After showing their unique style and incredible versatility as filmmakers with their first two films, the Coen brothers set out to make a very different movie for their third feature. Miller’s Crossing was a throwback to the gangster films set in the 1930s, and tells the story of a right-hand man to an Irish mob boss whose loyalty is put to the test during a gang war.
The movie mixed the somber tone of Blood Simple with some of the outrageous humor of Raising Arizona along plenty of other influences. It’s a complex, compelling and thrilling gangster story with plenty to catch on your second viewing. Here are some of the hidden details you might have missed in Miller’s Crossing.
The Hat
The Coens have often said their ideas for scripts can start from any kind of place. It could be a character, a scene, an image or whatever inspires them at a given moment. For Miller’s Crossing, it all started with an image of a fedora hat blowing in the wind among tall trees.
For the Coens, this image began to conjure up several ideas that would become vital to the story. They like the odd placement of the gangster world in a quiet and peaceful nature setting, which birthed the famous sequences taking place in the forest. The image of the hat was used to open the film.
Batman
It seems like these days, any independent filmmaker who makes a name for themselves will be offered a superhero movie immediately. It appears that this is not a new idea as, following the success of Blood Simple and Raising Arizona, the Coens were among the filmmakers considered to helm the big-screen version of Batman.
The brothers reportedly passed on the film in order to make Miller’s Crossing instead, and Tim Burton ended up getting the job. Interestingly, this film’s gothic 1930s setting shares some similarities to Burton’s Batman. Though it would have been interesting to see what the Coens would have done with the Batman movie, we’re glad to have gotten Miller’s Crossing.
Influences
The Coens often draw from a variety of sources when creating a film, and Miller’s Crossing was no different. One of the biggest influences for this particular tale was Dashiell Hammett’s writing. Hammett is an iconic figure in noir literature, and the Coens sought to mimic his language and style for the film’s dialogue.
As for the plot, the Coens found inspiration in the classic samurai film Yojimbo and its western remake Fist Full of Dollars. Like those films, Miller’s Crossing finds one man in the middle of two warring gangs as he plays both sides.
Barton Fink
Writing the complex script for this film proved to be challenging for the Coens. As they struggled with the twists and turns of the plot, they soon found themselves with writer’s block.
Frustrated, they put aside the script for Miller’s Crossing and started writing a second script about a writer suffering from writer’s block. In three weeks, they had a script for Barton Fink, their next movie. As a nod to that script, Tom’s apartment in Miller’s Crossing is at a place called the Barton Arms.
Albert Finney
One of the central characters in the film is Leo, Tom Reagan’s boss and the leader of the Irish gang. The role was originally meant for Trey Wilson, an actor who played Nathan Arizona Sr. in the Coens’ previous film, Raising Arizona. Sadly, Wilson passed away shortly before filming started.
Albert Finney quickly stepped into the role and performed it brilliantly. He also played a second small cameo role that you might have missed. In the scene where Tom barges into the ladies’ restroom to talk to Verna, Finney can briefly be seen in the background dressed as a woman.
Peter Stormare
Miller’s Crossing featured the Coens’ first collaboration with some of the actors who would become regulars in their films, including John Turturro and Steve Buscemi. Another of their soon-to-be regulars was almost involved in the film as the role of Eddie the Dane was originally written for Peter Stormare.
Scheduling conflicts prevented Stormare from taking the part and the role went to J.E. Freeman instead. Stormare would eventually go on to appear in the Coens’ Fargo and The Big Lebowski.
Barry Sonnenfeld
This film would mark the last time the Coens would collaborate with Barry Sonnenfeld, the cinematographer who had worked with them on their two previous films. Sonnenfeld would later go on to have a successful directing career of his own, most notably with the Men in Black films.
Sonnenfeld later said that this film was his favorite collaboration with the Coens as it was the easiest to shoot and because he would later marry his wife at the wrap party for the film. Interestingly, John Turturro has said he based his performance as Bernie Bernbaum on Sonnenfeld.
Sam Raimi
Early in their career, the Coens were good friends and collaborators with the up-and-coming filmmaker, Sam Raimi. Though this was years before he would be helming big superhero films, Raimi was establishing himself has an exciting filmmaker thanks to his Evil Dead films.
The Coens and Raimi had worked with each other on various projects behind the scenes, but they decided to give Raimi a rare on-camera appearance in Miller’s Crossing. During the scene in which the cops bomb a bar, Raimi appears as the laughing cop who wields two handguns.
Danny Boy
Surely, the most memorable scene in the film is the attempted assassination of Leo by Johnny Caspar’s men. The thrilling sequence is one of the best action sequences the Coens have made and is made even better by the fact that it is set to an operatic rendition of “Danny Boy.”
This version of the famous Irish song was sung by Irish tenor Frank Patterson. The Coens oversaw the recording of the song as they needed it to match with certain moments in the sequence.
Language Of The Film
The dialogue in a Coen Brothers film is always a treat to listen to. They have a distinct way of writing that makes every line so captivating with unusual sayings and word choices. In Miller’s Crossing, they infused their writing with slang and terminology of the period which adds an interesting element to the scenes.
Some of the frequently used words in the film might be unfamiliar to most viewers. A “twist” is a derogatory term for a woman, a “yegg” is usually reserved for safecrackers but can mean criminal of any kind. “Schmatte” is a term reserved for Bernie and is a Yiddish word meaning poor quality or worthless.
