Robert Evans Week: Chinatown

Howdy boys and girls and welcome back to Robert Evans Week.  This time around I thought we would go more into a neo film noir if you will.  A story of a private detective that gets in over his head, get muscled by some local talent, falls for the female client and in general get caught in a land grab scheme and did I mention a certain blonde bombshell happens in this film?  So keep a watch handy, know your street contacts and never sleep with the lady client.  This is Chinatown.

Alright, what or who is the Joker?

Noah Cross: Course I’m respectable. I’m old. Politicians, ugly buildings, and spoilers all get respectable if they last long enough.







Directed by Roman Polanski (The Fearless Vampire Killers, Rosemary’s Baby, Macbeth, The Tenant, Tess and Pirates) and written by writer Robert Towne (Bonnie and Clyde, The Last Detail, The Yakuza, Orca, Heaven Can Wait and 8 Million Ways to Die) comes a story of private detective J.J. or Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson of Easy Rider, 5 Easy Pieces, The Shining, As Good as It Gets and The Departed) fresh from a cheating wife case and the client while not thrilled settles most of the bill.  Gittes is asked to do a surveillance gig on a potential cheating husband by a woman that identifies herself as Evelyn Mulwray.  Jake follows Mr. Mulwray around a reservoir, a nearby oceanfront and finally back to a ritzy apartment snapping pics of Mulwray and a  pretty, young blonde girl.  The pictures end up in the newspaper the next day.

Back from his shave and haircut (two bits!!) he is confronted by a stunning woman who exclaims they have never met and tells Jake she is the actual Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway of The Towering Inferno, Three Days of the Condor, Network, Voyage of the Damned and Mommy Dearest) who then threatens a major lawsuit.  Realizing he has been left holding the bag, Gittes wants to know who wants to get at Mulwray but before he can get with the man he is found drown in a freshwater reservoir.   Jake looks into Mulwray’s death and find thousands of gallons of water are being dumped in the middle of a drought and the head security of Water and Power along with a hobbit with a knife work Jake over.
Mrs. Mulwray convinced that Jake will get himself killed wants to simply pay Jake off and call things square but Jake is looking to finding out the bigger picture around her husband’s death, why the water is being wasted and who stands to gain from this.

Another UFO sighting missed!

I had just a few comments about the flick.   The Chinatown screenplay is widely regarded as one of the most perfect write ups and as used as a teaching point in screenwriting seminars and classes all over the states.  Robert Towne wrote this screenplay with Nicholson in mind as the lead.
The movie line” Forget it, Jake it’s Chinatown.” was voted as the #71st of the 100 Greatest Movie Lines by Premiere.   A dark, gritty classic full of murder, romance and everything in between as Ms.Dunaway woos the crowd with her demeanor and attitude.

Towne and Polanski went round and round on the production of Chinatown.  Polanski is said to be a perfectionist demanded that he and Towne go over the script page by page and touch up everything.  As the writer, Towne was offended and snapped back.  Evans looked forward to Polanski taking the director's chair again and tackling a rough and tumble story in a city where everyone has secrets.

The story around the campfire is the role of Evelyn Mulray was intended for Evans' wife at the time Ali McGraw but she ultimately lost the role divorcing Evans for Steve McQueen.

This was to be the first part of a trilogy as Robert Evans and Jack Nicholson saw it.   At one point Towne and Nicholson wanted Evans to step away from the producer's chair and get into make-up for the sequel The Two Jakes in 1989 but they hit a snag or two in the greenlight.

Begone you little, repugnant man!