The complex history of Hollywood classic "Chinatown"

Hollywood has changed dramatically since its inception despite the consistency of its annual Academy Awards. A new book, "The Big Goodbye," explores the dynamic shift through the lens of classic film "Chinatown." Jeff Glor sits down with author Sam Wasson to talk about the film's complex history and why it signaled the end of an era.
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[@MikeKGullion]

Great quote by Sam Wasson: “You have to be passionate in order to be sad. You have to love something if losing it means anything.”

[@Jeph629]

Good report. No one ever tries to compare another film to "Chinatown", except to acknowledge its noir pedigree.

[@snowngeorgia]

Chinatown is the only movie that I’ve HAD to watch again and again and again.

[@malafunkshun8086]

“Chinatown” is a powerful film, not so much for the history that it depicts but for the history it represents, both in terms of Los Angeles and Hollywood. It’s a passionate, and, in a certain sense, honest film, about the lies that we tell ourselves in order to keep going, even flourish. Aloha 🎬🤙🏼👏🏼

[@bkynbiker19]

Greatest ... film....ever. IMHO, as they say. Now I gotta' order the book!

[@randywhite3947]

Chinatown was the best film of the 70s

[@turkishgirlaydanartlover8720]

No. Taxi Driver, Godfather 1-2, Annie Hall... There is very good films in 70's...

[@randywhite3947]

@@turkishgirlaydanartlover8720 you mean yes

[@turkishgirlaydanartlover8720]

@@randywhite3947 No I mean Chinatown is 4th best film of 70's. :) 1- Taxi Driver, 2- Godfather 1-2, 3- Anie Hall, 4- Chinatown

[@cv507]

glöckwörg öränge ^AB^

[@jeshkam]

​@@turkishgirlaydanartlover8720Network, Three Days of the Condor.

[@gnolan4281]

"A metaphor for the futility of good intentions". I've been looking for that description of this movie for many years.

[@davidcawrowl3865]

It IS sad that the artistic culture in movies has diminished and we collectively as a people are diminished as a result. I have watched this movie --I don't know how many times--and now have an affinity for the twilight scenes for some reason. There are a number of them.

[@mmonroe2280]

My favorite motion picture Perfect! I know I'm going to sound like a bitter old man but Hollywood seldom makes motion pictures like this anymore Outstanding script and score, perfect cinematography, and exemplary performances by the whole cast I could watch it twice a month and never get tired of it...

[@cv507]

in the fllite scene a young girl shows her noodle.:? pedophiljä?? - 0:52 tresPäss ^G^

[@EddieLensweiger]

Chinatown and many great 70s Films have made major change in Hollywood ..the lack of producers intervention! 70s were not just great filmmakers or great actors but also great producers! Salute to them.

[@laurenceesposito3393]

Extremely intelligent film. Chinatown is enthralling. .

[@PierluigiPuccini]

Just finished the book. Loved it.

[@Eric_M_]

Faye Dunaway was perfect in this movie.

[@josephkelley8641]

yeah, absolutely spooky/riveting.

[@allanjacquadro870]

In the film, John Huston plays the most evil character in movie history. And he’s really good at it.

[@stephentaylor8339]

I still get a kick out of the fact that he never does pronounce Jake's last name correctly.🤣🤣🤣

[@jonathanblaze1648]

All time great movie. #5 in my personal top 10 movies ever.

[@DavidKeithWilliams]

I am truly thankful that Roman Polanski directed what I think is the greatest movie to ever be made. I also continue to hope he is punished with significant prison time for sexually abusing a child, and for also fleeing from the responsibility of accepting punishment for that crime.

[@65g4]

Im reading the book now and i agree with the interviewer its not a sad book. Its is energizing to read a book about something someone is passionate about and a great Hollywood era of filmmaking.

