Part of 2024 In Tribute
In a legendary performance, three-time Academy Award winner Jack Nicholson stars as private eye Jake Gittes. Hired by a mysterious woman to investigate Hollis Mulwray, the chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Gittes’ sleuthing brings him into contact with Mulwray’s wife (Faye Dunaway), a stunning socialite with secrets of her own. As a determined Gittes delves deeper,he soon realizes that even the City of Angels has a dark side. This masterful neo-noir from controversial director Roman Polanski won its renowned screenwriter Robert Towne a Best Original Screenplay Oscar.
“The best private eye movie ever made. All the finest staples of the gumshoe tradition are present here…yet Towne adds new levels of sophistication to the genre. His script for the film incorporates a shocking update of Greek tragedy and, in drawing on the cynicism and disillusionment of the Watergate/Vietnam era, a subtly executed political allegory. A timeless classic.” —Rob Fraser, Empire Magazine
“[Jack Nicholson’s] performance is key in keeping CHINATOWN from becoming just a genre crime ‘picture — that, and a Robert Towne screenplay that evokes an older Los Angeles, a small city in a large desert.” —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
“The dialogue by Robert Towne has become part of the pop lexicon, F’orget it, Jake — it’s Chinatown! a catch phrase for being in over your head, or for hurting the one you were trying to help.” —Jeremiah Kipp, Slant Magazine