Filmography | The Black Dahlia (2006)

Mia Kirshner as Elizabeth Short
Directed by Brian De Palma
Written by James Ellroy (novel), Josh Friedman (screenplay)
Cast Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Hilary Swank, Aaron Eckhart, Graham Norris
Genre Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
MPAA rating R
Gallery | Videos | Official Site (US) (JP) | IMDB

Master storyteller Brian De Palma, known for such classic crime dramas as The Untouchables, Scarface and Carlito’s Way, as well as his suspense thrillers Carrie, Dressed to Kill and Blow Out, directs this adaptation of James Ellroy’s (L.A. Confidential, American Tabloid) best-selling crime novel.

The Black Dahlia weaves a fictionalized tale of obsession, love, corruption, greed and depravity around the true story of the brutal murder of a fledgling Hollywood starlet that shocked and fascinated the nation in 1947 and remains unsolved today. Two ex-pugilist cops, Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) and Bucky Bleichert (Josh Hartnett), are called to investigate the homicide of ambitious silver-screen B-lister Betty Ann Short (Mia Kirshner) A.K.A. “The Black Dahlia”–an attack so grisly that images of the killing were kept from the public.

While Blanchard’s growing preoccupation with the sensational murder threatens his marriage to Kay (Scarlett Johansson), his partner Bleichert finds himself attracted to the enigmatic Madeleine Linscott (two-time Oscar® winner Hilary Swank), the daughter of one of the city’s most prominent families–who just happens to have an unsavory connection to the murder victim.

True crime meets urban legend when De Palma brings Ellroy’s The Black Dahlia to the big screen.

Mia plays the lead role of Elizabeth Short (aka The Black Dahlia), the aspiring young actress who’s brutal murder shook Hollywood in 1947. Though there have been many people claiming to have solved her murder, it remains unsolved to this day.

Vogue - August 2006
“I felt a great responsibility to humanize Elizabeth.”

“Despite what people said, I think she was actually very sweet and maybe too trusting, and her story is very much a fable for actresses in Hollywood.”

“She was incredibly exotic and romantic and dark, although I’m careful not to assume anything about her.”

Interview with Shawn Dogimont - 2006
“In the original draft that character is very different and so he opened the original draft. The role changed completely. You actually saw this girl, her life, who she was. You really have some sort of understanding, some sort of sympathy as to what happened to her. Then we started to improvise around the scenes. The improvisations were incorporated into the scenes and that’s how the role came to be.”