Director:		Carl Franklin
Year:		1995
Language:		English
Time:		97 minutes

It is 1948 in LA and Ezikeal "Easy" Rawlins (Denzel Washington), an African-American World War II veteran, is looking for work. At his friend's bar, he is introduced to a white man, DeWitt Albright (Tom Sizemore), who is looking for someone to help him find a missing white woman assumed to be hiding somewhere in LA's black community. This woman, Daphane Monet (Jennifer Beals), happens to be the fiancée of a wealthy "blue blood", Todd Carter, who is currently LA's favorite in the city's mayoralty race. Daphane Monet is know to frequent the black Jazz clubs in LA. Easy, innocently, accepts Albright's offer; however, he quickly finds himself amidst murder, crooked cops, ruthless politicians, and brutalizing hoodlums. This is a Chandler-esque "who-done-it" with an African-American theme.

Carl Franklin wrote the screenplay from a novel by Walter Mosley.

Received no Academy Award nominations, but won two National Society of Film Critics Awards: for best cinematography and best supporting actor (Don Cheadle).

Rated R for violence, sexuality and language.

Links

Learn more about Film Noir.

The director's filmography

Useful reviews and other information about Devil in a Blue Dress can be found at:

movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/d/devil_blue.html

www.filmscouts.com/scripts/review.cfm?File=dev-blu

www.rottentomatoes.com/m/devil_in_a_blue_dress/