Mulholland Falls
DVD cover of Muholland Falls
Directed by	Lee Tamahori
Produced by	Lili Fini Zanuck Richard D. Zanuck
Written by	Peter Dexter (story and screenplay) Floyd Mutrux (story)
Music by	Dave Grusin
Distributed by	MGM
Release date	April 26, 1996
Running time	107
Language	English
IMDb profile

Mulholland Falls is a neo-noir 1996 film directed by Lee Tamahori. Nick Nolte plays Max Hoover, the head of an elite group of four Los Angeles cops (based on the real life "Hat Squad") who stop at nothing to maintain control of their jurisdiction. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (481x681, 50 KB) Mulholland Falls File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Lee Tamahori, born 1950 in Wellington, New Zealand, is best known as a film director although he got his start as a commercial artist and photographer in the late 1970s. ... David Grusin (born June 26, 1934 in Littleton, Colorado) is a jazz pianist, composer, and arranger whose works in films and TV have garnered him numerous awards. ... MGM logo Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM, is a large media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of cinema and television programs. ... April 26 is the 116th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (117th in leap years). ... This is a list of film-related events in 1996. ... Neo-noir is a term given to the modern trend of incorporating aspects of film noir into films of other genres. ... This is a list of film-related events in 1996. ... Lee Tamahori, born 1950 in Wellington, New Zealand, is best known as a film director although he got his start as a commercial artist and photographer in the late 1970s. ... Nick Nolte at Cannes, 2000 Nicholas King Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is an Oscar-nominated American model, actor, and producer. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ...

Plot

This film starts in the late 1940's with the squad of super-corrupt LAPD detectives who murder a man by throwing him off a cliff on Mulholland Drive, which has been nicknamed "Mulholland Falls" for all the men they threw off it. There is no waterfall. Later on the men are called to investigate a suspicious death of a young lady who Max had an affair with (Allison Pond). The evidence shows she fell from a great height, like off a cliff or airplane. Radioactive glass is found in Allison's foot, which leads the DT's to the Nevada Atomic Testing Site, where they illegally break in and investigate. The Dt's find movie films of Allison having sex taken by a secretly hidden camera behind a one way mirror. Allison's Gay friend tells of making the films, but is murdered before he can testify, by a conspiracy. Their investigations leads them to find out about the Atomic Soldiers who were used as guinea pigs for A-Bomb tests. Two of the DT's get too close to the truth and almost wind up just like Allison, being thrown out of a DC-3 by murderous Army officers intent on keeping everything secret. The DT's fight for their lives during a shootout on the plane and with the pilot fatally shot, crash land. Dt. Elleroy Coolidge dies of a bullet wound on the ground. Max cannot reconcile with his wife at the funeral, because she feels betrayed and Heartbroken after seeing a X-rated movie starring Max & Allison. She leaves Max for good and alone in Forrest Lawn Cemetery. Map of Mulholland Drive (orange) and Mulholland Highway (brown) in Los Angeles County. ... November 1951 nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. ... The Douglas DC-3 is a fixed-wing, propeller-driven aircraft which revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s, and is generally regarded as one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made (also see Boeing 707 and Boeing 747). ... Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery is located at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in Los Angeles, California, on the south edge of the San Fernando Valley by Burbank (and on the north side of the Santa Monica Mountains from Hollywood). ...

Reactions

Most critics panned the film. The look of the film was praised, including the work of cinematographer Haskell Wexler, but the film was criticized for the misuse of a talented cast and a confusing plot. Haskell Wexler (born February 6, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois) is an award-winning American cinematographer and director. ...

In addition, the only relationship to the true-life "Hat Squad" was the theft of the name. Although "Mulholland Falls" calls the squad of cops charged with suppressing organized crime the "Hat Squad", but the detail responsible for combating organized crime was the Intelligence Division, run by Captain Jim Hamilton from the late '40s through the early '60s, when it was taken over by future LAPD Chief Daryl Gates. Daryl F. Gates was the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) from 1978 until 1992. ...

LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division (the two units were merged in 1969) "Hat Squad" were the elite of the least-corrupt detective division in any major city in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. While many of their tactics would not pass legal muster today, during the years of the Hat Squad their tactics and tenchiques were not only legal, but relatively tame when compared to those of more "mature" police departments in the Midwest and Northeast. These were the days before the Miranda decision and "reading him his rights" came along. To portray Hat Squad members committing murder is pure fabrication, and makes the film stumble in unlikelyhood.

Peter Stack writing for the San Francisco Chronicle notes: The San Francisco Chronicle, the self-described Voice of the West, is Northern Californias largest newspaper. ...

Mulholland Falls falls flat a lot. The best of the old noir detective dramas had lively pacing and crisp tough-guy dialogue. This movie seems at times like an exercise in slow motion and in dull, cumbersome writing (the script is by Pete Dexter, who wrote the Rush screenplay). This still from The Big Combo (1955) demonstrates the visual style of film noir at its most extreme. ... Writer Pete Dexter was recipient of the 1988 National Book Award for his novel A former newspaper reporter, Dexter was a columnist for the Philiadelphia Daily News and the Sacramento Bee. ... Rush is a crime drama from 1991. ...

Cast

Some of the cast included:

• Nick Nolte as Maxwell Hoover
• Jennifer Connelly as Allison Pond
• Chazz Palminteri as Elleroy Coolidge
• Michael Madsen as Eddie Hall
• Chris Penn as Arthur Relyea
• Melanie Griffith as Katherine Hoover
• Treat Williams as Colonel Nathan Fitzgerald
• Daniel Baldwin as McCafferty
• Andrew McCarthy as Jimmy Fields
• John Malkovich as General Thomas Timms
• Kyle Chandler as Captain

In addition, there are cameo appearances from actors Bruce Dern, William L. Petersen and Rob Lowe. Nick Nolte at Cannes, 2000 Nicholas King Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is an Oscar-nominated American model, actor, and producer. ... Jennifer Connelly in the 2003 drama House of Sand and Fog Jennifer Lynn Connelly (born December 12, 1970) is an Academy Award-winning film American actress. ... Chazz Palminteri (born May 15, 1952, Bronx, New York) is an Oscar-nominated American actor and writer of Sicilian descent. ... Michael Madsen (born September 25, 1958) is an American actor, perhaps best known for his performances as Budd in Kill Bill and Mr. ... Chris Penn as Nice Guy Eddie in Reservoir Dogs Christopher Shannon Penn (October 10, 1965 – January 24, 2006) was an American film actor. ... Melanie Griffith at Cannes, 2000 Melanie Griffith (born August 9, 1957 in New York City) is an American film actress. ... Richard Treat Williams (born December 1, 1951) is an American actor. ... Daniel Baldwin, aka Daniel Leroy Baldwin, whose nickname is Danny, was born 5 October 1960 in Massapequa, New York. ... Andrew McCarthy (born November 29, 1962) is an American actor who appeared in several films during the 1980s. ... John Malkovich at the Grimme Online Award 2005 at Schloss Bensberg. ... Kyle Chandler (born 17 September, 1965 in Buffalo, New York) is a television actor. ... Bruce MacLeish Dern (born Winnetka, Illinois, June 4, 1936) is an American actor. ... William Petersen, an American actor, was born on February 21, 1953, in Evanston, Illinois. ... Rob Lowe (2003) Robert Rob Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor who was a member of the Brat Pack. ...

Quotes

• Hoover: We go where the case takes us. Fitzgerald: Not if it takes you here you don't.
• Coolidge: Max, I'm shot. Hoover: Oh my God. Oh, no. Oh, no. Coolidge: My psychiatrist is not gonna like this, Max.
• Lieutenant Maxwell Hoover: This isn't America, Jack. This is L.A.
• General Timms: Some people die before their time so that others can live. It's a cornerstone of civilization.
• Hoover: This is L.A., this is my town. Out here you're a trespasser; out here, I can pick you up, burn your house, fuck your wife, and kill your dog! And the only thing protecting you is if I can't find you, and I already found you!

Taglines

• The power of love vs. the love of power.
• This isn't America, this is Los Angeles.

Trivia

• The film was shot on location in Los Angeles, California and Wendover, Utah.

Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... Wendover is a city located in Tooele County, Utah. ...

External links

• Mulholland Falls at the Internet Movie Database

• San Francisco Chronicle review