Rev. 5/3/96Rev. 5/3/96
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL
FADE IN:
Over the opening strains of "I Love You, California,” a 1
montage: a mixture of headlines, newsreels 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 2
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-klieg lights begin to sweep back end
orth.
EXT. MANSION (HANCOCK PARK) - NIGHT 3
The KLIEG LIGHTS are out front. Valets hurry to park a
line of elegant cars
MAYOR'S VOICE
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you
the future of Los Angeles!
INT. HANCOCK PARK MANSION - BALLROOM - NIGHT 4
The MAYOR yanks a cloth to reveal a MODEL of L.A. criss-
crossed by an elaborate FREEWAY SYSTEM. The CROWD cohs.
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. Instead of
being packed like sardines on
buses and subways, the citizens of
Los Angeles will be in their own
cars enjoying trouble free travel
in every direction.
A ee
More applause. One REPORTER asks a little too loudly...
(CONTINUED)L.A. CONFIDENTIAL - Rev. 5/3/96 2.
4 CONTINUED:
)
CoD REPORTER
How many bodies you think Mickey
Cohen'1l be able to hide in all
that cement?
The Mayor wears a plastic smile, ignores it.
5 INT. THE MOCAMBO - NIGHT
A CLUB PHOTOGRAPHER pops snap-shots, but the real action
is on the floor where MICKEY COHEN dances 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:
SID HUDGEONS' VOICE
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.
SID HUDGEONS' VOICE
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-sized
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...
6 INT. HUSH-HUSH MAGAZINE OFFICE - NIGHT 6
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' VOICE
Remember, dear readers, you heard
it here first, off the record, on
the QT and very Hush-Hush.