"Chinatown" - A guest post

Over at the excellent blog, Film Noir Blonde, my friend Jacqueline recently asked me if she could contribute to my Roman Polanski blogathon with a post of her own. Although this was held last April, I agreed to her request, as I throughly enjoy her writing and the work she is doing highlighting film noir.

So here is her review of the great Chinatown from 1974...

A nervous femme fatale with a slight stutter. A stocky PI with a hot temper and a bandage plastered on his face.  Perhaps not the most promising characters at first glance; in fact they are among noir's finest. Faye Dunaway and Jack Nicholson deliver knockout performances in 1974's "Chinatown," a neo-noir that ranks as one of the greatest films ever made.


Continue reading at Film Noir Blonde...

The Loss of a Musical Legend

Uan Rasey (1921-2011) 
Photo by Tony Gieske

Whenever a celebrated film director or actor dies, the authors of film blogs write their appropriate tributes. But it's rarely that way when a cinematographer, editor or other technician passes away. I'd like to remedy that with this post, as I note the recent death of Uan Rasey.

I realize that few of you reading this post have ever heard of Uan Rasey, but you have certainly heard him perform. Rasey played trumpet for hundreds - perhaps thousands - of films, with perhaps his most famous performances in the films An American in Paris (1951) and Chinatown (1974). If he only played on those two films, his reputation would be forever remembered, but add to that his performances on the soundtracks for such movies as Singin' in the Rain (1951) and Gigi (1958), when he was first chair trumpeter for the MGM orchestra as well as West Side Story (1961), My Fair Lady (1964) and Taxi Driver (1976) and you have a remarkable body of work.

Rasey, who taught himself how to play trumpet with the help of a $9 instruction booklet from Montgomery Ward, was also a celebrated teacher of trumpet. Among his most famous students were the jazz trumpeters Arturo Sandoval and Jack Shelton.


As I'm not a musician, I can only say so much in this tribute, so let's have his playing do the talking, so to speak. Here is his solo from Chinatown, as he plays the main theme, composed by the great Jerry Goldsmith.

I've read several descriptions of this performance by Rasey, with terms such as "sexy", "steamy" and "smoky" to describe his playing of this gorgeous theme. Call it what you want, it's certainly one of the most memorable solo trumpets I've ever heard in a film score!

Rasey passed away in late September of this year and as I mentioned earlier in this post, that news was largely ignored by film bloggers. Thankfully, we have the soundtracks of so many great films Uan Rasey performed on to recall his influence as one of the greatest trumpeters ever to work in Hollywood.

Chinatown - No escaping the past - or the future

Throughout many of Roman Polanski's films, one of the primary situations is that of the main character seeking the truth. Think of Richard Walker in Frantic (1988), who must fight red tape from French police as well as from US State Department officials as he tries to locate his wife, who has been kidnapped on a trip to Paris. Or the Ghost in The Ghost Writer (2010), who during his employment, decides to learn why the man he replaced was killed and then chooses to discover what wrong doings were appropriated by his current employer, an ex-prime minister of Britain.

While the main character in each of these films ends up with varying degrees of success, neither man can view his immediate world - or the world at large - in the same way again. Each is trapped in a whirlpool of events that spin out of control. The only way he can learn the truth (or come as close as possible) is to accept this fact and move on with his life.

This is certainly an overriding aspect of Chinatown (1974), where private eye J.J. Gittes has to learn why  a city official was killed soon after news broke out that he was having an affair. Gittes, despite his knowledge after years on the job, truly has no idea how convoluted this case will become. He starts out by following the public servant (Hollis Mulwray, the water and power commissioner), as he has been hired to learn of his extramarital activities. Yet in reality, the man is not having an affair; indeed the woman that hires Gittes is not even the commissioner's wife.

Gittes was once a policeman in the Chinatown district of Los Angeles, where he received advice telling him to do "as little as possible." In other words, accept the madness you will witness from day to day, as you live in a world without rules or at least a world where the rules make little sense.

We learn more about Gittes' experiences in Chinatown later in the film after he romances the real Evelyn Mulwray, who now aides the detective in his search for the reasons behind her husband's death. When she asks him about his past troubles in the district, she poses the question, "Was there a woman?" He replies that he was there to protect a woman and make sure she wasn't hurt, but "wound up making sure she was." It is a haunting foreshadowing of how this film will conclude.

