William Friedkin was an inherently well-informed filmmaker. He started out in television at age 18, directing live news reports and documentaries for WGN-tv in Chicago. He knew how to get to the bottom of any story, best frame the narrative to capture attention, and inform the viewer.
He brought that sense of assured knowledge to movies. There is never any doubt about the veracity of The French Connection (1971). The Exorcist (1973), meanwhile, invites the audience to medical diagnoses and a realistic portrayal of demonic possession. It is the emphasis on the medical that makes the demonic seem plausible. Similarly, To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) is an authentic movie about counterfeiting, and one which deserves to be as celebrated as his early ‘70s masterpieces.
A Step by Step Guide to Counterfeiting
The printing of bogus bills may not seem like an exciting basis for a crime thriller, but Friedkin progressively raises the...
He brought that sense of assured knowledge to movies. There is never any doubt about the veracity of The French Connection (1971). The Exorcist (1973), meanwhile, invites the audience to medical diagnoses and a realistic portrayal of demonic possession. It is the emphasis on the medical that makes the demonic seem plausible. Similarly, To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) is an authentic movie about counterfeiting, and one which deserves to be as celebrated as his early ‘70s masterpieces.
A Step by Step Guide to Counterfeiting
The printing of bogus bills may not seem like an exciting basis for a crime thriller, but Friedkin progressively raises the...
- 8/11/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
By Todd Garbarini
William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A., which opened on Friday, November 1, 1985 to lukewarm notices and underwhelming box office despite being championed by Roger Ebert’s four-star review, is a highly stylized, dark, and uncompromising crime thriller that boasts a then-unknown cast with a story and a pace that feels more suited to the 1970’s. It also contains what I consider to be the greatest car chase ever filmed and edited for a major motion picture, which took no less than five weeks to plan and shoot. Having seen Mr. Friedkin’s brilliant East Coast police thriller The French Connection (1971) on VHS in 1986, I made it a point the following year to catch up with his West Coast-based story of a Secret Service agent, Richard Chance (William Petersen), whose best friend and partner Jim Hart (Michael Greene) has been murdered by artist/currency counterfeiter Rick Masters...
William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A., which opened on Friday, November 1, 1985 to lukewarm notices and underwhelming box office despite being championed by Roger Ebert’s four-star review, is a highly stylized, dark, and uncompromising crime thriller that boasts a then-unknown cast with a story and a pace that feels more suited to the 1970’s. It also contains what I consider to be the greatest car chase ever filmed and edited for a major motion picture, which took no less than five weeks to plan and shoot. Having seen Mr. Friedkin’s brilliant East Coast police thriller The French Connection (1971) on VHS in 1986, I made it a point the following year to catch up with his West Coast-based story of a Secret Service agent, Richard Chance (William Petersen), whose best friend and partner Jim Hart (Michael Greene) has been murdered by artist/currency counterfeiter Rick Masters...
- 1/6/2017
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The 1985 MGM cult movie To Live and Die in La is being adapted into a television series.
Original director William Friedkin has created the adaptation for Wgn America alongside Oscar-winning writer Robert Moresco, Deadline reports.
The adaptation is based on the novel by Gerald Petievich and tells the story of a former Us Secret Service agent who will do whatever it takes to bring down the counterfeiter who killed his partner.
Friedkin will direct the series, which is reportedly expected to go straight-to-series pending script approval, while Moresco will write, with both men serving as the series' executive producers.
The series is described as "an immersion into the inner workings of the Secret Service", as well as a cat-and-mouse chase through the dark underbelly of Los Angeles.
The adaptation of To Live And Die In La will be a reimagining of Friedkin's original film, which is also based on Petievich's...
Original director William Friedkin has created the adaptation for Wgn America alongside Oscar-winning writer Robert Moresco, Deadline reports.
The adaptation is based on the novel by Gerald Petievich and tells the story of a former Us Secret Service agent who will do whatever it takes to bring down the counterfeiter who killed his partner.
Friedkin will direct the series, which is reportedly expected to go straight-to-series pending script approval, while Moresco will write, with both men serving as the series' executive producers.
The series is described as "an immersion into the inner workings of the Secret Service", as well as a cat-and-mouse chase through the dark underbelly of Los Angeles.
The adaptation of To Live And Die In La will be a reimagining of Friedkin's original film, which is also based on Petievich's...
- 6/27/2015
- Digital Spy
William Friedkin is set to turn his own 1985 feature thriller "To Live and Die in L.A." into a dramatic TV series for "Manhattan" and "Salem" broadcaster Wgn America.
William Peterson, Willem Dafoe, and John Pankow starred in the original film which followed two Secret Service agents on the trail of a counterfeiting operation in Los Angeles. It was based on the novel of the same name by former Secret Service officer Gerald Petievich.
Friedkin is tipped to direct the pilot and executive produce the series based upon ideas he hatched with "Crash" co-writer Robert Moresco. Moresco will script the series and also act as an executive producer.
