Chinatown

Top 10 Fun Facts

1. Director Roman Polanski appeared briefly in "Chinatown" as a thug who slits the lead character's nose. The special knife used was capable of doing real damage if not handled correctly. Lucky for actor Jack Nicholson, Polanski was in a rare good mood during the scene.
2. During a heated argument with Jack Nicholson on the set of "Chinatown," director Roman Polanski smashed the actor's portable TV. Nicholson kept stalling filming by watching L.A. Lakers basketball games. Unfortunately for Nicholson, they didn't have TiVo in the 1970s.
3. "Chinatown" was the last movie Roman Polanski filmed in the United States. Not because he didn't like the United States anymore, but because the United States didn't like him after he was convicted of statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl.
4. Director Roman Polanski literally and figuratively saw red after he got the first batch of "Chinatown" dailies back from the lab. The lab had given the movie a reddish appearance, to resemble "The Godfather." As per Polanski's order, the film was corrected.
5. In "Chinatown," Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) goes through Ida Sessions' (Diane Ladd) pocketbook, finding a rare $2 bill and a Screen Actors Guild membership card in her pocketbook. Apparently the acting wasn't working out very well for her.
6. Writer Robert Towne says he took the famous Chinatown exchange, "What did you do in Chinatown ... As little as possible" from a L.A. vice cop. He could have got the same response from any number of government employees.
7. Actress Faye Dunaway and director Roman Polanski were notorious for their on-set arguments during the filming of "Chinatown." In one tussle, Polanski fought like a girl and pulled out some of Dunaway's hair. Dunaway didn't fight back, mainly because there were "no more wire hangers" on set (Faye Dunaway's infamous line wouldn't be used for another seven years as Joan Crawford in "Mommie Dearest").
8. The female lead in "Chinatown" was originally meant for the producer's wife, actress Ali MacGraw. She lost the role when she divorced the producer, but she got Steve McQueen as a consolation prize.
9. After several unsatisfactory takes, Faye Dunaway told Jack Nicholson to actually slap her. So Nicholson hauled back and wacked the actress and the realistic take made it into the final cut of "Chinatown." This is NOT the origin of "slap-stick" comedy.
10. Chinatown's Executive Producer C.O. Erickson appears as a banker in the barbershop who starts an argument. As it would be for many Executive Producers, the role was probably not a stretch.

Cast

Crew