CULTURE

Gangster Squad

Director Ruben Fleischer takes us on a perp walk through his stylish L.A. Noir.


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There may be no more classically American film than a gangster flick set in Los Angeles on the cusp of the fifties—that pre-tabloid golden age when movie stars were magnificent creatures captivating the public imagination. “It was a glamorous time,” says director Ruben Fleischer, whose Gangster Squad is based on a seven-part series of articles by Los Angeles Times reporter Paul Lieberman. “L.A. was the place to be.” Evidently, Mickey Cohen—a pugilistic Brooklyn mobster, played by Sean Penn—arrived at the same conclusion. Cohen headed west to claim his lot and, with the notoriously corrupt LAPD in his pocket, soon ran all the vice operations in Tinseltown—except for one clandestine crew of renegade cops, led by Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling). Known as the Gangster Squad, they had one sole purpose—to take down Cohen, by means legal or otherwise. In the film, Fleischer throws in an illicit romance: The ­roguish Wooters, who according to Lieberman was the most reckless of the Gangsters, courts potentially lethal trouble by chasing Cohen’s flame, Grace Faraday (Emma Stone).

“It’s been a while since people really fell in love with an American gangster movie,” says Fleischer, 37. He may have a point: In recent years, the genre has found its most potent expression overseas, in the likes of Italy’s Gomorrah and France’s Mesrine and Carlos. So when Warner Bros.—a studio built upon the pinstriped shoulders of Jimmy Cagney and Edward G. Robinson—sought to revive one of its most storied cinematic traditions, it called upon Fleischer, who’d previously helmed the surprisingly successful horror comedy Zombieland, for some new energy. “It’s a modern take on the tradition,” Fleischer says, “and hopefully a return to form.”

Gangster Squad

This was our very first day of shooting. Josh Brolin plays John O-Mara, a hard-nosed cop headed into the hornet’s nest—mob boss Mickey Cohen’s HQ. He’s trapped in an elevator with two thugs, but he fights his way out.

Photographs: Wilson Webb

A police chase ends with a crash through a skylight and directly into this studio during a pinup shoot with Bettie Page (played by Nancy McCrumb).

Photographs: Wilson Webb

In this scene, Ryan Gosling’s character, Jerry Wooters (a cop), introduces himself to Grace Faraday, played by Emma Stone. Obviously they have great chemistry.

Photographs: Wilson Webb

Me and Nick Notle, who plays the police cheif, Bill Parker. In the script, he’s likened to Richard the Lionheart. Only Nolte could pull that off.

Photographs: Wilson Webb

One of my favorite locations: Clifton’s, a real restaurant that’s been in Los Angeles since the thirties. A time warp.

Photographs: Wilson Webb

It was hard to re-create vintage LA—there are so many tall buildings now. We had to go to the outer reaches of the city, to neighborhoods like Sylmar.

Photographs: Wilson Webb

A turning point for Gosling’s character: A little kid gets killed by Cohen’s assassins ina shoot-out. This is when he decides to get on board—as it says in the script, “the long-sleeping cop comes to life.”

Photographs: Wilson Webb

The full squad: Brolin, Robert Patrick, Anthony Mackie, Michael Pena, Gosling and Giovanni Ribisi. Six amazing actors—and some of the funniest dudes ever assembled.

Photographs: Wilson Webb
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