'Gangster Squad's' Josh Brolin appreciates film's nod to LA history
BY GEORGE LANG NewsOK.com
Saturday, January 12, 2013
1/12/13 at 4:15 AM
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Josh Brolin is a seventh-generation Californian and a second-generation Hollywood actor, but history is not always easy to see in a city under constant renovation. Brolin's star-turn as Sgt. John O'Mara in the gangland potboiler "Gangster Squad" taught the 44-year-old actor a lot about the Los Angeles Police Department's covert war against mobster Mickey Cohen, but then he got a surprise lesson from his father, actor James Brolin, about the lost landmarks where Cohen held court.
"My dad came to visit us when we were doing the scene at O'Mara's house one day," Brolin said during a press day for "Gangster Squad" at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles.
"We were looking out on the street that had been re-created, and he just kind of went off on these stories about when he was 9 years old. How he used to ... peek in the back of Slapsy Maxie's, go down the street to Ciro's looking for Mickey Cohen and his goons."
Those infamous haunts where Cohen collected a steady stream of dirty money are lost to history: The former site of Slapsy Maxie's is now an Office Depot, and Ciro's, located on Sunset Boulevard, has been the Comedy Store for 41 years.
Original Print Headline: Brolin appreciates historical nod of 'Gangster Squad'
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Associated Images:
To bring the story of mobster Mickey Cohen's reign over post-war Los Angeles to life, the director of "Gangster Squad" employed Ryan Gosling (left), Josh Brolin (center) and more than 100 vintage American cars. WILSON WEBB/Warner Bros. Pictures/AP
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