ACE Presents: Chinatown

Director: Roman Polanski

1974 / 130min / 35mm

Serpents abound in the lush garden that is boomtown 1930s Los Angeles in Polanski’s neo-noir classic from a razor-sharp script by native Angelino Robert Towne, starring Jack Nicholson as an amiably sleazy P.I. and all-around nosey guy who get much more than he bargained for when he takes a job from woman-in-trouble Faye Dunaway and discovers a conspiracy to steal water rights masterminded by proudly corrupt plutocrat John Huston. Sam O’Steen, who’d earlier worked with Polanski on Rosemary’s Baby—the director would say of O’Steen that he had “a skill and imagination that takes my breath away”—would receive one of the film’s 11 Academy Award nominations, his work at the editing table a major factor in the film’s captivating, can’t-look-away grip.

Q&A with Bobbie and Molly O'Steen on Saturday, April 26th