Los Angeles Director's Blog

By Chris Wallace, Director

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Monday 11 a.m. ...

Sitting in the Pacific Dining Car with James Ellroy; author of "L.A. Confidential," "Brown's Requiem," "Killer on the Road," "The Black Dahlia" and other crime novels focusing on L.A.'s underworld of, in Ellroy's words, "peepers, pushers and pimps." I recognized the Pacific Dining Car from the movie "Training Day" when Denzel meets with the corrupt judge and prosecutor. Ellroy is sitting there scarfing down shrimp cocktail. He clearly enjoys the moment in front of the cameras. As soon as we start rolling, he launches into a monologue about his version of '50s and '60s L.A. Ellroy is clearly a gifted, though X-rated, wordsmith, spinning rhymes inappropriate for this page. He does ask me whether I like anchovies. Luckily I say yes. Ellroy's reply is unrepeatable.

12:15 p.m. ...

Heading into South Hollywood where Ellroy grew up. In 1958 his mother was murdered. The unsolved killing served as a key moment in Ellroy's life and is the basis for much of his fiction, including "L.A. Confidential." He is fiercely protective of women, even though at the moment we are sitting in front of a stately mansion that Ellroy broke into in his teens when it was the home of a girl he was obsessed with.

2 p.m. ...

Talking about the Los Angeles Police Department. Ellroy is a fierce defender of the LAPD. He has worked closely with officers from the department on several of his books. I was a police office in California in my first job out of college, and it was interesting to speak to Ellroy from the perspective of a former cop because I was able to engage him on this topic a little more effectively.

7 p.m. ...

Parting ways with Ellroy after a long day of dining and visiting points of L.A. interest. The crew, Frank Bivona and Walter Imparato, are packing up. I'm wishing Ellroy well with his next literary pursuit. And I'm thinking, he's a very gifted writer and speaker, a keen observer of a screwed-up world, and he's come from a fairly horrific background. He's a shock artist in some ways, but he's also a very good guy to spend the day with. The last thing I do is have him sign a bunch of books, and then we part ways.

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