Secrets of CHINATOWN

CLOSER LOOKS BACK ON THE STRUGGLE TO CREATE THE ACCLAIMED NEO-NOIR THRILLER

- Louise A. Barile, Fortune Benatar

Over his storied career, Jack Nicholson has only played one detective, Jake Gittes, who made his debut in 1974’s Chinatown. “I just liked it because it was a departure from most films,” Jack said. “It was a detective with no gun.”

Chinatown, an ambitious neo-noir thriller starring Jack, Faye Dunaway and John Huston, would be among that year’s top 20 highest-grossing movies and earn 10 Academy Award nominations. “It’s a very carefully made film,” says Sam Wasson, author of The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood. “It presents a perfect American nightmare.”

LIKE OIL AND WATER

The making of this film about lies, corruption, conspiracies and greed also proved extremely challenging. Director Roman Polanski and screenwriter Robert Towne argued passionately about