L.A. Confidential (1997)

In co-writer/director Curtis Hanson's great neo-noir police-crime drama-thriller about widespread corruption and sleazy tabloid reporting in the early 1950s, the hard-boiled tale was derived from James Ellroy's lengthy 1990 novel, with a smart, densely-layered script by Hanson and his co-screenwriter Brian Helgeland. Its major tagline was:

• Everything Is Suspect...Everyone Is For Sale...And Nothing Is What It Seems.

The compelling, complicated police procedural plot told about the very different approaches, tactics, and shifting loyalties of a threesome of tainted LA cops (good cops/bad cops) in the pursuit of justice. One was a self-righteous, aspiring, justice-minded, straight-arrow cop, another a thuggish and brutally-violent, emotionally-confused officer, and a third a slick, super-confident, corrupt veteran narcotics officer - a spotlight-seeking celebrity himself - who specialized in sleazy Tinseltown-related crime-cases. A tangled web of conspiracies was revealed - involving racial prejudice, bloody murders, crooked cops and politicians, the takeover of a mobster's crime empire, a sleazy tabloid publisher, blackmailing schemes through incriminating photos, and a high-class pornographer-pimp running a unique prostitute service (with surgically-altered call-girls, including the film's gorgeous femme fatale).

There were a number of set-pieces or key incidents in the film: the severe beatings of six Mexican suspects falsely arrested in an LA-Hollywood police station, a mass murder in a neighborhood diner, the intense interrogation of three black suspects, and a scheme to set-up a gay DA to avoid seeking prosecutions, amongst others. The main plot followed a number of crime cases and investigations in the city, while - behind-the-scenes - the LAPD Police Captain was orchestrating a take-over of the city's crime rackets (after the main LA crime boss was imprisoned for tax crimes).

From its nine Academy Award nominations, it earned two Oscars: Best Supporting Actress (Kim Basinger) and Best Adapted Screenplay. On a budget of $35 million, it grossed revenues of $64.6 million (domestic) and $126.2 million (worldwide). The major problem for this highly-praised film was that it was overshadowed in many areas by the year's award-winning blockbuster Titanic (1997).

• in the film's opening title sequence, sleazy, tell-all tabloid Hush Hush magazine editor-publisher Sid Hudgens (Danny DeVito) - with a voice-over narration and montage of LA life in 1953 - described how the city had become a hot-bed of organized crime gangs competing for dominance; according to his view, a vacuum would surely be left in the paradisical "city of angels" following the arrest of gangster-boss Mickey C. (Paul Guilfoyle) by the L.A. police for federal income tax evasion, and his imprisonment for 10 years at McNeil Island: [Note: He made reference to LA mobster Cohen's bodyguard Johnny Stompanato (Paolo Seganti) - the real-life abusive boyfriend of star Lana Turner. In April of 1958 in Beverly Hills, in a spectacular and notorious true-to-life crime story, Turner's 14-year-old daughter Cheryl Crane fatally stabbed Stompanato.]:
  
