Chinatown (1974)

A private detective investigating an adultery case stumbles on to a scheme of murder that has something to do with water.

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writer:

Robert Towne

Stars:

Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston

Top 250 #84 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 20 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Nicholson	...	J.J. Gittes
Faye Dunaway	...	Evelyn Mulwray
John Huston	...	Noah Cross
Perry Lopez	...	Escobar
John Hillerman	...	Yelburton
Darrell Zwerling	...	Hollis Mulwray
Diane Ladd	...	Ida Sessions
Roy Jenson	...	Mulvihill
Roman Polanski	...	Man with Knife
Richard Bakalyan	...	Loach (as Dick Bakalyan)
Joe Mantell	...	Walsh
Bruce Glover	...	Duffy
Nandu Hinds	...	Sophie
James O'Rear	...	Lawyer (as James O'Reare)
James Hong	...	Evelyn's Butler

Storyline

JJ 'Jake' Gittes is a private detective who seems to specialize in matrimonial cases. He is hired by Evelyn Mulwray when she suspects her husband Hollis, builder of the city's water supply system, of having an affair. Gittes does what he does best and photographs him with a young girl but in the ensuing scandal, it seems he was hired by an impersonator and not the real Mrs. Mulwray. When Mr. Mulwray is found dead, Jake is plunged into a complex web of deceit involving murder, incest and municipal corruption all related to the city's water supply.

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Plot Keywords:

water | detective | murder | corruption | private detective | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Cantonese Spanish

Release Date:

20 June 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Barrio Chino

Filming Locations:

1315 South El Molino Drive, South Pasadena, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Penthouse

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The last movie Roman Polanski filmed in the US.

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Goofs

When Jake gets home after following Mrs. Mulwray and his phone rings, it is clearly not the sound of a 1937 telephone. The sound of his placing the receiver on the cradle is authentic, but the ringer is no earlier than the sixties.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jake Gittes: All right, Curly. Enough's enough. You can't eat the Venetian blinds. I just had them installed on Wednesday.

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Connections

Referenced in Six Feet Under: An Open Book (2001)

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Soundtracks

"The Way You Look Tonight"
from the film "Swing Time"
Music by Jerome Kern
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields

User Reviews

Gittes gits it done.

Truly deserving of its title as one of the greatest films of all time, Chinatown delivers in spades. Everything about the film shines, and it looks better now than it probably did in 1974; of course, there's a lot of junk in the theaters these days. Acting, cinematography, script, atmosphere, it's all 10s baby. The story of a struggling P.I. getting a case that has more twists and turns than a mountain road is still one of the most crafted storylines ever concocted. Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, John Hillerman, and everyone else deliver superb performances. Robert Towne's script, John A. Alonzo's camerawork, and Polanski's direction all make this a classic. You can't be a movie buff if you haven't seen this one.