"You may think you know what you're dealing with, but believe me, you don't," warns water baron Noah Cross (John Huston), when smooth cop-turned-private eye J.J. "Jake" Gittes (Jack Nicholson) starts nosing around Cross's water diversion scheme. That proves to be the ominous lesson of Chinatown, Roman Polanski's critically lauded 1974 revision of 1940s film noir detective movies. In 1930s Los Angeles, "matrimonial work" specialist Gittes is hired by Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) to tail her husband, Water Department ...
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"You may think you know what you're dealing with, but believe me, you don't," warns water baron Noah Cross (John Huston), when smooth cop-turned-private eye J.J. "Jake" Gittes (Jack Nicholson) starts nosing around Cross's water diversion scheme. That proves to be the ominous lesson of Chinatown, Roman Polanski's critically lauded 1974 revision of 1940s film noir detective movies. In 1930s Los Angeles, "matrimonial work" specialist Gittes is hired by Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) to tail her husband, Water Department engineer Hollis Mulwray (Darrell Zwerling). Gittes photographs him in the company of a young blonde and figures the case is closed, only to discover that the real Mrs. Mulwray had nothing to do with hiring Gittes in the first place. When Hollis turns up dead, Gittes decides to investigate further, encountering a shady old-age home, corrupt bureaucrats, angry orange farmers, and a nostril-slicing thug (Polanski) along the way. By the time he confronts Cross, Evelyn's father and Mulwray's former business partner, Jake thinks he knows everything, but an even more sordid truth awaits him. When circumstances force Jake to return to his old beat in Chinatown, he realizes just how impotent he is against the wealthy, depraved Cross. "Forget it, Jake," his old partner tells him. "It's Chinatown." Reworking the somber underpinnings of detective noir along more pessimistic lines, Polanski and screenwriter Robert Towne convey a '70s-inflected critique of capitalist and bureaucratic malevolence in a carefully detailed period piece harkening back to the genre's roots in the 1930s and '40s. Gittes always has a smart comeback like Humphrey Bogart's Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe, but the corruption Gittes finds is too deep for one man to stop. Other noir revisions, such as Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973) and Arthur Penn's Night Moves (1975), also centered on the detective's inefficacy in an uncertain '70s world, but Chinatown's period sheen renders this dilemma at once contemporary and timeless, pointing to larger implications about the effects of corporate rapaciousness on individuals. Polanski and Towne clashed over Chinatown's ending; Polanski won the fight, but Towne won the Oscar for Best Screenplay. Chinatown was nominated for ten other Oscars, including Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Cinematography, Art Direction, Costumes, and Score. Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
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Add this copy of Chinatown (Special Collector's Edition) to cart. $1.99, good condition, Sold by Goodwill Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hillsboro, OR, UNITED STATES, published 2007.
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Good. May have very light or no surface scratches. Case and artwork are included but may show minimal signs of wear. If applicable: Digital copy or ultraviolet codes may be expired or not included.
Add this copy of Chinatown (Special Collector's Edition) to cart. $1.99, fair condition, Sold by Goodwill Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hillsboro, OR, UNITED STATES, published 2007.
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Fair. May have light surface scratches. Case and artwork are included but their condition may vary. If applicable: Digital copy or ultraviolet codes may be expired or not included. Slipcover may not be included.
Add this copy of Chinatown to cart. $2.00, good condition, Sold by Books For Life rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Laurel, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1999.
Add this copy of Chinatown to cart. $2.49, good condition, Sold by Goodwill Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hillsboro, OR, UNITED STATES, published 1974.
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Good. May have very light or no surface scratches. Case and cover artwork are included but may show minimal signs of wear. If applicable: Digital copy or ultraviolet codes may be expired or not included.
Add this copy of Chinatown to cart. $2.74, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Movies rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Paramount.
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Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, Bruce Glover, John Hillerman, James Hong, John Huston, Roy Jenson, Diane Ladd, Perry Lopez, Joe... Very good. 2005 Run time: 131. Providing great media since 1972. All used discs are inspected and guaranteed. Digital copy/codes may be expired or not included. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Chinatown to cart. $2.75, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Movies rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Paramount.
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Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, Bruce Glover, John Hillerman, James Hong, John Huston, Roy Jenson, Diane Ladd, Perry Lopez, Joe... Very good. 2005 Run time: 131. Providing great media since 1972. All used discs are inspected and guaranteed. Digital copy/codes may be expired or not included. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Chinatown to cart. $2.79, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Movies rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Paramount.
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Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, Bruce Glover, John Hillerman, James Hong, John Huston, Roy Jenson, Diane Ladd, Perry Lopez, Joe... Very good. 2005 Run time: 131. Providing great media since 1972. All used discs are inspected and guaranteed. Digital copy/codes may be expired or not included. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Chinatown (Special Collector's Edition) to cart. $3.00, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Movies rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Paramount.
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Roman Polanski, Burt Young, Diane Ladd, Darrell Zwerling, Perry Lopez, John Huston, John Hillerman, Faye Dunaway, Jack Nicholson. Very good. 1974 Run time: 130. Providing great media since 1972. All used discs are inspected and guaranteed. Digital copy/codes may be expired or not included. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Chinatown to cart. $3.00, good condition, Sold by Dream Books Co. rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Denver, CO, UNITED STATES, published 2017.
Add this copy of Chinatown (Special Collector's Edition) to cart. $3.00, good condition, Sold by HPB-Red rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Paramount.
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Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Hillerman, John Huston, Perry Lopez, Darrell Zwerling, Diane Ladd, Burt Young, Roman Polanski. Good. Run time: 130. Providing great media since 1972. All used discs are inspected and guaranteed. Digital copy/codes may be expired or not included. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
What Jack Nicolson discovers when he's supposed to be tailing a filandering husband is brilliantly photographed vision of LA in the '40's. Water diversion is at the centre of the plot but it's Faye Dunaway and John Huston who steal this movie.
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