  • "Come to Los Angeles! The sun shines bright, the beaches are wide and inviting, and the orange groves stretch as far as the eye can see. There are jobs aplenty, and land is cheap. Every working man can have his own house, and inside every house, a happy, all-American family. You can have all this, and who knows, you could even be discovered, become a movie star - or at least see one. Life is good in Los Angeles. It's paradise on earth. Ha, ha, ha. That's what they tell ya anyway. Because they're sellin' an image. They're sellin' it through movies, radio and television. In the hit show Badge of Honor, the LA cops walk on water as they keep the city clean of crooks. Yup. You'd think this place was the garden of Eden, but there's trouble in paradise, and his name is Meyer Harris Cohen - Mickey C. to his fans, local L.A. color to the nth degree and his number one bodyguard, Johnny Stompanato. Mickey C.'s the head of organized crime in these parts. He runs dope, rackets, and prostitution. He kills a dozen people a year, and the dapper little gent does it in style. And every time his picture's plastered on the front page, it's a black eye for the image of Los Angeles, because how can organized crime exist in the city with the best police force in the world? Something has to be done, but nothing too original, because - hey - this is Hollywood. What worked for Al Capone would work for the Mickster. But all is not well. Sending Mickey up has created a vacuum. And it's only a matter of time before someone with balls of brass tries to fill it"
• Hudgens was viewed at his typewriter, typing and reading outloud his latest article for the most recent issue of his gossipy-tabloid magazine: "Remember, dear readers, you heard it here first, off the record, on the q.t., and very Hush-Hush"
• on Christmas Eve, the violent, hot-headed, tough, plain-clothes cop Sgt. Wendell 'Bud' White (Russell Crowe) and his partner - beat officer Sgt. Dick "Stens" Stensland (Graham Beckel) were introduced; they were working together on a parole violation case of domestic abuse; at the home of the suspect, Sgt. White witnessed an altercation between burly husband-parolee Wife Beater (Allan Graf) and his Wife (Precious Chong); he quickly broke up their fight and efficiently handcuffed the abusive man
• in the film's opening, tabloid editor Sid Hudgens had mentioned the hit TV police drama series Badge of Honor; the second major character was introduced at a Christmas party - slick, gossip-mongering, suave, and smooth-talking LA narcotics detective named Sgt. Jack "Hollywood Jack" Vincennes (Kevin Spacey); the Sgt. moonlighted as a 'technical advisor' for the TV police drama series Badge of Honor; Hudgens arrived and revealed his connection to Sgt. Vincennes - the two specialized in conducting celebrity busts and then publicizing the scandalous incidents; Hudgens provided the on-the-take detective with monetary kickbacks in exchange for keeping him informed about upcoming celebrity-related crimes and arrests: (Hudgens: "You pinch 'em, l do you up a nice feature next issue. Plus the usual $50 cash"); the scheme was a cash-cow for Hudgens' Hush Hush tabloid: ("Actually, the circulation 36,000 and climbin'. There's no telling where this will go. Radio, television. Once you whet the public's appetite for the truth, the sky's the limit")
• the third major character was young, clean-cut, straight-arrow, college-educated, neophyte patrolman cop Lieut. Edmund Exley (Guy Pearce); he was in LA's Hollywood police station working as the night's watch commander; the father of this rising LAPD star was the legendary and famed cop Preston Exley (a Medal of Valor recipient) who had been shot and killed in 1935 by an unidentified purse-snatcher in the line of duty; a reporter named Bobby (Bob Clendenin) commented on Exley choice of profession: ("Must be a hard act to follow"); Exley explained his motive to be a cop: "I like to help people"
• the obviously-intelligent Exley (wearing glasses) was joined by veteran cop and LAPD Police Capt. Dudley Smith (James Cromwell), who asked about his intentions after scoring high marks on his lieutenant exams: ("What'll it be, then? Patrol Division? Internal Affairs? What?"); Exley responded that he wanted to enter the Detective Bureau, an idea that displeased Smith; Exley responded "No," when he was asked if he would plant evidence (to insure an indictment of a guilty person), beat a confession out of a known-guilty suspect, or shoot a "hardened" criminal in the back to prevent the system from letting him go; Exley's emphatic response worried the Captain: "Don't be a detective. Stick to assignments where you don't have to make those kind of choices"; Exley's vow that he wouldn't bend the rules was actually a foreshadowing of the film's climactic ending
• during his late night Christmas Eve beat, while he was buying booze in Nick's liquor store, Officer White gave a friendly "Merry Christmas" greeting to a Veronica Lake look-alike - she was later identified as a high-class hooker named Lynn Bracken (Oscar-winning Kim Basinger); outside in a parked car, Bud first noticed a back seat passenger - a nose-injured, bandaged female (later identified as Susan Lefferts, another escort-prostitute), seated next to the leader-pimp of a pornography business and high-end hooker service - the 'Fleur-de-Lis' call-girl ring - millionaire Pierce Morehouse Patchett (David Strathairn); Bud confronted the suspicious chauffeur-driver of the vehicle - ex-cop Leland "Buzz" Meeks (Darrell Sandeen), who also worked for Patchett, and after rough-housing him a bit, he confirmed that Meeks had a permitted gun license; hooker Lynn Bracken was also being pimped by Patchett - who specialized in providing movie-star look-alike prostitutes (after plastic surgery)
• meanwhile, Sgt. Vincennes and Hudgens carried through on coordinating and orchestrating the bust of a sexual tryst that also involved the illegal possession of marijuana; Sgt. Vincennes arrested two individuals in the act - hooker(?) Tammy Jordan (Shawnee Free Jones) and struggling Metro Studios actor Matt Reynolds (Simon Baker Denny), while Hudgens and his camera crew photographed the entire incident that would later be publicized in his tabloid; Hudgens was paid off, and the two law-breakers were brought to the LA-Hollywood police station by Vincennes, where preparations were underway for a booze-flowing Christmas party

