To Live and Die in L.A.

Name: To Live and Die in L.A.
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Action
Released: 1985-11-01
Duration: 1 h 56 min
Rating: 7.3
Cast: William Petersen, Willem Dafoe, John Pankow, Debra Feuer, John Turturro

A federal agent is dead. A killer is loose. And the City of Angels is about to explode.

To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)

Timing: 1:56 (116 min)

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no scores

7.1/10
804

7.3/10
47000

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Everything about the movie

Video 12

Photo 112

Actors and characters

Video for the film To Live and Die in L.A. — High-Speed Car Chase Scene

4:47

Photo 112

Release date

1985-11-01

Country

United States

Production

United Artists, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, SLM Production Group, New Century Productions

Genre

Crime, Thriller, Action

Budget

$6 000 000

Box office

$17 307 019

Website

Director

William Friedkin

Actors

William Petersen, Willem Dafoe, John Pankow, Debra Feuer, John Turturro, Dean Stockwell, Darlanne Fluegel, Michael Greene, Steve James, Robert Downey Sr.
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Irving H. Levin, Samuel Schulman

Camera operator

Robby Müller

Composer

Nick Feldman

Artist

Lilly Kilvert, Dins W. W. Danielsen

Audition

Robert Weiner

Editing

M. Scott Smith
Whole Team (173)

Short description

A fearless Secret Service agent will stop at nothing to bring down the counterfeiter who killed his partner.

What's left behind the scenes

Friedkin decided not to include a previously filmed scene near the end in which Vukovich attempts to reconcile with his ex-wife. These frames can be seen in the DVD release of the film. The director later claimed that he no longer remembered why he filmed the scene and stated that he regretted doing so.
At the beginning of the movie, Willem Dafoe's character prints money. At that moment, they were actually printing counterfeit money; a former counterfeiver, hired as a consultant, demonstrated how it was done. Every time a helicopter flew over the building, Willem Dafoe thought it was the police and that they were all about to be arrested.
In the final warehouse scene after the shootout, when the ammunition has run out, John Pankow's character continues to pull the trigger; the viewer can hear the clicks, but the revolver's cylinder does not rotate.
The filmmakers used works by German artist Rainer Fetting to represent the paintings of Masters, played by Willem Dafoe. In one church scene, Fetting even briefly appears on screen in the role of a priest.
The car chase scene was filmed last. It took 6 weeks to shoot.
Gary Sinise originally auditioned for the role of Chance; it was he who recommended actor William Petersen to William Friedkin after he failed his own screen test.
At the beginning of the film, Willem Dafoe's character prints money. At that moment, counterfeit money was actually being printed there; a convicted counterfeiter, hired as a consultant, demonstrated how it was done. Every time a helicopter flew over the building, Willem Dafoe felt that it was the police and they would all be arrested any minute.
Legendary cinematographer Robbie Müller refused to shoot the car chase scene; instead, it was filmed by second unit cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman.
Despite the film crew’s best efforts, some counterfeit bills were still taken from the set and put into circulation.
Legendary cinematographer Robby Müller refused to film the car chase scene; instead, it was shot by second unit cinematographer Robert D. Youngman.
Prison scenes were filmed at a correctional facility in San Luis Obispo County (west central California), and actual inmates incarcerated there played the roles of prisoners.
Director William Friedkin insisted that everything shown on screen be as authentic as possible. For the dollar-printing scenes, two former convicted counterfeiters were hired as consultants, and FBI agents and police officers were also present on set.
Film director William Friedkin recounted that the counterfeit money turned out to be of such high quality that when some bills were accidentally left unattended on the set one day, representatives from the Secret Service (which was under the jurisdiction of the US Department of the Treasury until 2003) and the Attorney General's Office contacted him.
In the final scene at the warehouse after the shootout, when the ammunition has run out, the hero John Pankow continues to pull the trigger. The audience hears clicks, but the revolver's cylinder does not rotate.
Director William Friedkin insisted that everything shown on screen be as realistic as possible. For the scenes involving the printing of dollars, two former convicted counterfeiters were hired as consultants, and FBI agents and police officers were also present on set.
Friedkin decided not to include a scene filmed near the end of the film, in which Vukovich attempts to reconcile with his ex-wife. These scenes can be found on the DVD release of the film. The director later stated that he no longer remembered why he had filmed the scene, and said he regretted having done so.
Gary Sinise initially auditioned for the role of Chance, and it was he who suggested William Petersen to William Friedkin when he himself failed to pass the audition.
For the paintings of Masters, played by Willem Dafoe, the filmmakers used works by German artist Rainer Fetting. In one scene in the church, he even briefly appeared on screen as a priest.
The film's director, William Friedkin, recounted that the counterfeit money was of such high quality that when some bills were accidentally left unattended on set, representatives from the Secret Service (which was under the US Treasury Department until 2003) and the Attorney General's office eventually contacted him.