Starring: Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart, and Hilary Swank
Directed by: Brian De Palma
Release Date: Fall 2006

The story is as grisly as it is true: Pretty and promiscuous, Elizabeth Short wanted to be a famous actress. Instead, she was tortured for days, chopped in two, disemboweled, and dumped in a vacant lot. Her 1947 murder, still unsolved, continues to haunt Hollywood. This hard-boiled drama, adapted from James Ellroy’s novel (part of his L.A. Quartet, which also includes L.A. Confidential), “weaves a fictional story between the facts of the Black Dahlia murder,” says director Brian De Palma (Scarface, Mission: Impossible). The kaleidoscope of a plot features boxers-turned-cops Bucky Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) and Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart), who are working on the Short case while in a love triangle with a gangster’s ex-girlfriend (Scarlett Johansson). Bleichert is also bedding a bisexual rich girl (Hilary Swank) who knew the Dahlia. Mark Wahlberg was attached to play Eckhart’s role, but split when there was a glitch in the indie financing (Universal later acquired the film, which was reportedly shot for $40 million, largely in Bulgaria). “I haven’t done a movie like this since Carlito’s Way,” says De Palma. “It’s violent, sexy, and mysterious. Studios tend to be scared of material like this.”