[@ellensburgwa5087]

It was a great movie and you will also agree that Robert Towne deserved the award after you see the movie. Jake Gittes, the detective awesomely played by Jack Nicholson in the movie, is a man hard to come by these days not only in real life but also in the movies. Today the films are filled with superheroes who are so unreal that they bend the reality in the minds of the people. Jake Gittes is a man who fights with his nails to solve the mystery till the end; however, he had to yield to the ultimate evil, who is somehow like the superhero movie super villain. Chinatown is ten times more worth watching than any of the superhero movies because of its well-written script and great actors. Do spare sometime and watch the film because it also teaches some history of California as well, like William Mulholland changed in the movie to William Mulwray...

[@travlishallingquest5719]

I agree, but what do you think of 2021’s “The Batman” being inspired by “Chinatown”?

[@JohnDoe-tm9wz]

Batman sucks

[@JohnnyPunish]

Jack was fantastic in ChinaTown! Faye! Oh my!

[@Daniel-sh3os]

Television on cable channels and netflix is the best that it has ever been in the past 25 years. You just have to look to different places for great stories. Narcos, Babylon Berlin and Queen's Gambit are great on Netflix.

[@claymac7895]

"The Offer" series by Paramount is incredible. All about Bob Evans, Paramount, The Godfather.

[@tankhalffull]

The saying, "they don't make em like they used to.." applies to Hollywood more than anywhere else I can think of...

[@chiedu90069]

@7:30 Someone's talking about Shakespeare in Love lol

[@stephaniestanley8041]

❤the 70s was an epic era in film.

[@figaro-dg5c5]

Hollywood will come back. It told the greatest stories ever told. Things are cyclical. Those times will come back. Good job CBS.

[@THEBANDIT7979]

There’s been great movies after Chinatown. And America lost is innocence after 1955. Chinatown is one of the great new noir films.

[@trenchant63]

Roman Polanski isn't mentioned in this CBS piece until the 4:08 mark, and then it launches into a look at his troubled history.

[@hankworden3850]

And that offends you somehow?

[@claymac7895]

Anyone who hasn't seen "The Offer" series by paramount about The Godfather is really missing out. Bob Evans huge role..

[@retrospectors6595]

Hearing a 2020 journalist pronounce Harvey's name as "Wine-stine" is really interesting to me. No shade whatsoever, just intriguing to hear someone in the bizzzz mispronounce a name so huge at the time.

[@ballybunion9]

2:30: "... considered by many to be the greatest script in film history." Everybody says that but nobody ever points out the specific things in the script that make it great.

[@nicklaskowalski]

Polanski has committed something horrible but the victim has dropped all her wishes to pursue him. Leave the guy alone.

[@candide1065]

What "horrible" thing has he committed if he wasn't ever sentenced and his so called "victim" want's people to leave him alone and doesn't have any problems with Polanski? How about thinking before you write something?

[@yhwhsozo3680]

One GREAT thing is as an Artist “his” work can be used against him as a human…that he knows better but doesn’t care if he can get away with it. Even better it shows the inherit bias to collude/conspire/defend by others what he did exposing them outta their own mouths (see why censorship is evil yet) So Hail his work while exposing evil and trapping it within its own lies….mocking good faith with plausible deniability is the hallmark of evil…we all do/did it but some only learn to maximize lies rather than be exposed and come clean to walk away and join the fight to for truth.

[@noahcorreiaphotography]

They don't make movies like that anymore. Thats for sure.

[@ppuh6tfrz646]

Yep and this came out just one year before Spielberg really burst onto the scene... I don't think that's a coincidence.

[@maureenoneill2847]

Chinatown. The port Philadelphia for truck or treat accepted my Chinatown mahjong set. For trick or treat sac. Leash with chain also included Atlantis re cherry Lane location

[@thomahammer9581]

Great movies of the past overtaken by special effects wizards combined with mediocre actors and mass promotions.

[@josephkelley8641]

Our particular city (Los Angeles suburbs) gets 40% of our water from the MWD. 40% The MWD has had to sue us - in order to get SOME of it back. (Chinatown premise "Bringing H2O to the Desert").

