IMDb RATING
7.8/10
2.9K
YOUR RATING
A documentary on how Los Angeles has been used and depicted in the movies.A documentary on how Los Angeles has been used and depicted in the movies.A documentary on how Los Angeles has been used and depicted in the movies.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 1 nomination
Photos
Encke King
- Narrator
- (voice)
Ben Alexander
- Officer Frank Smith in Dragnet
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Jim Backus
- Frank Stark in Rebel Without A Cause
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Brenda Bakke
- Lana Turner in L.A. Confidential
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Gene Barry
- Dr. Clayton Forrester
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Richard Basehart
- Roy Morgan
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
- …
Hugh Beaumont
- George Copeland in The Blue Dahlia
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
William Bendix
- Buzz Wanchek in The Blue Dahlia
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Ann Blyth
- Veda Pierce in Mildred Pierce
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Jim Bouton
- Terry Lennox in The Long Goodbye
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Grand L. Bush
- FBI Agent Little Johnson in Die Hard
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
James Cagney
- Tom Powers in The Public Enemy
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Lon Chaney Jr.
- Charles 'Butcher' Benton in The Indestructible Man
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
John Considine
- Doctor Crawford
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
- …
Bill Cosby
- Al Hickey in Hickey & Boggs
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Robert Culp
- Frank Boggs in Hickey & Boggs
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Howard Duff
- Dave Pomeroy in Panic in the City
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Deanna Durbin
- Penny in Three Smart Girls
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- GoofsThe narration describes architect John Lautner's famous Chemosphere house as "a hexagon of wood, steel, and glass." The Chemosphere is octagonal.
- ConnectionsFeatured in MsMojo: Top 10 Movies to Watch if You Liked La La Land (2017)
Featured review
You may have noticed other comments here saying that the film is long, boring and has a droning voice over. While it is 3 hours long and has a narrator with a voice like a sedated Billy Bob Thornton, Los Angeles Plays Itself is one of the most fascinating film-crit documentaries ever made.
The director assumes that the viewer has a certain level of understanding of film theory, and that would probably help when the narrator starts citing David Thomson, Pauline Kael, Dziga Veryov and Ozu, but it's not entirely necessary to enoy the film either. All you really need is an understanding that a real place - the city of Los Angeles - is also a fictional place - the LA of the movies. The documentary is like an extended home movie made up of clips from films and interspersed with sections created by the director.
What holds it all together is an examination of Los Angeles as a place in films (locations, buildings), as a stand in for other places (Africa, Switzerland), as a record of places lost (buildings, neighborhoods, people, cultures), as focus for nightmares and dreams (SF like Blade Runner and Independence Day) and more.
While the voice over could have been paced a little better and be bit more "up", this film really rewards viewers who are willing to accept the documentary on its own terms. I found I just couldn't stop thinking about it and now, when watching movies shot in LA, I keep remembering moments from Los Angeles Plays Itself.
The director assumes that the viewer has a certain level of understanding of film theory, and that would probably help when the narrator starts citing David Thomson, Pauline Kael, Dziga Veryov and Ozu, but it's not entirely necessary to enoy the film either. All you really need is an understanding that a real place - the city of Los Angeles - is also a fictional place - the LA of the movies. The documentary is like an extended home movie made up of clips from films and interspersed with sections created by the director.
What holds it all together is an examination of Los Angeles as a place in films (locations, buildings), as a stand in for other places (Africa, Switzerland), as a record of places lost (buildings, neighborhoods, people, cultures), as focus for nightmares and dreams (SF like Blade Runner and Independence Day) and more.
While the voice over could have been paced a little better and be bit more "up", this film really rewards viewers who are willing to accept the documentary on its own terms. I found I just couldn't stop thinking about it and now, when watching movies shot in LA, I keep remembering moments from Los Angeles Plays Itself.
- How long is Los Angeles Plays Itself?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Los Angeles Kendini Oynuyor
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $6,945
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $5,005
- Aug 1, 2004
- Gross worldwide
- $8,218
- Runtime2 hours 49 minutes
- Color
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By what name was Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003) officially released in India in English?
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