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Chinatown
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Chinatown (1974)

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User Rating: 8.5/10 (55,999 votes)
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IMDb Coverage of Comic-Con 2008

Overview

Director:
Roman Polanski
Writer:
Robert Towne (written by)
more
Release Date:
20 June 1974 (USA) more view trailer
Genre:
Crime | Mystery | Thriller more
Plot:
A private detective investigating an adultery case stumbles on to a scheme of murder that has something to do with water. full summary | full synopsis (warning! may contain spoilers)
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 17 wins & 22 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(20 articles)
AFI Picks Top Films By Genre (From Studio Briefing. 18 June 2008, 10:35 AM, PDT)
Polanski Slams Modern Film Studios (From WENN. 8 June 2008, 6:33 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
One of the top 100 films of all time more

Cast

 (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

Runtime:
131 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Stereo
MOVIEmeter: ?
V 24% since last week why?
Company:
Long Road more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The original script was over 300 pages. more
Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: Reflected in the glass behind Gittes while he signs the contract with Mrs. Mulwray. more
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.
more
Movie Connections:
Spoofed in "Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man: Noir Gang (#3.1)" (1996) more
Soundtrack:
Easy Living more

FAQ

Is there a sequel to "Chinatown"?
What is the meaning of "Chinatown"?
How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
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63 out of 109 people found the following comment useful:-
One of the top 100 films of all time, 6 August 2002
Author: raysond from Chapel Hill,North Carolina

The year 1974 was very memorable. That year several films were successes which consisted of Francis Coppula's "The Godfather:Part II",Alan Pakula's political thriller "The Parallex View",Robert Aldrich's "The Longest Yard",and not to mention the disaster epics of the day;Irwin Allen's "The Towering Inferno",and Mark Robson's "Earthquake" not to mention the films "The Conversation",and "The Great Gatsby","Lenny",and "Blazing Saddles" to name a few. But one film in particular stood out from all the rest and it shows why that was one of AFI's 100 top films of all time.

The year was 1974. The motion picture is "Chinatown". This was the movie that cemented Jack Nicholson as a bonafide superstar throughout the entire decade of the 1970's. This was the movie that started it all.

Jack Nicholson graduated from star to superstar playing a gumshoe in this marvelously intricate film noir of the 70's directed by Roman Polanski,who has a memorable cameo as a sadistic hood,gives Nicholson the most famous nose job in motion picture history. Robert Towne's Oscar winning script(whom they used in some acting and writing classes as a learning tool in some colleges)brilliantly depicts 1940's Los Angeles as a glittering cesspool of murder,incest,and corrupt land deals. Faye Dunaway steals the picture with a haunting performance as the film's alluring female fatale,and John Huston,as her creepy millionaire father,will make your skin crawl. The stunning finale still packs an emotional wallop. "Chinatown" was the apex of what the cinema of the 1970's was about to become,and this was the prime factor of that as well.

The film was nominated for 11 Oscars including Best Picture and won three for Best Original Score(Jerry Goldsmith),Best Screenplay(Robert Towne),and Best Supporting Actor(John Huston).

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Questions: Noah Cross and Ida Sessions thefutureisnowdm
Question... electrichead65
Chinatown vs. L.A. Confidential MCorleone54
I'm confused, why was Gittes needed? pacinocub
Whose house was that? fletch37
Was she raped? BrockAdam24
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