Chinatown (1974)
96%RT Audience Score: 93%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
21 wins & 24 nominations total
As bruised and cynical as the decade that produced it, this noir classic benefits from Robert Towne’s brilliant screenplay, director Roman Polanski’s steady hand, and wonderful performances from Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway.
This flick is as beat up and jaded as the era it came from, but damn if it ain’t a classic. You got Robert Towne’s killer script, Roman Polanski’s slick direction, and Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway bringing their A-game. It’s like a dark and twisted love letter to LA, with all the corruption and deceit you could ask for. Trust me, you won’t regret giving this one a watch.
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures, Penthouse Video Long Road Productions,
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Spring Street, Chinatown, Los Angeles, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1974
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Mono
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:2h 11m
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Language(s):English, Cantonese, Spanish
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jun 20, 1974 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 23, 1999
Genre(s)
Crime/Drama
Keyword(s)
Worldwide gross: $29,225,935
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $193,662,529
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 714
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 21,119,142
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $6,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $39,758,358
Production budget ranking: 967
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $21,409,876
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $132,494,296
ROI to date (est.): 217%
ROI ranking: 601
-Gittes.jpg?w=900&ssl=1 "J. J. (Jake) Gittes")
Faye Dunaway – Evelyn Cross Mulwray
John Huston – Noah Cross
Perry Lopez – Lt. Lou Escobar
John Hillerman – Russ Yelburton
Darrell Zwerling – Hollis I. Mulwray
Director(s)
Roman Polanski
Writer(s)
Robert Towne, Roman Polanski
Producer(s)
Robert Evans
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
21 wins & 24 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Writing Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Winners, Oscar Winners
All Critics (78) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (77) | Rotten (1)
[Polanski] handles the mechanics of the plot with a ruthless brilliance that is immediately involving.
April 1, 2020
Tom Milne
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
In its total recapturing of a past, in its plot, its vivid characterizations, its carefully calculated and accelerating pace, its whole demonstration of a medium mastered, Chinatown reminds you again that motion pictures are larger, not smaller than life.
April 22, 2019
Charles Champlin
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
As private investigator Jake Gittes, hired to dig up some dirt on Hollis Mulwray, chief engineer of Los Angeles’s water department, Nicholson saunters round the city delivering one-liners with offhand brilliance.
May 18, 2016 | Rating: 5/5
Alastair Sooke
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Chinatown is deliciously, intolerably cruel as it toys with us.
February 4, 2014 | Rating: A+
Odie Henderson
Movie Mezzanine
TOP CRITIC
As much as I admire the work of both Polanski and Nicholson, I found Chinatown tedious from beginning to just before the end.
January 18, 2013 | Rating: 2.5/4
Gene Siskel
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
Polanski’s telling of his tale of corruption in LA is masterly – thrilling, humorous and disturbing at the same time – and brilliantly played by John Huston and Faye Dunaway as well as Nicholson.
January 4, 2013 | Rating: 4/5
Derek Malcolm
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
Chinatown marked the creative zenith for many of those involved in the production, and in particular Robert Towne, who went on to win multiple awards for his screenplay, still considered by most to be the finest of its kind ever written.
March 7, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
Michael Clark
Epoch Times
Polanskis predilection for obsessive detail, fatalistic and ironical conclusions, and unconventional storytelling transform the result into an unforgettable and unique motion picture that embodies classic detective film noir thirty years after its zenith
February 23, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
While Chinatown has a lot of the hallmarks of a Polanski film, it manages to stay most true to its film noir roots.
March 24, 2021
Sarah Brinks
Battleship Pretension
One of the best screenplays of all time, even in spite of its Oscar-winning screenwriter Robert Towne.
September 8, 2020 | Rating: 5/5
Matt Neal
ABC Radio (Australia)
The epitome of contemporary film noir.
August 27, 2020 | Rating: 10/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
It was with Chinatown that Nicholson made the world sit up and notice: he’s in every scene of this film and he fills the frame with that heady mixture of knowing charm and explosive energy.
June 12, 2020 | Rating: 5/5
Simon Weaving
Screenwize…
Plot
In 1937 Los Angeles, private investigator Jake ‘J.J.’ Gittes specializes in cheating-spouse cases. His current target is Hollis Mulwray, high-profile chief engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, whose wife suspects him of infidelity. In following Mulwray, Gittes witnesses some usual business dealings, such as a public meeting for construction of a new dam to create additional water supply for Los Angeles, as fresh water is vital to the growing community during the chronic drought; Mulwray opposes the dam. Eventually Gittes sees Mulwray meeting with an unknown young woman who isn’t his wife. Once news of the supposed tryst between Mulwray and this woman hits the media, additional information comes to light that makes Gittes believe that Mulwray is being framed for something and that he himself is being set up. In his investigation of the issue behind Mulwray’s framing and his own setup, Gittes is assisted by Mulwray’s wife Evelyn, but he thinks she isn’t being forthright with him. The further he gets into the investigation, the more secrets he uncovers about the Mulwrays’ professional and personal dealings, including Mulwray’s former business-partnership with Evelyn’s father, Noah Cross. The identity of the unknown woman may be the key to uncovering the whole story.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
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