Sgt Vincennes and Hudgens Capturing a Sexual Tryst and Marijuana Bust on Camera - To Later Be Publicized in Hudgens' Tabloid Hush-Hush

• in the LA police station where Lieut. Exley was on-duty, Sgt. Vincennes offered the young lieutenant part of his cash payoff for the recent arrest ("a gratuity from Hush-Hush magazine"); Exley refused: "No thanks, Jack. You keep your payoff. I'm not interested"
• their conversation was interrupted by the disruptive and noisy arrival of six handcuffed Mexicans ("six spics") who were brought into the downstairs area of the station; the suspects were accused of beating up two police officers (Brown and Helenowski) - resulting in only "bruises and muscle pulls"; Vincennes wrongly claimed (due to exaggerated conjecture and rumor) that one officer had lost 6 pints of blood, and one was in a coma, but he was corrected by Exley; another even more-inflated report was that one assaulted officer lost an eye and the other was receiving his last rites
• during the Christmas Eve party upstairs, Stensland urged on and incited other drunk officers in the LAPD (including Bud White and Vincennes) to participate in the so-called 'Bloody Christmas' incident (fictionalized in the film but an actual occurrence on Christmas Day, 1951 in Los Angeles); they charged downstairs to the lock-up jail cell area where they severely beat up the six Mexican suspects during their lock-up; by-the-book rookie and watch commander Lieut. Exley protested against and denounced the brutalizing actions of the officers: ("Stop officer, that's an order"), but he was pushed aside and locked up in one of the cells
• the next day's LA Times proclaimed headlines with illustrations that read: BLOODY CHRISTMAS: Police Assault Prisoners in Jailhouse Melee"; subsequently, Bud White was brought before the Police Chief (John Mahon), Captain Smith, and LA's District Attorney Ellis Loew (Ron Rifkin), and was asked to testify before the grand jury; he staunchly refused and was immediately suspended from duty; however, Exley had no qualms and offered to provide testimony in the case to help clear the perception of corruption in the force: ("Somebody has to swing. So indict, try and convict Richard Stensland and Bud White. Secure them jail time. The message will be very clear"); contrary to Capt. Smith's opinion of White's character, Exley called White a "mindless thug"; for Exley's stance, the Police Chief advanced and promoted Lieut. Exley to the rank of Detective Lieutenant; made the scapegoat, Officer Stensland was fired, and due to his participation in the melee, Sgt. Vincennes was also threatened with a brief suspension and pressure regarding his hit-show notoriety: (Chief: "We need to tone down your profile for a bit"); Vincennes agreed to testify and provide corroborative testimony to back up Exley
• the spiteful Vincennes knew that Exley had played an 'angle' and accepted a 'payoff' in exchange for testifying and snitching on his fellow officers; from then on, Officer White and others in the force would be contemptuous and determined to get back at turncoat Exley; Vincennes warned: "Bud White'll f--k you for this if it takes the rest of his life"
• later that night in a bar, Capt. Smith conversed with Bud White and commended him for his hatred of woman-beaters and injustice, his loyalty to not 'rat' out fellow officers, and his sometimes violent approach toward his job; he then protectively returned White's badge and gun and hired him to be his secret weapon: ("You'll do as I say and ask no questions. Do you follow my drift?"); White accepted: "In technicolor, sir"; under the table, White agreed to be commissioned for a "muscle job" - to work with Smith to take advantage of the vacuum caused by the arrest of organized crime boss-mobster Mickey Cohen
• in the next sequence, two of Cohen's rising lieutenants-thugs in the mob's underworld, Tony Brancato and Anthony Trombino (Chris Palermo), were machine-gunned down in their parked car on Sunset Blvd.; in a related slaying, Mickey Cohen's narcotics lieutenant Deuce Perkins (J.P. Romano) was also eliminated while conducting a heroin drug deal in his Brentwood home; it was part of a wave of gangland murders - all victims were allegedly associates of former LA crime lord Mickey Cohen; Sid Hudgens reported on the phemonenon of two-man 'shooter teams" eliminating members of organized crime in LA: "The LAPD has set up a not-so-Welcome Wagon to dishearten the out-of-town criminal element from filling the void left by Mickey's absence"; Captain Smith was guiding his two rogue hitmen, Det. Michael Breuning (Tomas Arana), and Det. William Carlyle (Michael McCleery) plus Officer Bud White, to intimidate those who attempted to take-over organized crime in the city - by beating them up in the run-down and abandoned Victory Motel and pressuring them to leave town
• in the middle of the night while on duty, Exley was called to the scene of a recent homicide - a bloody multiple murder scene in LA's downtown Nite Owl Coffee Shop on Hollywood Boulevard; six murdered victims were discovered - the cook was dead behind the counter, while five other bodies were found in the Men's Room, including the body of ex-cop Officer Stensland (and his girlfriend - the nose-bandaged female escort seen earlier), plus waitress Patti DeLuca, and two other males; Captain Smith arrived and insisted on taking the case away from Exley; it appeared to be a case of 'robbery' followed by a shoot-out; in the morgue, Bud was present when distressed Mrs. Lefferts (Gwenda Deacon) was called upon to identify her dead daughter; she recalled how the last time they had seen each other, they had fought over her choice of a boyfriend