[@maxjax1417]

No, movies like this simply are not being made today. They have to say that because CBS is owned by Paramount and they obviously have a vested interest in playing up theatrical releases. He referenced Parasite, which is good, however it's not a Hollywood studio production, and it's not nor will it ever be a classic. Hollywood productions like this are gone. Times change. I grew up going to the theater all the time. I rarely if ever go now, unless it's a throwback like this, from Spielberg or Scorsese. I grew up watching classics in the theater during their first release: The Shawshank Redemption, JFK, Schindler's List, Forrest Gump, et al. Classic movies, plural, were being made every year. This may shift to streaming, I don't know. It's a different economic landscape. There were so many ways for financier's (studios in this case) to make back their money. There wasn't competition from the internet, gaming (video games back then paled in comparison to today's versions), social media, etc. Movies were the thing. Then there was video, cable sales, and then selling all of the above in the foreign markets. This means there was more incentive to invest. Less risk, particularly with a star like Nicholson. Things change, it will morph into something else, but hopefully there will always be people ready and willing to invest in quality.

[@ZiaAnnouncer]

No dude... they were saying great movies aren't being made today. Luckily TC was able to release Maverick, a big FU to these very people who have destroyed the art.

[@danielsousariassouzadias9788]

Chinatown um chasico de holiwood.eu assisti em 1974 o mundo estava vivendo a crise do petróleo desencadeada pelos sauditas a 46 anos

[@bill2953]

Big Goodbye to a "perceived" innocence buddy boy. Which wasn't all that great for a lot of folks..

[@josephkelley8641]

Sam a great writer.

[@dotsyjmaher]

Possibly the BEST movie ever made.... EVERY YEAR IT BECOMES MORE IMPORTANT...I WAS NEVER TOO CRAZY ABOUT JACK NICHOLSON... GREAT ACTOR..BUT CREEPY... THIS MOVIE IS TRULY IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT NICHOLSON

[@GK-rw2op]

Sam should comb his hair god what a geek

[@Quasiblu212]

Interesting face-saving at the end: "He's not saying there are no good movies being made now..." (Can't offend their advertisers or parent company)

[@wailer27]

And then to "make their point" they go on to compare Chinatown to Parasite!

[@vtshawonly1]

Look at the work? … exactly why predators get away with their crimes.

[@kamuelalee]

Not really the end of an era though. The film "Chinatown" was in the mix of New Hollywood (of which folks like Lucas and Spielberg were a part of as well as Scorsese and Coppola) that replaced Hollywood's old, failed studio system and brought a flourishing of grittier, more realistic movies to cinema from the late 1960s to the early 1980s.

[@hankworden3850]

Lucas and Spielberg are crap. It's all about De Palma.

[@kamuelalee]

@@hankworden3850 To each his own, I guess. It's interesting that all of these directors were friends.

[@benquinney2]

That’s what I always say

[@dotsyjmaher]

I think I will get these books next payday.... THIS IS AMERICA

[@jilliestormesom5779]

Why did he ask the resting home director if they accept Jews?

[@mr.zondide2746]

To mislead the director so he would allow them to walk around by themselves and question patients

[@fartzerelli1385]

Forget it America, it's Biden / Harris.

[@ppuh6tfrz646]

1:04 Because it was just before Spielberg burst onto the scene and started dumbing down movies. That's why!

[@zoperxplex]

Obviously Wasson doesn't have daughters.

[@jimvick8397]

Rich guys do own the police...

[@ThudDriver]

Wasson and Polanski both have that sick Talmudic paradigm.

[@philiplow6016]

What is Talmud paradigm?

[@juliettespoon]

It’s blatantly obvious lookin back how cringey the male gaze has made great cinema but purposefully excludes to create realistic depictions of womanhood outside of societal expectations. It fails to create fairness and aspirational ways to treat feminine presenting characters with equity. I love old hollywood and classics even though I am very passionate about feminism in the same time. You can appreciate the art but there is a long ways to go with cinema it’s far from done!!!:) we are still at the forefronts of equitable representation

[@Happyboymargarine]

I’m not gonna listen to a guy that looks like that

[@funyunonion37732]

That author seems so pretentious

[@cto1gg]

Nah. He just has a personality. Unlike you.