Chinatown

Released in 1974, Chinatown reimagined the hard-boiled detective films of the 1940s for a contemporary audience. With an Academy Award-winning screenplay by Robert Towne, Roman Polanski’s legendary work is often cited among the greatest American films ever made — one of the defining works of the neo-noir movement and an enduring influence on generations of filmmakers.

When Los Angeles private eye J.J. Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is hired by Evelyn Mulwray to investigate her husband’s activities, he believes it’s a routine infidelity case. Jake’s investigation soon becomes anything but routine when he meets the real Mrs. Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) and realizes he was hired by an imposter. Mr. Mulwray’s sudden death sets Gittes on a tangled trail of corruption, deceit and sinister family secrets as Evelyn’s father (John Huston) becomes a suspect in the case.