L.A. Confidential

FADE IN:

OVER the opening strains of "I LOVE YOU, CALIFORNIA," a

MONTAGE:
a mixture of headlines, newsreel footage and

live action. Economy Booming! Postwar Optimism! L.A.:

City of the Future! But most prominent among them:

GANGLAND! Police photographers document crime scenes.

The meat wagon hauls ex-button men to the morgue. Where

will it end?

EXT. L.A. SKYLINE - SUNSET

Palm trees in silhouette against a cherry sky. City

lights twinkle. Los Angeles. A place where anything is

possible. A place where dreams come true. As the sky

darkens, triple-kleig lights begin to sweep back and

forth.

EXT. MANSION (HANCOCK PARK) - NIGHT

The KLEIG LIGHTS are out front. Valets hurry to park a

line of elegant cars.

MAYOR (V.O.)

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you

the future of Los Angeles!

INT. HANCOCK PARK MANSION - BALLROOM - NIGHT

The MAYOR yanks a cloth to reveal a MODEL of L.A. criss-

crossed by an elaborate FREEWAY SYSTEM. The CROWD oohs.

A COUNCILMAN claps. A SOCIETY MATRON nods her approval.

PIERCE PATCHETT, 50, tuxedoed, watches off to one side.

A behind-the-scenes power broker, Patchett exudes

authority much more so than the Mayor does.

MAYOR:

The Arroyo Seco freeway is just

the beginning. We're planning

freeways from Downtown to Santa

Monica, from the South Bay to the

San Fernando Valley. Twenty

minutes to work or play is the

longest you'll have to travel.

More applause. One REPORTER asks a little too loudly...

REPORTER:

How many bodies you think Mickey

Cohen'll be able to hide in all

that cement?

The Mayor wears a plastic smile, ignores it.

INT. THE MOCAMBO - NIGHT

A CLUB PHOTOGRAPHER pops snapshots, but the real action

is on the floor where MICKEY COHEN does a wicked "Lindy

Hop" with THREE different GIRLS at once. A fireplug of a

man, he hardly seems a public menace. Nearby is his

bodyguard JOHNNY STOMPANATO. Over it all:

HUDGEONS (V.O.)

Meyer Harris Cohen, Mickey C to

his fans. He's the big moocher,

local L.A. color to the nth

degree. You know Mickey. He runs

dope, rackets and prostitution.

He kills a dozen people a year.

But who you may not know is

bodyguard Johnny Stompanato.

His hair in a slick pompadour, Stompanato keeps an eye on

Cohen and comes onto a CIGARETTE GIRL at the same time.

HUDGEONS (V.O.)

Johnny's handsome, ladies, but the

real attraction is below the belt.

Second only to Steve Cochran, he's

sometimes known as 'Oscar' because

of his Academy Award-size

appendage.

Mickey works a sweat on the dance floor. A bottle of

champagne pops; Stompanato reacts, nearly draws a pistol

from his shoulder holster. As he laughs at himself...

INT. HUSH-HUSH MAGAZINE OFFICE - DAY

Lurid page one headlines cover the wall where SID

HUDGEONS types. The essence of sleaze, Sid is the

publisher-photographer-writer of Hush-Hush magazine and

keeper of inside dirt supreme. As he continues...

HUDGEONS (V.O.)

Remember, dear readers, you heard

it here first, off the record, on

the Q.T. and very Hush-Hush.

INT. HANCOCK PARK MANSION - BALLROOM - NIGHT

The party continues. The Mayor has moved off to the side

with the power brokers. Patchett is a presence.

MAYOR:

We're selling an image, gentlemen.

Beautiful weather. Affordable

housing.

(re:
model)

Trouble-free transportation. And

the best police department in the

world to keep it all running

smoothly.

EXT. STOREFRONT - NIGHT

A dozen people watch a display windoe TELEVISION as it

rolls the opening of the hit show "Badge of Honor." Over

familiar THEME MUSIC, "Sgt. Joe Reno" (actor BRETT CHASE)

walks the streets of Los Angeles.

CHASE (V.O.)

My name? Joe Reno. The city?

Los Angeles. A big town. Full of

all sorts of people. It's my job

to help them. I like what I do.

I'm a cop.

INT. HANCOCK PARK MANSION - BALLROOM - NIGHT

The Mayor continues.

MAYOR:

But with a second rate Al Capone

out there, L.A. looks like Chicago

in the '30s. Something has to be

done.

As Pierce Patchett nods sagely.

INT. OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM - NIGHT

Wrestler GORGEOUS GEORGE primps and poses before flatten-

ing an opponent with a drop kick.

INT. MOVIE THEATER - NIGHT

An enthusiastic crowd adjusts their 3-D glasses.

EXT. COHEN MANSION (BEVERLY HILLS) - DAY

In monogrammed silk pajamas, Mickey Cohen answers the

door, his pet BULLDOG Mickey Jr. at his feet. The police

are waiting. REPORTERS' flashbulbs pop.

POLICE OFFICER:

Mr. Cohen, you're under arrest.

COHEN:

Bullshit. What's the charge?

POLICE OFFICER:

Non-payment of federal income tax.

COHEN:

Bullshit.

EXT. GRAUMAN'S CHINESE - DAY

JOHN WAYNE gets his hand prints in the sidewalk.

EXT. WESTCHESTER BEAN FIELD - DAY

MIGRANT WORKERS hurry to finish the harvest. We PAN

TO CONSTRUCTION WORKERS who wait impatiently with bull-

dozers under a "Spirit of the Future" BANNER. As the

last picker leaves the field, the bulldozers move in,

leveling the bean rows to make way for a housing tract.

EXT. FEDERAL COURTHOUSE - STEPS - DAY

Flashbulbs pop as Mickey Cohen exits and starts down

the steps. Accompanied by his LAWYERS, bodyguard

Stompanato and mob lieutenants DEUCE PERKINS and NATE

JANKLOW, Cohen ignores REPORTERS' shouts.

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