Jack Nicholson as J.J. Gittes in Chinatown (1974)

Vitals

Jack Nicholson as J.J. Gittes, private investigator and ex-policeman

Los Angeles, September 1937

Film: Chinatown
Release Date: June 20, 1974
Director: Roman Polanski
Costume Designer: Anthea Sylbert

Background

While many people – myself included – criticize the ’70s for being tacky with lows such as glam rock, disco, and leisure suits, it was also a renaissance in art, with guys such as Cassavetes, Peckinpah, and Scorsese honing their craft while the Stones put out Exile on Main St. and Led Zeppelin stuck together. Sideburns may have been battling mustaches for facial hair supremacy, but on the artistic front, the ’70s will hardly be duplicated again. The Godfather, The Sting, Network, Annie Hall, All the President’s Men, Dog Day Afternoon, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Three Days of the Condor, Paper Moon, Serpico, MASH, Patton, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, and – of course – Chinatown round out the list of some of my personal favorites that were churned out during the decade. Continue reading →