Scarlett Johansson’s “The Black Dhalia” On DVD

Acclaimed director Brian De Palma (‘Carrie’, ‘The Untouchables’, ‘Scarface’) and master storyteller James Ellroy (‘L.A. Confidential’) combine forces to take on the most notorious unsolved murder case in California history - ‘The Black Dahlia’. In the wake of its £1.5 million UK box office take, this provocative thriller will be released on DVD by Entertainment In Video on rental & retail on 22nd January 2007.

Josh Hartnett (‘Sin City’, ‘Lucky Number Slevin’), Scarlett Johansson (‘The Prestige’, ‘Lost In Translation’), Aaron Eckhart (‘Thank You For Smoking’) and two-time Academy Award® winner Hilary Swank (‘Million Dollar Baby’, ‘Boys Don't Cry’), head the impressive cast of a film that weaves a fictionalised tale of obsession, love, corruption, greed and depravity around the true story of the infamous killing of young Hollywood starlet Elizabeth Short in 1947.

The DVD includes more than 45 minutes of compelling bonus features that illuminate some of the mysteries enveloping the brutal murder that shocked and fascinated 1940’s America and that remains unsolved to this day.

In the heyday of post-World War II Los Angeles, corrupt politicians manipulate dirty cops who in turn help ruthless gangsters fund seedy filmmakers as they prey on young actresses desperate to find their place in a fantasy world.

Against this unsavoury backdrop, two Los Angeles detectives, Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) and Bucky Bleichert (Josh Hartnett), are called to investigate the slaying of Betty Ann Short (Mia Kirshner), an ambitious silver-screen B-lister whose habit of wearing a flower in her hair earned her the nickname The Black Dahlia.

With a corpse so mutilated that photos are kept from the public, the case becomes an obsession for the men. Before long their lives have begun to unravel.

While Blanchard’s growing preoccupation with the murder threatens his relationship with Kay (Scarlett Johansson), his partner Bleichert finds himself attracted to the enigmatic Madeleine Linscott (Hilary Swank). The daughter of one of the city’s most prominent families, it seems that Madeleine has a dark and twisted connection to the murder victim.

Determined to be famous, destined to be infamous, Betty Short affected more lives dead than she possibly could alive.

‘The Black Dahlia’ has a 15 certificate and a running time of 121 minutes, RRP DVD £13.61.