of her has been found.

• Mia Kirshner was initially brought in to read lines during screen tests. Her performance impressed the filmmakers, leading to her casting as Elizabeth Short and a larger role than originally planned.

• Much of the production was filmed in Sofia, Bulgaria, including a specially constructed Los Angeles street set. The location helped control costs while allowing the production to recreate 1940s Los Angeles.

• Production designer Dante Ferretti drew on several period films and visual influences to create the movie's stylized version of postwar Hollywood.

• Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond received an Academy Award nomination for his work on the film.

• The film premiered in competition at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival in August 2006 before opening in the United States on September 15, 2006.

• The production used imagery based on real crime-scene and autopsy photographs connected with the Elizabeth Short case.