If the first batch of scripts are well received by Wgn and producers MGM Television and Tribute Studios, the show could go straight to series. No casting has been announced for the show.
William Peterson, Willem Dafoe, and John Pankow starred in the original film which followed two Secret Service agents on the trail of a counterfeiting operation in Los Angeles. It was based on the novel of the same name by former Secret Service officer Gerald Petievich.
Friedkin is tipped to direct the pilot and executive produce the series based upon ideas he hatched with "Crash" co-writer Robert Moresco. Moresco will script the series and also act as an executive producer.
If the first batch of scripts are well received by Wgn and producers MGM Television and Tribute Studios, the show could go straight to series. No casting has been announced for the show.
- 6/26/2015
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
William Friedkin's hard boiled '80s action thriller To Live And Die In La is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. And to celebrate, it's coming back in a new form. Friedkin himself has been developing it as a TV series for MGM (the home of Fargo), and will serve as executive producer and director of some episodes. Bobby Moresco (Crash) is also an exec producer and will write.The original film starred William Petersen, Willem Dafoe, John Pankow and Dean Stockwell, with further early career appearances from Robert Downey Jr. and John Turturro. It revolves around Petersen's dogged secret service investigations in a counterfeiting operation, alongside his obsessive personal mission of revenge.It's based on a novel by ex-cia agent Gerald Petievich, and the series version will be returning to that source. We're promised "an intense immersion into the inner workings of the secret service and a cat-and-mouse...
- 6/26/2015
- EmpireOnline
William Friedkin‘s 1977 classic Sorcerer finally hit Blu-ray last week, and it marked my first viewing of the film. Before you give me grief, know that I had seen and loved The Wages of Fear, and I was just holding out on watching the remake until it came in a Friedkin-approved version. It should surprise no one that I found Sorcerer to be as fantastic as the original, but my favorite Friedkin film remains unchanged. Not only did To Live and Die in L.A. introduce the world in 1985 to the bow-legged joy that is William Petersen, but it’s also a remarkably successful mix of dark sensibilities, characters with depth and honest excitement. It’s an intelligent thriller that makes no guarantees as to the morality or life expectancy of its characters, and its pacing and energy help make it eminently re-watchable. The DVD includes a handful of extra features (never ported over to the Blu-ray for...
- 5/1/2014
- by Rob Hunter
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
"The Sentinel" is a slick enough thriller about a presidential assassination attempt. It is also a rather mechanical, soulless affair that avoids politics or anything else that might clearly define who these characters are and why we should care other than that's the First Family and these are the valiant Secret Service agents sworn to protect the president's life. Michael Douglas heads a sharp cast that performs with drill-like precision under fast-paced direction from Clark Johnson ("S.W.A.T".). Business looks good for opening weekend, but because better White House dramas have been on TV in recent years, boxoffice probably won't rise above midrange in major markets.
For all its D.C. trappings and behind-the-scenes glimpses of the White House, Secret Service and the Presidential Protection Division's elaborate, state-of-the-electronic-arts control center, "Sentinel" basically reworks every police thriller where a top cop falls under suspicion and must use the tools of his trade to prove his innocence while on the lam.
"You are chasing your worst nightmare," barks agent David Breckinridge (Kiefer Sutherland) as he sends fellow agents after Secret Service superstar Pete Garrison (Douglas), his former buddy and now greatest antagonist. Pete once took a bullet for President Reagan, but now he is being framed and blackmailed. So Pete must save his reputation and the president from assassination in a matter of hours.
The trouble is that the "worst nightmare" line comes past the halfway point. Getting there takes too much time and too many leaps of logic that never get closed in a final shootout that is a wee over the top. The movie could have used more of the cop-against-his-own-system and less of the contrivances and implausible melodrama from screenwriter George Nolfi (working from Gerald Petievich's novel).
First we're asked to believe that the first lady (an unusually demure Kim Basinger) is conducting an affair with the head of her Secret Service detail under the president's nose. That would be Pete and, yes, it's really Michael Douglas, but c'mon! The first lady and a Secret Service guy!
OK, let's move on to the murder of Pete's colleague moments before he was to share confidential information with Pete. The investigation falls to Breckinridge, who hates Pete's guts because he thinks Pete slept with his wife, whom he has since divorced.
An old informant of Pete's turns up with convincing evidence that a traitor exists within the Secret Service. That investigation gets folded into the murder inquiry just as Pete receives photos of him and the first lady in what used to be called "compromising positions."
Once Pete goes underground, the film picks up stream. Douglas is now free to be an action hero, while Sutherland makes an intriguingly conflicted nemesis. Along for the ride is a glamorous rookie agent played by Eva Longoria. (She keeps interrupting the trains of thought of all the male characters.) Martin Donovan, as the agent in charge of the president (David Rasche), holds down the fort with whimsical ambiguity, while the women -- Basinger and Blair Brown as the National Security Adviser -- get sidelined by the action.
"Sentinel" fails in comparison to the last really good Secret Service movie, Wolfgang Petersen's 1993 "In the Line of Fire" starring Clint Eastwood. There, the cat-and-mouse game between an agent and potential assassin dripped with believable character details without shortchanging action or suspense. Here, the filmmakers seem to feel this is an either/or thing. So they opt for action over character. Thus we never get to discover why such an exacting, conscientious guy as Pete is such a moral screw-up. That might have been the real guts to this movie.
This D.C./Toronto production does benefit from Gabriel Beristain's deep-color cinematography, Cindy Mollo's sharp editing, Andrew McAlpine's solid production design and Christophe Beck's rousing score.
THE SENTINEL
20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises present a Further Films/New Regency production
Credits:
Director: Clark Johnson
Screenwriter: George Nolfi
Based on the novel by: Gerald Petievich
Producers: Michael Douglas, Marcy Drogin, Arnon Milchan
Executive producer: Bill Carraro
Director of photography: Gabriel Beristain
Production designer: Andrew McAlpine
Music: Christophe Beck
Costumes: Ellen Mirojnick
Editor: Cindy Mollo
Cast:
Pete Garrison: Michael Douglas
David Breckinridge: Kiefer Sutherland
Jill Marin: Eva Longoria
William Montrose: Martin Donovan
Handler: Ritchie Coster
Sarah Ballentine: Kim Basinger
National Security Adviser: Blair Brown
President Ballentine: David Rasche
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 108 minutes...
For all its D.C. trappings and behind-the-scenes glimpses of the White House, Secret Service and the Presidential Protection Division's elaborate, state-of-the-electronic-arts control center, "Sentinel" basically reworks every police thriller where a top cop falls under suspicion and must use the tools of his trade to prove his innocence while on the lam.
"You are chasing your worst nightmare," barks agent David Breckinridge (Kiefer Sutherland) as he sends fellow agents after Secret Service superstar Pete Garrison (Douglas), his former buddy and now greatest antagonist. Pete once took a bullet for President Reagan, but now he is being framed and blackmailed. So Pete must save his reputation and the president from assassination in a matter of hours.
The trouble is that the "worst nightmare" line comes past the halfway point. Getting there takes too much time and too many leaps of logic that never get closed in a final shootout that is a wee over the top. The movie could have used more of the cop-against-his-own-system and less of the contrivances and implausible melodrama from screenwriter George Nolfi (working from Gerald Petievich's novel).
First we're asked to believe that the first lady (an unusually demure Kim Basinger) is conducting an affair with the head of her Secret Service detail under the president's nose. That would be Pete and, yes, it's really Michael Douglas, but c'mon! The first lady and a Secret Service guy!
OK, let's move on to the murder of Pete's colleague moments before he was to share confidential information with Pete. The investigation falls to Breckinridge, who hates Pete's guts because he thinks Pete slept with his wife, whom he has since divorced.
An old informant of Pete's turns up with convincing evidence that a traitor exists within the Secret Service. That investigation gets folded into the murder inquiry just as Pete receives photos of him and the first lady in what used to be called "compromising positions."
Once Pete goes underground, the film picks up stream. Douglas is now free to be an action hero, while Sutherland makes an intriguingly conflicted nemesis. Along for the ride is a glamorous rookie agent played by Eva Longoria. (She keeps interrupting the trains of thought of all the male characters.) Martin Donovan, as the agent in charge of the president (David Rasche), holds down the fort with whimsical ambiguity, while the women -- Basinger and Blair Brown as the National Security Adviser -- get sidelined by the action.
"Sentinel" fails in comparison to the last really good Secret Service movie, Wolfgang Petersen's 1993 "In the Line of Fire" starring Clint Eastwood. There, the cat-and-mouse game between an agent and potential assassin dripped with believable character details without shortchanging action or suspense. Here, the filmmakers seem to feel this is an either/or thing. So they opt for action over character. Thus we never get to discover why such an exacting, conscientious guy as Pete is such a moral screw-up. That might have been the real guts to this movie.
This D.C./Toronto production does benefit from Gabriel Beristain's deep-color cinematography, Cindy Mollo's sharp editing, Andrew McAlpine's solid production design and Christophe Beck's rousing score.
THE SENTINEL
20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises present a Further Films/New Regency production
Credits:
Director: Clark Johnson
Screenwriter: George Nolfi
Based on the novel by: Gerald Petievich
Producers: Michael Douglas, Marcy Drogin, Arnon Milchan
Executive producer: Bill Carraro
Director of photography: Gabriel Beristain
Production designer: Andrew McAlpine
Music: Christophe Beck
Costumes: Ellen Mirojnick
Editor: Cindy Mollo
Cast:
Pete Garrison: Michael Douglas
David Breckinridge: Kiefer Sutherland
Jill Marin: Eva Longoria
William Montrose: Martin Donovan
Handler: Ritchie Coster
Sarah Ballentine: Kim Basinger
National Security Adviser: Blair Brown
President Ballentine: David Rasche
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 108 minutes...
- 4/21/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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