In the Line of Fire
Short description
Frank Horrigan is a veteran Secret Service agent who has never shaken off his part in the events in Dallas three decades earlier, when he was on the detail protecting President Kennedy. When a caller threatens the life of the sitting president, Horrigan pushes to return to protective duty, even as his superiors doubt the threat is real. The man behind the calls, who goes by the name Booth, knows a great deal about Horrigan and seems to be drawing him into the confrontation deliberately.
Clint Eastwood plays Horrigan, with John Malkovich as the caller, Rene Russo as a colleague on the president's detail, and Dylan McDermott, Gary Cole and Fred Thompson in supporting roles. Wolfgang Petersen directed from a screenplay by Jeff Maguire, with Jeff Apple producing. The film followed Petersen's Shattered and came between that thriller and Outbreak in a run of films that includes Das Boot, The NeverEnding Story and Enemy Mine.
Released in July 1993, the film cost about 40 million dollars and took in roughly 177 million worldwide, a strong return. It holds a 7.2 rating on IMDb from over 111,000 votes and a 7 on TMDB from a much smaller sample of 1,876. A critics' score of 7.7 from 73 reviews places it slightly above the audience marks.
What's left behind the scenes
- In one of the scenes, Clint Eastwood (who was 62 years old at the time) actually hung from a rope from the cornice on the sixth floor, although the jump to the fire escape was performed not by him, but by a stuntman.
- The scene in which John Malkovich's character puts a gun barrel in his mouth was invented by the actor on the spot. Director and executive producer Wolfgang Petersen (1941-2022) liked it so much that he decided to include it in the film.
- Preparing for the role of Mitch, actor John Malkovich lived in complete solitude for over a month in order to better feel the loneliness experienced by his character. The actor did not leave the house and did not answer phone calls. He rarely watched television, and only news programs.
- The main character, Frank Horrigan, is based on Clint Hill, a former US Secret Service agent who was part of President John F. Kennedy's (1917-1963) security detail during his assassination in Dallas on November 22nd.
- The film was consulted by actual Secret Service employees. This film was the first to which the US Secret Service contributed in this way.
- For the British film market release, the scene in which John Malkovich’s character kills a bank employee and his girlfriend was edited so that the audience did not see the exact moment when the killer breaks their necks. Malkovich wanted to include the killing of a dog in the same scene, but Wolfgang Petersen decided that would be going too far.
- In accordance with the 1988 US law on undetectable firearms, the composite-material pistol used in the film as a prop was destroyed in accordance with all formalities.
- Clint Eastwood is indeed a successful jazz pianist and plays the piano himself in the film.
- Some scenes depicting the presidential campaign actually show footage from Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign (the 42nd President of the United States, who led the country from 1993 to 2001).
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
