In the Line of Fire

In the Line of Fire (1993)

Timing: 2:8 (128 min)

6.964/10
1752

7.213/10
11082

7.2/10
111349

All about film

Video 2

Photo 54

Actors and characters

Release date

1993-07-08

Country

United States

Production

Columbia Pictures, Castle Rock Entertainment, Apple / Rose

Genre

Action, Drama, Thriller, Crime, Mystery

Budget

$40 000 000

Revenue

$177 000 000

Website

Director

Wolfgang Petersen

Actors

Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, Rene Russo, Dylan McDermott, Gary Cole, Fred Thompson, John Mahoney, Gregory Alan Williams, Jim Curley, Sally Hughes
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Jeff Maguire

Producer

Jeff Apple, David Valdes, Wolfgang Petersen, Gail Katz

Operator

John Bailey

Composer

Ennio Morricone

Artist

Audition

Janet Hirshenson, Jane Jenkins

Editing

Anne V. Coates, Danis Regal-O'Connell
All team (80)

• 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).