The Gold Standard: How the movies -- past and present -- changed our lives
As a former cop and current author, screenwriter and college professor, Wambaugh has a very special L.A. crime movie for every hat he wears.
“The novelist in me has always loved ‘Double Indemnity,’ ” he says. “The dialogue sparkles, the plotting is superb.
“The screenwriter in me loves ‘Sunset Boulevard,’ because it shows how we screenwriters get screwed by studio bosses. I love that theme.
“The cop in me loves ‘L.A. Confidential.’ It comes from an author I like, James Ellroy, and the film has an energy and pace that I seldom see. It doesn’t slow down no matter what’s happening.
“And I tell my students at UCSD to emulate ‘Chinatown,’ which has a classic three-act structure.”
The author of “The Choirboys” and “The New Centurions” doesn’t hesitate to reveal why Los Angeles has it over New York, Chicago and Miami when it comes to writing about crime or showing it in the movies.
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“I can tell you that in one word: Hollywood,” he says. “Hollywood is always there, somehow, some way. It’s no accident that when I went back to write a novel after 20-some years, I went to Hollywood,” he says of his latest, “Hollywood Station.” “Hollywood is the heart of L.A. Hollywood is the heart of the LAPD.”
Wambaugh is happy to report that murder Hollywood style is alive and well at the cineplex. “Obviously, I’m fascinated with Hollywood and movies, so I did like ‘Hollywoodland,'” he says. “Ben Affleck’s performance was pretty damned good.”
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