To Live and Die in L.A. - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of To Live and Die in L.A. or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to To Live and Die in L.A.

[lynn]

William Friedkin insisted that every activity depicted in the movie should be portrayed with extreme accuracy. Two ex-cons (convicted for money counterfeiting) were hired as technical consultants for the money printing scenes. And for the police procedures scenes, Friedkin hired real T-Men Gerald Petievich (also author of the book "To Live and Die in LA"), Rick Petievich (Gerald's brother) and LAPD living legend Jack Hoar.

[cameron]

Friedkin filmed but did not include a scene in which Vukovich, nearing the breaking point prior to the final showdown with Masters, desperately tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. This deleted scene is found on the Special Edition DVD along with an interview with Friedkin, who says he doesn't remember why he cut it, and now regrets doing so.

[scarlett]

Gary Sinise had originally auditioned for the part of Chance. When he was denied the role, he recommended William Petersen to William Friedkin.

[jesse]

William Friedkin specifically asked Wang Chung not to do a song titled "To Live and Die in LA," because he thought it would be too cheesy. Wang Chung did it anyway and played it for Friedkin, who loved it.

[russell]

One Hollywood legend holds that Michael Mann sued William Friedkin for plagiarism over 'To Live and Die in L.A.' He accused Friedkin of stealing the entire concept of Miami Vice (1984) and lost the lawsuit. However, William Friedkin himself has said, "Michael Mann and I have been good friends for 30 years.... nothing like this ever happened."

[carl]

For the Castilian Spanish language dub version, Willem Dafoe's voice was dubbed by Ernesto Aura.

[melinda]

Credited theatrical movie debut of Jane Leeves (Serena/Dancer).

[kenzi]

Despite the crew's best efforts, some of the counterfeit bills made for the film got into circulation. The bills' quality was very, very good, but the Treasury seal on the counterfeits used the letter X, which is not a valid Federal Reserve Bank letter. The Secret Service picked up X bills for quite a while after filming wrapped.

[ella]

1980s band Wang Chung provided much of the soundtrack for this movie. When Chance enters the topless bar for the first time, Wang Chung's first hit song, "Dance Hall Days", is playing in the background.

[kenneth]

Legendary cinematographer Robby Müller declined to shoot the car chase because he didn't know how to set up such a scene. He was replaced by second unit cameraman Robert D. Yeoman.

[oscar]

A year after the film came out, John Pankow met an undercover NYPD cop in a coffee shop who told him that panicking during the highway chase scene was a completely accurate, realistic response to such a situation.

[wallace]

There is an edited and significantly shortened version with a shrunken screen size and low resolution that was shown on TV. In the credits for that version, William Friedkin's name for director and [co]screenplay was changed to "Jackson Fourre." One might suspect that Friedkin's contract allows for or even requires the removal of his name when the film is changed from his original director's cut.

[jim]

Kristy Swanson was cast in a small role in the film, but her scenes got deleted in the final cut. Swanson has said she played a daughter of one of the main characters (most probably Dean Stockwell), and her scene consisted of opening the door of her house to Willem Dafoe and having a short conversation with him.

[tom]

When the agents are back in the bar after Chance makes his jump from the bridge, Richie urges all of the agents to "pay up," implying that Chance made the jump on a dare. Richie urges one person, Petievich, to pay up in particular. Gerald Petievich is the former Secret Service agent that wrote To Live and Die in LA.

[caroline]

The prison scenes were shot in the San Luis Obispo Penitentiary and real prison inmates were used as extras.

[nora]

Since the element of "fire" is playing an important role in the film, it's especially funny to point to the fact that Debra Feuer's last name "Feuer" is the German expression for "fire".

[cameron]

The black & white cardboard standee in the office search is John Wintergreen (Robert Blake) in Electra Glide in Blue.

[norma]

At the time John Pankow was a well respected Chicago stage actor, and personally recommended for the role of John Vukovich by William L. Peterson.

[eli]

The car chase sequence took six weeks to shoot. It was the last thing shot - apparently so that, if anything happened to the principal actors, the filmmakers would at least have the bulk of their movie completed without having to replace anybody.