Chinatown is quintessential film noir. Starring Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, and John Huston, the movie combines great acting, great screenwriting, and great visual style to emerge as one of the best films of all time. Robert Towne based the script on an actual Los Angeles water-use scandal. Roman Polanski directs. Best line--detective Jake Gittes (Nicholson) to Evelyn Mulwray (Dunaway): "Mrs. Mulwray, I goddamned near lost my nose. And I like it. I like breathing through it. And I still think that you're hiding something."

Harold Check