
Chinatown is a 1974 film modeled after the film noirs and hard-boiled detective fiction of the thirties and forties. Jack Nicholson stars as private eye Jake Gittes, who becomes embroiled in a complex plot involving missing people, incest, and power brokers. The action takes place in and around Los Angeles, and its Chinatown neighborhood is the source of the title.
Nicholson directed and starred in a 1990 sequel The Two Jakes, with Gittes taking on a new case but with several supporting characters returning.
References[]
- Nick Chicken in Sesame Street Episode 3129, in explaining his dual relationship to Nora, breaks into a hysterical "My sister, my partner, my sister, my partner" before slapping himself. It spoofs the Chinatown scene where Faye breaks down explaining that her sister is also her daughter (and Jake slaps her).
Connections[]
- Rubén Blades played Mickey Nice in The Two Jakes
- James Hong played Khan in the film and The Two Jakes
- Van Dyke Parks played Francis Hannah and scored The Two Jakes