The Nite Owl Coffee Shop Massacre on Hollywood Boulevard: Multiple Homicides - One of the Victims was Identified as Escort Susan Lefferts (Amber Smith)

• vowing a "quick resolution" to the case, Capt. Smith called for a swift round up of a trio of suspects - "three Negro juveniles" found discharging shotguns earlier in the evening in Griffith Park, who were driving a maroon-colored 1949 Mercury coupe; Smith assigned Exley to handle the interrogations of the suspects
• during Bud White's own personal and separate investigation of the massacre, he was led from Nick's liquor store to the estate of Pierce Patchett (the rich pornographer in the car on Xmas Eve); he knew about how one of his escorts Susan Lefferts was one victim in the Nite Owl killings; she had recently had plastic surgery for her nose (because Patchett "needed a Rita Hayworth"); Bud was also told that the driver, "Buzz" Meeks, no longer worked for him; Patchett also stated that the blonde Lynn Bracken was his Veronica Lake look-alike: ("l use girls that look like movie stars"); Bud was given Lynn's address, and Patchett also offered him a "handsome reward" for finding Lefferts' killer

Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger) - Veronica Lake Look-Alike

Officer Bud White at Lynn Bracken's Door

Bud Questioning Lynn Bracken

• at Lynn Bracken's place, she was interrupted while in the company of a male client - City Councilman Rogers (Jim Metzler); she had just been phoned with a warning by Pierce, and was standing in front of a projected film (This Gun For Hire (1942) with Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake); after the male client slinked off, Bud warned the attractive blonde and/or Pierce to not bribe him with money to keep quiet, or to threaten him; she remarked: "You have a thing for helping women, don't you?"; during their conversation, she complimented him: (Bracken: "You're different, Officer White. You're the first man in five years who didn't tell me l look like Veronica Lake inside of a minute." White: "You look better than Veronica Lake"); she confessed she had not been "cut" like other girls, but she had been a brunette; although he wouldn't admit it, Bud was immediately infatuated with her ("I'd like to see you again"), but then admitted he shouldn't have considered a date or appointment with her
• the three black suspects were arrested by Exley, Vincennes and another team of cops, and taken into custody for the Nite Owl massacre; Capt. Smith and others observed through a two-way mirror as Exley was tasked with interrogating 22 year-old Sugar Ray Collins (Jeremiah Birkett) - one of the three suspects; the other two were Ty Jones (Karreem Washington) and Louis Fontaine (Salim Grant)
• Exley was able to acquire a confession from Sugar Ray about the name of their drug dealer Roland Navarette (Steve Lambert) who lived in Bunker Hill near downtown LA; then, Exley scared the younger suspect Ty Jones into revealing the existence of a kidnapped, and possibly injured (and raped) female victim who was still alive: ("Son, six people are dead, and someone has to pay for it. Now, it can be you, or it can be Ray...Son, you know what's gonna happen to you if you don't talk. You'll go to the gas chamber. So for God's sake, admit what you did...These people are all in the morgue. They were dead when you left them...Louis, who's the girl, what's her name?...Was she at the Nite Owl?") [Note: Although the suspects had kidnapped and abused a white girl and were holding her hostage, there was no confession from any of the suspects about the Nite Owl murders.]

