A cop clashes with his priest brother while investigating the brutal murder of a young prostitute.
Acting
De Niro and Duvall's simmering sibling warfare.
Production
1940s LA recreated with obsessive, sweat-stained detail.
Writing
Dialogue that weaponizes politeness and piety.
Director
Ulu Grosbard
Robert De Niro
Father Des Spellacy
Robert Duvall
Det. Tom Spellacy
Charles Durning
Jack Amsterdam
Kenneth McMillan
Frank Crotty
Ed Flanders
Dan T. Campion
Cyril Cusack
Cardinal Danaher
Burgess Meredith
Msgr. Seamus Fargo
Rose Gregorio
Brenda Samuels
Dan Hedaya
Howard Terkel
Gwen Van Dam
Mrs. Fazenda
Thomas Hill
Mr. Fazenda
Jeanette Nolan
Mrs. Spellacy
Jorge Cervera Jr.
Eduardo Duarte
Louisa Moritz
Whore
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
De Niro and Duvall spent weeks together building backstory as brothers, then deliberately avoided each other on set to manufacture authentic estrangement.
The film adapts John Gregory Dunne's novel inspired by the real 1949 Black Dahlia murder and LA's corrupt Catholic power structure—Dunne's wife Joan Didion co-wrote the screenplay.
US
