| Errors | Missing | Unverified | Supported |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
In Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019), the two main characters, Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), know each other from their long-standing professional partnership in the television industry, specifically dating back to the early 1960s.
Rick and Cliff first met in 1961 on the set of the fictional TV Western series Bounty Law. Rick Dalton was the star of the show (playing the lead character, Jake Cahill), and Cliff Booth was hired to be his stunt double.
While the film depicts them in 1969 when their careers are in decline, their bond was forged years earlier through a specific life-saving event and a unique professional dynamic:
While Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) is a central character, the film highlights that Rick and Cliff do not know her personally for most of the movie. Rick is aware that she and her husband Roman Polanski are his next-door neighbors on Cielo Drive, and he views them as "golden" Hollywood elite whom he hopes to eventually meet to revitalize his career. Cliff only "meets" her at the very end of the film under the alternate-history circumstances involving the Manson Family intruders.
The summary focuses on the fire incident as the bonding moment (which is correct for the 'meeting' query), but omits Cliff's status as a highly decorated and lethal WWII veteran, which is a major part of his character's backstory in the novel.
Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth met in 1961 on the set of the fictional TV series Bounty Law, where Cliff was hired as Rick's stunt double. Their bond was solidified when Cliff saved Rick from an accidental fire on set (a detail from the novelization). In 1969, Cliff works as Rick's driver because Rick lost his license due to DUIs. While Rick meets Sharon Tate at the end of the film, Cliff does not; he is hospitalized after the fight with the Manson family.