Three Black Suspects Arrested Regarding the Nite Owl Murders
"3 Negro Youths Arrested For Nite Owl Murders"	Capt. Smith's Reflection in Two-Way Mirror Glass of Interrogation Room	Exley Interrogating Suspect Sugar Ray Collins (Jeremiah Birkett)
Exley with Younger Suspect Ty Jones
	Bud White's Gun-in-the-Mouth Interrogation of Sugar Ray

• Exley returned to Sugar Ray and demanded answers about the girl being held captive: "Now, listen to me. lf that girl is still alive, she's the only chance you've got....Where is she now?"; when Sugar Ray didn't answer, brutal-acting, frustrated cop Bud White burst into the room, pulled out his gun, emptied it of all but one bullet, and then stuck the gun in Sugar Ray's mouth while cocking and pulling the trigger and threatening him if he didn't reveal the location of the abducted female hostage: "One in six, where's the girl?" - he was promptly given the address - the location where the girl was being held - Sylvester Fitch, 109 Avalon, in the upstairs
• Exley, Capt Smith, Bud and Vincennes approached the address-location, where Bud came upon the abused and kidnapped hostage Inez Soto (Marisol Padilla Sanchez), bloodied, bound and gagged on a bed; he shot and killed a 4th unarmed black suspect in his underwear who was holding her hostage (while watching the animated Terry-Toons short Noah's Outing (1932) on TV), and then made the crime scene look like he had acted in self-defense; there was a major disagreement between White and Exley over the former's hot-headed tactics and his claim that he had brought "justice" to the suspect ("a naked guy with a gun?") -- Exley called White an "ignorant bastard"
• then, the cops received word by radio that the three black suspects had escaped from policy custody; [Note: It was very probable that they were deliberately allowed to escape, due to orders from Capt. Smith, so that they could be hunted down and killed before any further questioning.]
• Exley surmised that the three escaped black suspects had fled to the address of their drug-dealer Roland Navarette in Bunker Hill; during a bloody takedown-raid in the apartment (#404) owned by Navarette, all of the suspects (and Navarette) were killed by Exley in a shootout, but his partner William Carlisle (Michael McCleery) was shot dead; with a blood-splattered face, Exley was now praised by his fellow officers as a hero, presented with a Medal of Valor for bravery, and received a new nickname from Capt. Smith: "Shotgun Ed"
• meanwhile, Bud had become obsessed with Lynn Bracken, stalked her by sitting in his car outside her house, visited her place, and went to bed with her; after their first sexual encounter, they watched the romantic drama Roman Holiday (1953) in a movie theatre; in bed together, he told her: "All they get is Veronica Lake. l get Lynn Margaret Bracken"

