Lee's obsession leads him to become erratic and abusive toward Kay.

She introduces him to her wealthy parents almost immediately. Madeleine, who comes from a prominent family, tells Bucky that she was 'very close' with Elizabeth but asks him to keep her name out of the papers in exchange for sexual favors. He goes to a lesbian nightclub and meets Madeleine Linscott, who looks very much like Elizabeth. Both detectives become obsessed with solving the case.īucky learns that Elizabeth was an aspiring actress who appeared in a pornographic film and hung out with lesbians. Soon after, on January 15, 1947, Elizabeth Short's dismembered body is found and she is dubbed ' The Black Dahlia' by the press. He also discovers that Kay has been branded with the initials 'BD', for Bobby DeWitt, the gangster whose arrest and conviction for a big bank robbery made Lee's career. Bucky is shocked when Kay tells him she isn't sleeping with Lee, and later tries to seduce him, but he refuses. Lee introduces Bucky to his girlfriend Kay Lake, and the trio becomes inseparable. LAPD Detectives Dwight 'Bucky' Bleichert and Lee Blanchard are paired as partners after engaging in a boxing match to raise funds for the department. Despite its critical and financial failure, Vilmos Zsigmond's cinematography earned the film a nomination for Best Cinematography at the 79th Academy Awards, and Kirshner's performance as Short was widely praised. It was a box-office flop and met with largely negative critical reaction, effectively ousting De Palma from the Hollywood studio system (his subsequent films have been filmed and financed overseas). The film was screened at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival on August 30, 2006, and was released in the United States on September 15, 2006. Principal photography began in Pernik and Sofia, Bulgaria in April 2005, with additional location photography in Los Angeles, California. After Fincher dropped out of the project, De Palma was hired as director. Mike Starr, Fiona Shaw, John Kavanagh, Rachel Miner, and Rose McGowan appear in supporting roles.Įllroy's novel was optioned a decade prior to De Palma's involvement, with David Fincher attached to direct a feature film adaptation for a years-long span.

It is an adaptation of the 1987 novel of the same name by James Ellroy – in turn drawn from the widely sensationalized murder of Elizabeth Short – and follows two Los Angeles Police Department detectives investigating the crime, leading them through a series of shocking revelations. The Black Dahlia is a 2006 neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, written by Josh Friedman, and starring Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, and Mia Kirshner.

The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy