- Film Review
- Reviewed By Adrian Turner
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5 out of 5
Jack Nicholson here gives one of his best performances, playing a private eye called Jake Gittes, who pokes his nose rather too deeply into the lives of Faye Dunaway and her father, John Huston, a corrupt Los Angeles tycoon. Writer Robert Towne planned a trilogy about LA, and this first part, set in the 1930s, deals with the city's water supply and how that source of life leads to death and profit. The script - the best original work since Citizen Kane - is brilliantly organised, though the ending was changed when Roman Polanski arrived as director: Towne's story never got to Chinatown; Polanski insisted the climax was set there. The result was acrimony behind the scenes and genius on the screen in a masterpiece that repays any number of viewings.
Plot Summary
Oscar-winning period thriller starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston. When private eye JJ Gittes is hired to investigate the husband of a rich Los Angeles socialite, he stumbles into a web of deceit and murder and uncovers a terrible secret from the past.
Cast and crew
Cast
- JJ Gittes
- Jack Nicholson
- Evelyn Mulwray
- Faye Dunaway
- Noah Cross
- John Huston
- Escobar
- Perry Lopez
- Yelburton
- John Hillerman
- Hollis Mulwray
- Darrell Zwerling
- Ida Sessions
- Diane Ladd
- Mulvihill
- Roy Jenson
- Man with knife
- Roman Polanski
- Loach
- Richard Bakalyan
- Walsh
- Joe Mantell
- Duffy
- Bruce Glover
- Kahn
- James Hong
- Curly
- Burt Young
Crew
- Director
- Roman Polanski
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