Bud's Growing Infatuation with Lynn Bracken

• [Note: Hudgens was also working in cahoots with LA pimp Patchett who provided high-class hookers that were used to set up prominent politicians (the Councilman for example), celebrities and others for arrest; Hudgens would then blackmail the high-profile victims, by threatening to expose them by publishing scandalous and incriminating pictures of their illicit sexual encounters in his Hush Hush tabloid magazine, thus also increasing circulation and sales.]
• another scheme was devised by Hudgens (with Vincennes' knowledge) to again set up bisexual, aspiring actor Matt Reynolds - who had earlier been busted by Vincennes during a sexual tryst for possessing pot on Xmas Eve; for a payment of $100 dollars (and a pay-off of $50 to Vincennes), Reynolds agreed to have a homosexual tryst with LA's DA Ellis Loew in Room #203 at the Hollywood Center Motel at midnight; the set-up was designed to publically humiliate Loew - a closeted homosexual (or "swish") - so that he would lose the next election
• at around the appointed time, Vincennes had a premonition of regret, and rushed to the Hollywood Center Motel where he found Reynolds dead on the floor with a slit throat [Note: During an autopsy, a hot dog, french fries, alcohol, and sperm were found in his stomach. Later, it was learned that before the tryst, Reynolds had overheard a conversation between the corrupt Capt. Smith and Loew, and therefore had to be eliminated.]
• meanwhile, the rescued and recovering rape survivor Inez revised her previous testimony to Exley; she confessed that the Negro criminals were probably with her the entire night of the Nite Owl massacre - thus they had not been involved in the murders [Note: In previous testimony, she had claimed that they left her at 12 midnight, and thus could have committed the murders.]
• Bud told Lynn Bracken that he suspected that Exley had shot the wrong guys (the three escaped black suspects) and that there was something very "wrong" and much more sinister and mysterious about the Nite Owl murders; he discussed his concerns with Forensics Chief Ray (Gene Wolande), and began to conduct his own personal search for the truth
• further evidence seemed to point to the corrupt LAPD and its police chief as the perpetrators of a major frame-up and cover-up (with other key figures in LA), in their attempt to seize control of the lucrative drug trade in the city by beating up, intimidating and eliminating outsiders
• on a hunch, Bud visited the Elysian Park home of Mrs. Lefferts (Gwenda Deacon), the mother of deceased Susan Lefferts - one of Patchett's escorts and the second female victim shot to death at the Nite Owl; according to the disapproving Mrs. Lefferts, deceased Officer Stensland ("Stens") was her daughter's boyfriend; presumably, Lefferts and Stensland were dating and happened to be at the Nite Owl together
• through clues given to White about a past "ruckus" at the house, White discovered the stinking and rotting corpse of an individual in the basement under the Lefferts' house; shortly later, the body was identified as Patchett's fired employee-driver - ex-Vice cop Meeks
• at the same time, Exley was already suspecting that the whole Nite Owl case had been a set-up and cover-up and he told Vincennes of his concerns; Exley mentioned the term: "Rollo Tomasi" and then explained how he had created the name to represent a criminal who escaped justice - he was also referring to the killer who had murdered his father - and it had motivated him to become a cop: ("Rollo was a purse snatcher. My father ran into him off duty. He shot my father six times and got away clean. No one knew who he was. I made the name up to give him some personality...Rollo Tomasi's the reason l became a cop. l wanted to catch the guys who thought they could get away with it")
• guilt-ridden over Reynolds' murder, Vincennes made a mutual exchange-deal with Exley: ("You help me with mine, l'll help you with yours") - they would both work together to truly solve the Nite Owl murders case, and the Hollywood 'homo'-cide, by trailing Bud White - who was on his own investigative search for answers about Meeks' murder
• Vincennes trailed White to the Formosa Cafe where he forcibly pressured mobster snitch Johnny Stompanato to reveal that Meeks had earlier stolen heroin (H) from the mob (with Stensland) and then "skipped out" and was trying to sell it on the open market [Note: The obvious conclusion was that Stensland believed Meeks had double-crossed him by denying him a cut of the profits; at the Lefferts' house (where it was not unusual for him to visit Susan), Stensland found an opportunity to seek revenge on Meeks and kill him - after the "ruckus," he had dragged and hidden Meeks' body under the house.]
• Vincennes and Exley also both discovered that Bud White was seeing Lynn Bracken: (Exley: "We've got Rita Hayworth at the morgue and now Veronica Lake wiith White"); they speculated that Fleur-de-lis (and Patchett) might be behind everything; the two cops entered the Formosa to shake down mobster Stompanato in one of the booths; Exley mistook his female companion - the real Lana Turner (Brenda Bakke) - for the high-priced prostitute Lynn Bracken: ("A hooker cut to look like Lana Turner is still a hooker!"), and she threw her drink in Exley's face: (Vincennes scolded Exley: "She is Lana Turner!")
• porn kingpin and hooker-pimp Patchett was also shown to be collaborating with Hudgens to take incriminating photos of prominent people to use for blackmailing and extortion purposes; now that he began to feel the heat himself, Patchett wanted to hinder any investigation into his own corrupt business; he dispatched Hudgens to help him incriminate the cops (both Bud White and Exley) with compromising sexual photos taken with Lynn
• Exley visited Lynn in her home, where she explained her relationship with Bud: "I see Bud because I want to...I see Bud because he makes me feel like Lynn Bracken... ...and not some Veronica Lake look-alike...I see Bud for all the ways he's different from you"; Exley grabbed her for a kiss and she easily seduced him; she now found herself in a very dangerous love triangle, having sex with both officers White and Exley - and outside the window, Hudgens was snapping pictures
• in the film's most stunning scene, after midnight, Vincennes visited the home of diabolical Capt. Smith, and as they spoke in Smith's kitchen, Vincennes admitted that he had uncovered evidence of Smith's own corruption that went back 12 years when he was partnered with Meeks and Stensland; at the time, they had dropped an important case against Patchett and Hudgens for their alleged blackmailing schemes; when Vincennes explained to Capt. Smith that he was motivated to privately seek answers (after Reynolds' death): "I messed something up. I'm trying to make amends," Capt. Smith reprimanded him: "Don't start trying to do the right thing, boyo. You haven't had the practice"; Capt. Smith realized that Vincennes was asking way too many questions, and then shockingly and unexpectedly shot him in the chest

