COP
(ADAPTED FROM BLOOD ON THE MOON)
"BLOOD ON THE MOON," the first volume in the Lloyd Hopkins' trilogy (followed by "Because the Night" and "Suicide Hill"), was the first of Ellroy's works adapted for the screen. James Wood's starred as Hopkins; Lesley Ann Warren co-starred. The movie was released on video as "Cop," but is currently not available for purchase in the U.S.
In a 1987 interview, Ellroy said that he admired the work of filmmaker James B. Harris, who had optioned his book, "about a year and a half before." He said that Harris had been "stymied" in his first draft, and had flown Ellroy out to L.A. "We restructured a contrapuntal story,” Ellroy said, "Cop-Killer, Cop-Killer, into a strict police procedural." Ellroy said he wrote some scenes, but the script remained largely Harris'.