Polanski's camera in this film is often on the move perched over the shoulder of Gittes, as we snoop on events and characters just as he does. Director of photography John Alonzo selected a 40mm lens for many of the shots, stating that the images from this lens more closely resembled what the human eye sees in real life. This combination of technology along with the brilliant compositions add a subtle edginess to the work and the wide screen format often features horizontal images - such as the virtually dry river bed where water is being diverted in a drought - that make us feel a bit uneasy and nervous as we watch. This is arguably Polanski's most accomplished visual work, perhaps only matched overall by The Ghost Writer or Tess (1979).

As is usual in a Polanski film the evil lives on. The director famously altered the final sequence of Robert Towne's script; the writer had Evelyn escape, but Polanski insisted that she must perish, if the story was to make any sense. (Towne in subsequent interviews has admitted that this change worked beautifully.) Gittes is back in Chinatown, as he is forced to lead the evildoer, Noah Cross, to see Evelyn one last time. This meeting between Evelyn and Noah is a meeting between order and chaos, between reason and madness. Cross has told Gittes in a previous scene that all of his evil deeds are done with the thought that he will be able to buy "the future." For Gittes, the present recalls the past, as he once again is supposed to make sure that he protects a woman, but ultimately winds up "making sure she is hurt."

"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown," is the last line of the film, spoken to Gittes by one of his associates. Yet the reality of the situation is that he cannot now and never will forget what happened there; Chinatown becomes not just a place, but a sense of loss. Gittes, a prototypical doomed Polanski character, cannot escape his past nor will he be able to escape a future filled with the disorder that is the basis of his - and our - world.

Great Movie Quotes - Part Two

Noah Cross (John Huston) and J.J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson) in Chinatown (1974)



A few months ago, I published a post with ten of my favorite movie quotes. These were quotes I love and thought did not get the attention they deserve.

This post features another ten great quotes that aren't as famous as they should be. This is part two - I'll eventually publish ten parts with ten quotes each to come up with my top 100 (though I may not stop there, as there are always some great quotes emerging from new films every year.) Please note that these are not the quotes that were honored by the American Film Institute a few years back. Those entries, such as "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn," and "Here's looking at you kid," may be timeless and well-loved, but I wanted to feature other memorable quotes. For example, while everyone knows the famous line at the end of Chinatown (1974), "Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown," I went with another briilliant quote from that great film.

So without further ado, here's part two:


“You talk different, sure. But you drive just like the rest.” – Stella (Linda Darnell) to Eric Stanton (Dana Andrews) – Fallen Angel (1945)


“You know what happened to Lot’s wife when she looked back, don’t you? She turned into a pillar of salt.” – Sam Masterson (Van Heflin)
“What happened to Lot?”- Martha Ivers (Barbara Stanwyck)
“He got away, He didn’t look back.”
“You know your Bible.”
“You would too if you spent as much time as I did in hotel rooms.”
“I’ll take it up.”
- The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)





“You can stand only so much of detectives. After all, they’re only policemen with smaller feet.” – Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich) – Stage Fright (1950)



“I didn’t get a chance to use that gun, Matthew. But I intend to.” – Lin McAdam (Jimmy Stewart) to his brother Matthew (Stephen McNally) in the closing shootout of Winchester 73 (1950)




“I may be old-fashioned, but I thought murder was against the law.” – Guy Haines (Farley Granger) – Strangers on a Train (1951)



“Who are you? What are you doing here?” – William Darrow (John Bryant)
“I’m from the collection agency. I’ve come to collect my wife.” – Lon Chaney (James Cagney) – Man of a Thousand Faces (1957)


“Doctor, I’d like to kiss you.” – Taylor (Charlton Heston)
“Alright, but you’re so damned ugly.” – Zira (Kim Hunter) – Planet of the Apes (1968)


“See, Mr. Gittes, most people never have to face the fact that at the right time and the right place, they’re capable of anything.” – Noah Cross (John Huston) to J.J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson) Chinatown (1974)


“You got something against ice cubes?” – Nick Curran (Michael Douglas)
“I like rough edges.” – Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) – Basic Instinct (1992)




“I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people.”
- Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) – There Will Be Blood (2007)