Director:		Roman Polanski
Year:		1974
Language:		English
Time:		130 minutes

Hollis Mulwray is a chief engineer of the water department. Ida Sessions, pretending to be his wife Evelyn (Faye Dunaway), asks P.I. JJ Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) to investigate his adulterous ways. Jake takes photos of Hollis with a young lady. Hollis then turns up murdered, which Jake decides to investigate. Jake finds more than he was looking for. He discovers a plot to buy cheap, unwatered land for low prices, water the land, and sell it for millions of dollars. The plot is masterminded by one Noah Cross (John Huston), who is Evelyn's father and Hollis' one-time business partner. His investigation leads him to an affair with Evelyn and a discussion with Noah Cross, both of whom seem curiously interested in the girl Hollis was seen with.

Robert Towne and Roman Polanski (uncredited) wrote the screenplay which received the 1974 Academy Award for best original screenplay. Received ten other Academy Award nominations that year.

Rated R.

Links

Learn more about Film Noir.

The director's filmography.

An interview with the director.

Useful reviews and other information about Chinatown can be found at:

www.filmsite.org/chin.html

movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/c/chinatown.html