Chinatown (15)

A perfect storm of enormous cinema talent - Nicholson, Dunaway, Houston, Polanski - make this the finest noir thriller ever

Director: Roman Polanski
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston
USA, 1974, 2 hours 5 minutes

Thur 4 March 2.15 The Courtyard Hereford

Polanski rearticulates film noir in this classic, searing narrative of corruption and immorality set in arid, late 1930s Southern California. Jake Gittes (Nicholson - the only contender for Bogart's crown) is the opportunistic private dick, hired to investigate a marital infidelity and swept literally into something much bigger and more suspect. Working within Hollywood, Polanski wrested the softer, compromised ending and turned the film into an altogether dark parable of private evil and public exploitation. Dunaway, Nicholson and a menacing Huston are superb and watch out for Polanski's own infamous cameo appearance. Is Chinatown the best private eye film of all time?