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L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (1997) in 35mm with guest Eric Hoyt

L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (Curtis Hanson, 1997, 138 min, 35mm from Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research)

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An epic neo-noir in the tradition of CHINATOWN and HEAT, Curtis Hanson’s L.A. CONFIDENTIAL brought old-school detective fiction back to the multiplex with blockbuster style and panache. For his breakthrough, Best Picture-nominated crowdpleaser, Hanson adapted the third of crime fiction legend James Ellroy’s L.A. Quartet novels – a knotty conspiracy thriller rife with salacious genre pleasures. Shot in gorgeous CinemaScope with leading turns from then-relative unknowns Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL is a singularly 90s take on one cinema’s most unforgettable traditions. 

For this special screening, presented in conjunction with Block Cinema’s 25th anniversary and its new “Special Collections” quarterly film series, Block Cinema is proud to welcome Prof. Eric Hoyt, Director of the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research and Media History Digital Library and Professor of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Under Hoyt’s leadership, the WCFTR has taken on major collections of both film and ephemera, including the collections of Cinema 16 founder Amos Vogel, Northwestern professor Chuck Kleinhans, professor and Jump Cut editor Julia Lesage, and others, helping to make UW one of the preeminent destinations for film research in the United States. He has also guided WCFTR to several major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, and others, to facilitate digital humanities archival projects and research. 

As one of the first student programmers in Northwestern’s Film and Projection Society in the early-mid 2000s, Hoyt had an important role in projecting the future of Block Cinema; joining us to celebrate our 25th anniversary, Hoyt will also offer an introduction to L.A. CONFIDENTIAL that explores the film’s masterful craftsmanship and the enduring cinematic qualities that it brings to life. 

This 35mm print of L.A. CONFIDENTIAL comes from the archival collection of David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research. Authors of the widely-used FILM ART textbook, Bordwell and Thompson have had a foundational role in introducing generations of students and enthusiasts to the study of cinema. As Hoyt writes: “David Bordwell, who passed away in 2024, was a brilliant and prolific film scholar who transformed the field of cinema studies through innovating the method of historical poetics. He was an avid film collector, with an enthusiasm and curiosity for the medium that knew no bounds.” Block Cinema is grateful to Hoyt, Thompson, and the Wisconsin Center for Film and Television Research for the opportunity to present this print, and to celebrate the legacy of a scholar whose capacious understanding of the film medium continues to inspire.

Contact The Block Museum of Art for more information: (847) 491-4000 or email us at block-museum@northwestern.edu