The Point-Blank Murder of Sgt. Vincennes by LAPD Capt. Smith: Sgt. Vincennes' Last Words: "Rollo Tomasi"

• after shooting Vincennes who was slumped back in his chair, Capt. Smith leaned over and asked: "Have you a valediction, boyo?"; he heard the words 'Rollo Tomasi' - identifying Capt. Smith as the unpunished mastermind; after the shooting death of Vincennes, Smith moved Vincennes' body to Echo Park as part of his cover-up
• in the police station, Capt. Smith announced a major investigation to pursue Sgt. Vincennes' killer; when he questioned Exley privately, he asked about "an associate of Vincennes'" named 'Rollo Tomasi' - tipping Exley off to the fact that Capt. Smith had murdered the Sergeant
• the manipulative Capt. Smith rounded up Hudgens as a suspect in Vincennes' murder, and was questioning him - with brutal methods - in the Victory Motel, with strong-arm Bud White specifically present to watch; Hudgens admitted to an "information exchange" and entrapment deal with Vincennes: ("I got him first-class collars, he got me good stories"); under duress, Hudgens confessed that the wealthy Patchett was a bankroller of B-movies (porn films) and a major heroin user, who also ran a call-girl enterprise: ("Primo tail fixed up to look like movie stars"); the hookers could also be used for blackmailing purposes; Hudgens revealed that Patchett had recently had him "photograph this cop screwin' this gorgeous slut named Lynn. She looks just like Veronica Lake"; this last tidbit of information infuriated Bud White in the room - as Capt. Smith had anticipated; he became enraged after looking at the photographs of Exley with Lynn in Sid's car trunk; Bud charged off to engage in two vicious confrontations - first with Lynn and then with Exley; back in the Victory Motel, to clean up loose ends, Hudgens was personally smothered to death by Capt. Smith's black gloves
• White approached Lynn outside her home in the rain, where he forced her to confess to having had sex with Exley and then slapped her twice before leaving; then he entered the Records Dept. at the police station and jealously fought with Exley over their affections with Lynn; but then, during a pause in the fighting, they both realized that their main target was not each other, but Capt. Smith for his involvement in multiple dirty deeds; they began to piece things together, and agreed to join forces:
  • (1) Capt. Smith killed Vincennes, and purposely set up White to attack and kill Exley
  • (2) Stensland killed Meeks over the stolen heroin that he was trying to sell
  • (3) the Nite Owl killings were an excuse for Capt. Smith to get rid of Stensland; [Note: The three murderers responsible for the Coffee Shop massacre were Capt. Smith and his two rogue hit-men: Breuning and Carlyle.] the three black suspects were framed by Capt. Smith's planted evidence of shotguns, and then the "negros" were presumably allowed to escape so they could be pursued and shot dead when resisting arrest
  • (4) through intimidation - by hanging him out his window, DA Loew was forced to admit that Hudgens' incriminating pictures of him together with Reynolds had been used to blackmail him into not prosecuting either Patchett or Capt. Smith's takeover of Mickey C.'s rackets and the heroin drug trade; he confessed that "the kid (Reynolds) heard everything so they killed him"
  • (5) in his home, Patchett was found murdered (after having been drugged) with two slit wrists and two broken fingers (a suicide note claimed that he had killed Sgt. Vincennes because he'd discovered his pornography scam)
  • (6) Sid Hudgens' body was found dead in his office (with bruise marks), and evidence of stolen files

