Chinatown (1974)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writer:

Robert Towne (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

20 June 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Water | Detective | Murder | Corruption | Private Detective

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 18 wins & 22 nominations

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
Richard Bakalyan	...	Loach (as Dick Bakalyan)
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
C.O. Erickson	...	Customer (as Doc Erickson)
Fritzi Burr	...	Mulwray's Secretary
Charles Knapp	...	Mortician
Claudio Martínez	...	Boy on Horseback
Federico Roberto	...	Cross' Butler
Allan Warnick	...	Clerk
John Holland	...	Farmer in the Valley
Jesse Vint	...	Farmer in the Valley
Jim Burk	...	Farmer in the Valley (as Jim Burke)
Denny Arnold	...	Farmer in the Valley
Burt Young	...	Curly
Elizabeth Harding	...	Curly's Wife
John Rogers	...	Mr. Palmer
Cecil Elliott	...	Emma Dill
Paul Jenkins	...	Policeman
Lee de Broux	...	Policeman (as Lee DeBroux)
Bob Golden	...	Policeman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Richard Warren	...	Driver (uncredited)

Directed by
Roman Polanski

Writing credits
Robert Towne		(written by)
Roman Polanski		uncredited

Produced by
C.O. Erickson	....	associate producer
Robert Evans	....	producer

Original Music by
Jerry Goldsmith

Cinematography by
John A. Alonzo

Film Editing by
Sam O'Steen

Casting by
Jane Feinberg
Mike Fenton

Production Design by
Richard Sylbert

Art Direction by
W. Stewart Campbell

Set Decoration by
Ruby R. Levitt		(as Ruby Levitt)

Costume Design by
Anthea Sylbert

Makeup Department
Hank Edds	....	makeup artist
Susan Germaine	....	hair stylist
Lee Harman	....	makeup artist
Vivienne Walker	....	hair stylist

Production Management
C.O. Erickson	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Ader	....	second assistant director
Hawk Koch	....	assistant director (as Howard W. Koch Jr.)
Lee Rafner	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Bill MacSems	....	property master
Gabe Resh	....	set designer
Robert Resh	....	set designer
L. David Gordon	....	draper (uncredited)
Mike Reedy	....	property maker (uncredited)

Sound Department
Clint Althouse	....	boom operator (as Clint Althaus)
Bob Cornett	....	sound editor
Charles Grenzbach	....	sound re-recordist
Larry Jost	....	sound mixer
Howard Beals	....	sound editor (uncredited)
David Dockendorf	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)
Roger Sword	....	sound editor (uncredited)
John Wilkinson	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Logan Frazee	....	special effects

Stunts
Jim Burk	....	stunts
Steven Burnett	....	stunts (uncredited)
Alan Gibbs	....	stunts (uncredited)
Hal Needham	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Hugh K. Gagnier	....	camera operator
Earl Gilbert	....	gaffer
Bernie Schwartz	....	key grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Richard Bruno	....	wardrobe
Jean Merrick	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Florence Williamson	....	assistant editor

Music Department
John C. Hammell	....	music editor
Arthur Morton	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Uan Rasey	....	musician: trumpet solo (uncredited)

Other crew
May Wale Brown	....	script supervisor
Gary Chazan	....	assistant to producer
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer
Lee Sollenberger	....	animal trainer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures
• Long Road
• Penthouse

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1974) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinéma International Corporation (CIC) (1974) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• C.I.C. (Consorcio Ibérico Cinematográfico) (1974) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1974) (France) (theatrical)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1974) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• CIC (1974) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1975) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Argentina Video Home (2002) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2002) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• CIC Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• CIC-Taft Home Video (19??) (Australia) (VHS)
• CIC-Taft Home Video (19??) (Australia) (video) (laserdisc)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1976) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2000) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2000) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Award Winning Collection)
• Paramount Home Video (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Paramount Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Paramount Home Video (19??) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Paramount Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Phillips (1992) (Germany) (video) (laserdisc)
• Prem'er Video Fil'm (19??) (Russia) (VHS)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2002) (Argentina) (all media) (re-release)

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes
• Freedom Service Company  production services
• The Family Jewels  jewellery

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:16 | UK:15 (video rating) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Brazil:12 | West Germany:16 (f) | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

1972 Canyon Drive, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Roman Polanski eliminated Jake Gittes' voiceover narration, which was written in the script, and filmed the movie so that the audience discovered the clues at the same time Gittes did.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Among the items in Ida Session's pocketbook, which Gittes rummages through is a social security card which is 1970s style with blue and red ink, not the 1937 style which had only one color, and a different look.

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders (#11.3)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

I Can't Get Started

Marvelous

There is a word, impossible to spell, that describes the alignment of solar bodies like the planets when they all fall into place together. A similar word would describe this film. Everything about it is right. Polanski never directed a better movie. The performers, down to the lowest atmosphere person, are superb. The editing, the score, the sound, the decor, the dialog, all are just about flawless. The photography is peerless. The white garden apartments, the terra cotta roof tiles, the palms and desert sand are all painted with a faint gold, faintly ripe with false promise, like the oranges that bounce from Gittes' desperately speeding car in the northwest Valley.

Polanski deserves much of the credit. When Gittes surprises Evelyn Mulwray in her car, after he follows her to her daughter's house, her face slumps forward and beeps the horn briefly. Then, so faintly, we hear a few dogs bark in the background. Not only is the scene itself exquisitely done but it prefigures the ending, as does Gittes' remark earlier to Evelyn that she has a flaw in her iris. The movie is too good to deserve much dissecting. It stands repeated watching. If there is anything wrong with it, it is the serious and tragic ending that Polanski always insists on tacking on. Robert Towne was right and Polanski wrong in this case. Everything came together on this film. It's not only the best detective movie ever made; it's one of the best movies ever made -- period. A marvelous job by everyone concerned.

I have to add (6/27/05) that the word I mentioned in the first sentence is spelled "syzygy." Man, did I get enlightening email on that. I might as well add two other impressive features of this movie. (1) Polanksi takes his time. Example: Gittes sneaks into Hollis Mulwray's office and begins to go through the drawers of his old-fashioned wooden desk. As he slides each drawer out, Polanksi gives us a shot of their humdrum contents (checkbooks, magnifying glass, and so forth) and we can almost smell the heat and the odor of shellac and sawdust emanating from the wooden containers. The contents reveal nothing of importance in this case. But (2) sometimes irrelevant information crops up that resonates later in the film with its own echo. The detail might be just a word ("applecore") or an ordinary object (a pair of spectacles found in a pond, immediately after Gittes imitates the Japanese gardener's remark that the water is bad for the "glass.") Some of the references may be so consistent as to constitute a theme (water). None of this hits you over the head with its significance. It's all very neatly stitched together.