The Grifters (film) - Production

Production

The project originated with Martin Scorsese who subsequently brought in Stephen Frears to direct while he produced. Frears had just finished making Dangerous Liaisons and was looking for another project when Scorsese approached him. The British filmmaker was drawn to Thompson's "tough and very stylistic" writing and described it, "as if pulp fiction meets Greek tragedy". Scorsese looked for a screenwriter, and filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff recommended Donald Westlake.

Frears contacted Westlake who agreed to re-read the Thompson novel but, after doing so, turned the project down, citing the story as "too gloomy." Frears then phoned Westlake and convinced him that he saw the story as a positive one, if considered as a story of Lilly's drive to survive. Westlake changed his mind and agreed to write the adaptation. Frears was unsuccessful, however, at convincing Westlake to write the script under his pseudonym "Richard Stark," a name he had used to write 20 noir-influenced crime novels from 1962 through 1974. (Stark's name appears in the film, though, on a sign reading "Stark, Coe and Fellows"; Westlake explains in the film's commentary track that he has written novels as Richard Stark, Tucker Coe and "some other fellows.")

Meanwhile, John Cusack had read Jim Thompson's novel in 1985 and was so impressed by it that he wanted to turn the book into a film himself. When Cusack found out that Scorsese and Frears were planning an adaptation, he actively pursued a role in the project. Cusack has said that he saw the character of Roy Dillon as "a wonderfully twisted role to dive into." To research his role, he studied with real grifters and learned card and dice tricks as well as sleight-of-hand tricks like the $20 switch that his character does in the film. He even successfully pulled off this trick at a bar on a bartender he knew well.

For the role of Lilly, Frears originally considered Cher but she became too expensive after the success of Moonstruck. Sissy Spacek also read the part of Lily Dillon.

Frears first contacted Anjelica Huston about playing Lilly in 1989 while she was filming Crimes and Misdemeanors but, after reading the script, she was unsure. A few months later, Frears contacted Huston again to see if she was still interested. He was reluctant to cast her because she looked like "a lady" and decided to cheapen her look with a bleached blond wig and "vulgar clothes." Huston read the script again and felt more passionate about the part and was cast in the role. To research her part, she studied women dealers at card parlors in L.A. county.

The shoot was emotionally challenging for Huston. After completing the final scene between Lilly and Roy, she was so drained from the experience that she ran from the set and the studio. It took her hours to recover. After shooting the scene where Bobo Justus tortures Lilly for information, Huston was so affected by the rough quality of the scene (which did not make the final cut of the film) that she spent that night throwing up.