Principal cast
Jack Nicholson as J.J. 'Jake' Gittes, Faye Dunaway as Evelyn Cross Mulwray, John Huston as Noah Cross, Perry Lopez as Lieutenant Lou Escobar, and Burt Young as Curly
Film 19 of 244 on the Screen Path
Chinatown
You get tough. You get tender. You get close to each other. Maybe you even get close to the truth.
About the film
Chinatown at a glance.
Screen Path places this 1974 film at stop 19 in one curated journey through cinema. The learning experience adds context before you watch and deeper analysis after.
Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together.
Key craft credits
John A. Alonzo (director of photography), Sam O'Steen (editor), Jerry Goldsmith (original music composer), Richard Sylbert (production design), and W. Stewart Campbell (art direction)
- Director
- Roman Polanski
- Release
- 1974-06-20
- Runtime
- 130 minutes
- Genres
- Crime, Mystery, and Thriller
- Country
- United States
- Quiz
- 50 questions
The Screen Path journey
Before. After. Remember.
The featured film is watched outside Screen Path. The app provides the learning experience around it: a guide, an analysis, and a quiz with explanations.
01
Before you watch
Start with a spoiler-free video guide to the context and filmmaking choices worth noticing.
Spoiler-free02
After the film
Return after watching for a deeper video analysis of craft, meaning, and legacy.
Contains spoilers03
Quiz yourself
Answer 50 questions with clear rationales designed to make the ideas stick.
50 questions in this journeyWant to try a complete journey on the web? The Citizen Kane page includes the spoiler-free guide, after-film analysis, and a sample quiz.
Try Citizen Kane →Film data and images provided by TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.