Chinatown
Perhaps the greatest example of the image of the moving-picture show noirbeing used to search modern-day social issuesdecades after the literary genre ’s heyday ( in other words , a neo - noir),Chinatownis a cinematic chef-d’oeuvre . It’sanchored by riveting performancesfrom Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway .
The screenplay by Robert Towne is widely regarded to be the heavy ever written , or at least a perfect example of a storey being written for the screen . It ’s taught in every screenwriting class deserving its salt and it can be analyzed and dissected until the ending of clip . Here are 10 fascinating details from the making ofChinatown .
Robert Towne Chose To Write Chinatown Instead Of Writing The Great Gatsby For $100,000 More
Before writingChinatown , screenwriter Robert Towne was offered the chance to eitheradaptThe Great Gatsbyinto a moviefor $ 125,000 or drop a line an original screenplay for $ 25,000 .
Since he did n’t think he could tell the story ofGatsbyany better than F. Scott Fitzgerald did in the original novel , Towne decided to take the $ 25,000 offer and come up withChinatown .
Faye Dunaway And Roman Polanski Fought Constantly During Filming
To say that the discrepancy between Faye Dunaway and Roman Polanski got heat on the band ofChinatownwould be a monumental understatement . Polanski pulled out some of Dunaway ’s hair when it suffer in the way of a scene ( instead of just calling in the hair and makeup team ) .
When Dunaway asked Polanski about her character ’s motivation , he call that her earnings would be her motivation and told her to just say the words in the script . At one item , Polanski refused to let Dunaway have a bath break . So , in objection , sheurinated into a cup and throw the loving cup in Polanski ’s face .
John Huston Was Offered The Chance To Direct
Before John Huston was cast to work the nefarious Noah Cross , he was actually proffer the chance to directChinatown , but he turned it down .
Prior to the hiring of Roman Polanski , the director ’s death chair was also offered toThe Graduate ’s Mike Nichols andPaper Moon ’s Peter Bogdanovich .
Jack Nicholson Never Played Another Detective After Chinatown To Preserve Gittes As His Grizzled P.I. Character
After playing Jake Gittes inChinatown , Jack Nicholson made a conscious decision never to play another detective . He wanted Gittes to bethe grizzle P.I. role he ’d be commemorate for , and did n’t desire to corrupt or emulate that .
Robert Towne plannedChinatownas thefirst instalment in a trilogy , but after the bankruptcy of the sequelThe Two Jakes(which had trouble getting made itself , because of Roman Polanski ’s rape billing ) , the third movie was never produce .
Faye Dunaway Told Jack Nicholson To Actually Slap Her
For the shot in which Gittes slap Evelyn , Jack Nicholson did a few return in which he pretend to make Faye Dunaway , but the takes were n’t working , so Dunaway told him to actually slap her .
He did so and , despite the fact that Dunaway had told him to do it , he was riddled with guiltiness . That take ended up in the concluding cut .
Cinematographer Stanley Cortez Was Fired Mid-Production
Shortly after yield began , cinematographer Stanley Cortez was fired . This is because Roman Polanski wanted the pic to havea low - central , naturalistic feeling , and Cortez ’s vogue was more stylised and classical .
Polanski had just a few days to find a substitution , which left him scramble , and he hired John A. Alonzo . Some of Cortez ’s work stay on in the movie , and it ended up being among his last work as he retired four class later .
Jane Fonda Was Considered For The Role Of Evelyn
Before Faye Dunaway wascast as Evelyn Mulwray , Jane Fondaand Julie Christie were considered for the part .
Anjelica Huston was also moot for the part , which would ’ve been passably uneasy because she ’s the genuine - life daughter of John Huston , who played Noah Cross .
No Matter How Many Times He Was Corrected, John Huston Couldn’t Get Gittes’ Name Right
InChinatown , Noah Cross has a ruffianly time label Jake Gittes ’ last name . This was n’t a written characteristic , but rather a solvent of John Huston ’s ownfailure to enunciate the name right .
No matter how many time Jack Nicholson and Roman Polanski tried to correct Huston ’s pronunciation , he just could n’t get it right and they eventually lease it go .
Jack Nicholson’s Scenes With John Huston Were Awkward Because He’d Just Started Dating Huston’s Daughter
At the time ofChinatown ’s production , Jack Nicholson had just start dating Anjelica Huston , the girl of his cobalt - star John Huston . This made their scenes together pretty uncomfortable , and since Nicholson appear in every setting in the movie , all of Huston ’s scenes were with Nicholson .
Particularly inept was the setting in which Cross demand Gittes , “ Do you sleep with my girl ? ” If anything , it add a layer of authenticity to the performance , so the awkwardness was n’t for nothing .
Roman Polanski And Robert Towne Disagreed About The Ending
Director Roman Polanski and screenwriter and Robert Townecouldn’t agree on the stop ofChinatown . Towne want a more classically noir - ish end in which Evelyn mangle her father and goes to jail , but Polanski wanted a bleaker , more disconnected endingto reflect the political climate of the time , with effect like the Vietnam War and the Watergate outrage leaving Americans feel disillusioned with the authorities .
Since Polanski had final say , Towne was powerless and finally walked off the set . The author was mad about the ending change for years , but has since realized that the young ending is better than his original ending .
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