Faked Suicide - Murder of Pierce Patchett in His Home

Sid Hudgens Found Dead in His Office

• the two cops Exley and Bud White were directed to meet up together at the Victory Motel; there, they were set up and ambushed by Smith and his two rogue hit-men; it was a brutal, apocalyptic shootout, and the two officers were both shot and wounded multiple times, although they were able to eliminate everyone except Smith; the Captain approached Sgt. Exley with his gun pointed at him; Exley mentioned the two words: 'Rollo Tomasi'; the Captain paused and asked: ("Who is he?"); Exley explained how the Captain was the corrupt mastermind crime boss: ("You are. You're the guy who gets away with it. Jack knew it. And so do I") - the metaphoric term denoted the corrupt police captain as the perfect example of a criminal who was able to escape punishment and literally get away with murder
• Bud prevented Exley from being executed by reaching up and stabbing Smith in the leg with a knife, but then was again shot; Exley grabbed a shotgun and aimed it at Capt. Smith, who brazenly asked: "Are ya gonna shoot me, or arrest me?"
• Exley followed Smith outside as the Captain walked away from the Victory Motel, holding his hands (with his badge) up in the air to let arriving police (in cars with sirens blaring) know that he was a policeman; when the tables were turned, Exley murdered Capt. Smith in the back - justice was finally served; the killing recalled Capt. Smith's earlier advice to Exley, that a detective should be willing to shoot a guilty man in the back for the greater good
• afterwards, "golden boy" Exley confessed to his superiors that the Nite Owl Coffee Shop's multiple (six) murders were not conducted by the three Negro suspects (although they were guilty of kidnapping and rape); the killings were most likely conducted by Smith's two rogue LAPD officers Michael Breuning and William Carlisle, and a third individual, presumably Capt. Smith; Smith's immediate intentions were to eliminate Stensland and ex-cop Meeks - two of Smith's cohorts - who betrayed him by stealing and attempting to sell over 25 pounds of heroin
• indeed, Smith's ultimate corrupt motivation was to take over Mickey Cohen's criminal enterprise - described in Exley's account:
  • "Beginning with the incarceration of Mickey Cohen, Capt. Smith has been assuming control of organized crime in the city of Los Angeles. This includes the assassinations of an unknown number of Mickey Cohen lieutenants, the systematic blackmail of city officials, and the murders of Susan Lefferts, Pierce Patchett, Sid Hudgens, and Sergeant Jack Vincennes"
• at the end of his account, a smiling Exley hinted to the officials that they would need to honor more than one hero, hinting at his own fate
• ironically - but true to form in the subsequent cover-up of Capt. Smith's strong-armed tactics, he was remembered as dying as a "hero," and a compromised, opportunistic Exley was awarded a Medal of Valor - and given credit for helping to combat "organized crime" in LA

Exley's Truthful Accounting of the Corrupt LAPD to the DA and Chief of Police

Headlines After Exley's Confession

Exley Awarded Medal of Valor During Formal Ceremony

• at a formal ceremony, Exley was lauded: ("With leaders like Lieut. Edmund Exley, the image of fat cops stealing apples will be left behind forever, and Los Angeles will finally have the police force it deserves"); Exley knew that the best way to reform the LAPD was to now remain quiet and avoid controversy; his alternative option of going public and exposing all of Captain Smith's dirty corruptions would only backfire on him, tarnish and stain the reputation of the LAPD, and lead to his possible dismissal; Exley even admitted as he said goodbye to Lynn: "They're using me. So for a while, l'm using them"
• in the concluding scene - seriously-injured but surviving Officer White (sitting mute in the back seat of a car, after presumably quitting the force) departed with Lynn Bracken, on her drive to her childhood home in Bisbee, AZ; she had decided to quit the high-class whore business, move away, and set up a dress shop; as Lynn departed and kissed Exley on the cheek, she told him (in the film's last line): ("Some men get the world. Others get ex-hookers and a trip to Arizona. (Kiss) Bye")

Goodbye Scene Between Injured White and Exley

Before Driving Off, Lynn's Last Words to Exley