Devil In A Blue Dress Movie

Surrounded by a swarm of noisy school kids, Carl Franklin is having his picture taken outside the Griffith Observatory at the foot of a statue commemorating the grand eminences of astronomy. The kids don't give Franklin a second glance--the cerebral film director's not the sort of guy who stands out in a crowd. Wearing a checkered blue shirt and sandals with a goatee and shades, he looks like a high school Marxist history teacher on holiday.

Some years ago, "An American Werewolf in London" turned that part of the horror genre around by making the man who became a beast under the light of the full moon a young Jewish guy from Long Island. He brought to the British Isles his nightmares about Nazis, his neuroses, his outsider paranoia and full servings of guilt, all of which were counterpointed by the parodic twists of urban Jewish wit.

For a brief moment it appeared as if the thriving Central Avenue of the '40s were alive again. Local nightclubs like the Downbeat and the Last Word were jumping, while Flo's Waffle Shop and the Lady Ebonee Beauty Center were open and ready for business. Passersby squinted and wondered if it could be. But it wasn't deja vu; it was only a movie.

Surrounded by a swarm of noisy school kids, Carl Franklin is having his picture taken outside the Griffith Observatory at the foot of a statue commemorating the grand eminences of astronomy. The kids don't give Franklin a second glance--the cerebral film director's not the sort of guy who stands out in a crowd. Wearing a checkered blue shirt and sandals with a goatee and shades, he looks like a high school Marxist history teacher on holiday.

Some years ago, "An American Werewolf in London" turned that part of the horror genre around by making the man who became a beast under the light of the full moon a young Jewish guy from Long Island. He brought to the British Isles his nightmares about Nazis, his neuroses, his outsider paranoia and full servings of guilt, all of which were counterpointed by the parodic twists of urban Jewish wit.

In March, filming will begin on "Devil in a Blue Dress," a movie starring Denzel Washington, to be directed by Carl Franklin, who directed the critically acclaimed "One False Move." This news in and of itself is unremarkable, except when one considers the film's source. "Devil in a Blue Dress" was originally a book written by Walter Mosley, the first installment of a detective series featuring the character Easy Rawlins.

For a brief moment it appeared as if the thriving Central Avenue of the '40s were alive again. Local nightclubs like the Downbeat and the Last Word were jumping, while Flo's Waffle Shop and the Lady Ebonee Beauty Center were open and ready for business. Passersby squinted and wondered if it could be. But it wasn't deja vu; it was only a movie.