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Los Angeles Plays Itself

7.6 169 mins Documentary   2004
Director(s): Thom Andersen

From its distinctive neighborhoods to its architectural homes, Los Angeles has been the backdrop to countless movies. In this dazzling work, Andersen takes viewers on a whirlwind tour through the metropolis' real and cinematic history, investigating the myriad stories and legends that have come to define it, and meticulously, judiciously revealing the real city that lives beneath.

Casts of Los Angeles Plays Itself

Encke King

as Narrator (voice)

Ben Alexander

as Officer Frank Smith in Dragnet (archive footage)

Jim Backus

as Frank Stark in Rebel Without A Cause (archive footage)

Brenda Bakke

as Lana Turner in L.A. Confidential (archive footage)

Barbara O. Jones

as Dorothy in Bush Mama (archive footage)

Gene Barry

as Dr. Clayton Forrester in The War of The Worlds (archive footage)

Richard Basehart

as Roy Morgan/Roy Martin in He Walked By Night (archive footage)

Hugh Beaumont

as George Copeland in The Blue Dahlia (archive footage)

William Bendix

as Buzz Wanchek in The Blue Dahlia (archive footage)

Ann Blyth

as Veda Pierce in Mildred Pierce (archive footage)

Jim Bouton

as Terry Lennox in The Long Goodbye (archive footage)

Grand L. Bush

as FBI Agent Little Johnson in Die Hard (archive footage)

James Cagney

as Tom Powers in The Public Enemy (archive footage)

Lon Chaney Jr.

as Charles Benton in The Indestructible Man (archive footage)

John Considine

as Matthew Crawford in Timestalkers (archive footage)

Bill Cosby

as Al Hickey in Hickey & Boggs (archive footage)

Robert Culp

as Frank Boggs in Hickey & Boggs (archive footage)

Howard Duff

as Dave Pomeroy in Panic in the City (archive footage)

Deanna Durbin

as Penny in Three Smart Girls (archive footage)

Mark Frechette

as Mark in Zabriskie Point (archive footage)

John Garfield

as Nick Blake in Nobody Lives Forever (archive footage)

Ben Gazzara

as Jackie Treehorn in The Big Lebowski (archive footage)

Bruce Glover

as Duffy in Chinatown (archive footage)

Marjoe Gortner

as Joby in Earthquake (archive footage)

James Griffith

as Jesse Quinn in Dragnet (archive footage)

Daria Halprin

as Daria in Zabriskie Point (archive footage)

Oliver Hardy

as Ollie (archive footage)

Jean Harlow

as Gwen Allen in The Public Enemy (archive footage)

Bob Hope

as Adam J. Niles in Bachelor in Paradise (archive footage)

Lauren Hutton

as Georgia Crawford in Timestalkers (archive footage)

Henry Jaglom

as Dean in Venice/Venice (archive footage)

David Janssen

as Steve in Two-Minute Warning (archive footage)

Peter Jason

as Duty Sergeant in Escape From L.A. (archive footage)

Roy Jenson

as Mulvihill in Chinatown (archive footage)

Jack Klugman

as Sandman in Two-Minute Warning (archive footage)

Alan Ladd

as Philip Raven in This Gun For Hire (archive footage)

Stan Laurel

as Stan (archive footage)

Al Leong

as Uli in Die Hard (archive footage)

Jerry Lewis

as Jerome Littlefield in The Disorderly Orderly (archive footage)

Gary Lockwood

as George Matthews in Model Shop (archive footage)

Perry Lopez

as Escobar in Chinatown (archive footage)

Lyle Lovett

as Detective DeLongpre in The Player (archive footage)

Fred MacMurray

as Walter Neff in Double Indemnity (archive footage)

Guy Madison

as Cliff Harper in Till the End of Time (archive footage)

Joe Mantell

as Walsh in Chinatown (archive footage)

Matt McCoy

as Brett Chase in L.A. Confidential (archive footage)

Ralph Meeker

as Mike Hammer in Kiss Me Deadly (archive footage)

Sal Mineo

as John 'Plato' Crawford in Rebel Without A Cause (archive footage)

Harry Morgan

as Officer Bill Gannon in Dragnet (archive footage)

Robert Morley

as Sir Ambrose Abercrombie in The Loved Ones (archive footage)

Robert Morse

as Dennis Barlow in The Loved Ones (archive footage)

Tom Neal

as Al Roberts in Detour (archive footage)

Lloyd Nolan

as Dr. Vance in Earthquake (archive footage)

Edmond O'Brien

as Frank Bigelow in D.O.A (archive footage)

Carroll O'Connor

as Lt. Christy French in Marlowe (archive footage)

Belinda Palmer

as Katherine in Chinatown (archive footage)

Jürgen Prochnow

as Michael Kogan in The Replacement Killers (archive footage)

Tony Roberts

as Rob in Annie Hall (archive footage)

Cliff Robertson

as President in Escape From L.A. (archive footage)

Mitchell Ryan

as The Priest in Two-Minute Warning (archive footage)

Ann Savage

as Vera in Detour (archive footage)

Zachary Scott

as Monte Beragon in Mildred Pierce (archive footage)

Paolo Seganti

as Johnny Stompanato in L.A. Confidential (archive footage)

James Stacy

as Joe Brodnek in Flareup (archive footage)

Madeleine Stowe

as Karen Carr in Unlawful Entry (archive footage)

David Strathairn

as Pierce Patchett in L.A. Confidential (archive footage)

Gloria Swanson

as Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd (archive footage)

William Talman

as Dave Purvis in Armoured Car Robbery (archive footage)

Larenz Tate

as Frankie Lymon in Why Do Fools Fall In Love (archive footage)

George Tobias

as Al Doyle in Nobody Lives Forever (archive footage)

Lana Turner

as Cora Smith in The Postman Always Rings Twice (archive footage)

Diane Venora

as Justine in Heat (archive footage)

John Vernon

as Mal Reese in Point Blank (archive footage)

Craig Wasson

as Jake Scully in Body Double (archive footage)

Keenen Ivory Wayans

as Det. Jim Campbell in The Glimmer Man (archive footage)

Jack Webb

as Sergeant Joe Friday in Dragnet (archive footage)

Raquel Welch

as Michele in Flareup (archive footage)

James Whitmore

as Lou Hopke in Shadow in The Sky (archive footage)

Cornel Wilde

as Griff Marat in Shockproof (archive footage)

Mykelti Williamson

as Det. Oliver Franklin in First Power (archive footage)

Jonathan Winters

as Wilbur Glenworthy in The Loved Ones (archive footage)

Natalie Wood

as Judy in Rebel Without A Cause (archive footage)

Jenny Wright

as Diz in Out of Bounds (archive footage)

Burt Young

as Curly in Chinatown (archive footage)

Darrell Zwerling

as Hollis Mulwray in Chinatown (archive footage)

Kurt Russell

as Snake Plissken in Escape From L.A. (archive footage)

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