The 1974 Roman Polanski film set in 1930s Los Angeles and featuring private detective Jake Gittes is Chinatown.
Jack Nicholson plays J. J. “Jake” Gittes, a Los Angeles investigator hired to follow what appears to be an unfaithful husband. The case expands into a conspiracy involving murder, manipulated water supplies, land speculation, and powerful figures seeking to reshape the city’s future. Faye Dunaway plays Evelyn Mulwray, while John Huston portrays Noah Cross.
Robert Towne’s screenplay was inspired partly by Southern California history, especially the water conflicts connected with Los Angeles’s growth and the Owens Valley. The film’s fictional plot is set in 1937, not during the earlier construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Its famous bleak ending and the line “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown” helped make it a landmark of neo-noir cinema.
Viewers sometimes confuse Chinatown with The Long Goodbye because both are Los Angeles detective films, or with The Parallax View because both involve political intrigue. Chinatown is specifically Polanski’s 1974 private-eye mystery, and Towne won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.