Chinatown (motion picture)

Chinatown (motion picture), motion picture about a Los Angeles, California, detective uncovering a major political scandal. Released in 1974, this film won an Academy Award for Robert Towne’s screenplay. Director Roman Polanski re-created the look and mood of 1930s detective movies in this complicated crime drama. Jack Nicholson portrays a detective who is hired to investigate an extramarital affair but stumbles upon a series of larger crimes, including political corruption, incest, and murder. As the mystery unravels, new layers of complication present themselves and Nicholson’s character becomes more perplexed. An aura of uncertainty permeates the whole film, and even the final line—“Come on Jake, it’s Chinatown,”—which suggests that some situations are too complex to fully understand.

Director

• Roman Polanski

Cast

• 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)
• Dick Bakalyan (Loach)
• Joe Mantell (Walsh)
• Bruce Glover (Duffy)
• Nandu Hinds (Sophie)
• James O'Rear (Lawyer)
• James Hong (Evelyn's butler)
• Beulah Quo (Maid)
• Jerry Fujikawa (Gardener)
• Belinda Palmer (Katherine)
• Roy Roberts (Mayor Bagby)
• Noble Willingham (Councilman)
• Elliott Montgomery (Councilman)
• Rance Howard (Irate farmer)
• George Justin (Barber)
• Doc Erickson (Customer)
• Fritzi Burr (Mulwray's secretary)
• Charles Knapp (Mortician)
• Claudio Martinez (Boy on horseback)
• Frederico Roberto (Cross's butler)
• Allan Warnick (Clerk)
• Burt Young (Curly)
• Elizabeth Harding (Curly's wife)
• John Rogers (Mr. Palmer)
• Cecil Elliott (Emma Dill)
• Paul Jenkins (Policeman)
• Lee de Broux (Policeman)
• Bob Golden (Policeman)
• John Holland (Farmer in the valley)
• Jesse Vint (Farmer in the valley)
• Jim Burke (Farmer in the valley)
• Denny Arnold (Farmer in the valley)

Awards

• Academy Award for Writing—Original Screenplay (1974): Robert Towne
• Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture—Drama (1975)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor—Drama (1975): Jack Nicholson
• Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Director (1975): Roman Polanski
• Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay (1975): Robert Towne
• New York Film Critics’ Circle Award for Best Actor (1974): Jack Nicholson

Trivia

• The film’s director Roman Polanski plays the thug who slits Gittes’s nose.

Quotes

• Noah Cross (the evil land baron, who is guilty of incest, to Gittes): “See, Mr. Gittes, most people never have to face the fact that at the right time and the right place they are capable of anything.”
• J. J. Gittes (discovering the land fraud): “He passed away two weeks ago and he bought the land a week ago. That’s unusual.”