Script To Screen: “Chinatown”
The memorable ending of the classic 1974 movie Chinatown, written by Robert Towne.
Setup: In his investigation, private eye Jake Gittes has uncovered a web of deceit involving the Noah Cross family… and now destiny intervenes.
EXT. CHINATOWN STREET – NIGHTThe streets are crowded. Here and there one can see Chinese
in traditional dress.GITTESDriving slowly, spots Katherine with Ramon and luggage, nearly
lost in the crowd. They are walking toward a car parked near
a laundry truck.Gittes sees them, keeps driving.CROSS
(suddenly)
Stop the car. Stop the car!Mulvihill tries to clobber Gittes. Gittes elbows him. The
car jumps the curb and hits a lamppost.EXT. STREET – CROSSLeaps out of the car shouting:CROSS
Katherine! Katherine! Wait!Gittes is after him, grabbing him. Cross tries to swing at
Gittes with his cane. Mulvihill comes up behind Gittes and
the three of them begin an awkward wrestling match, the crowd
scattering, Mulvihill pulling his revolver, trying to hit
Gittes on the side of the head. The three men crash to the
pavement.CURLYStarts out of the car toward Gittes. Gittes sees him.GITTES
No, Curly, get 'em out of here! Get
'em out of here!He bites Mulvihill's hand and furiously pounds it into the
sidewalk, shaking gun loose. Mulvihill and Gittes try for it
but someone else has it.EVELYNHolds the gun. She's shaking but apparently in control of
herself.GITTESRises to his feet. Mulvihill starts to help Cross up.EVELYN
No, don't help him. Don't do anything.Mulvihill doesn't move. Cross rises on his own. Evelyn holds
the revolver on him.EVELYN
She's gone. It's no good.CROSS
Where?GITTES
(moving to Evelyn)
Let me handle that.EVELYN
(to Gittes)
I'm all right.GITTES
(she's not)
Sure, but I'd like to handle it.Evelyn backs up as her father takes a step toward her.CROSS
You're going to have to kill me,
Evelyn. Either that or tell me where
she is.Evelyn is backing up. Cross moving on her. Evelyn cocks the
pistol.CROSS
How many years have I got?... she's
mine too.EVELYN
She's never going to know that.There's the SOUND of a SIREN. Cross lunges toward her. Gittes
grabs Cross.Duffy and Walsh are elbowing through the crowd. Gittes sees
them.GITTES
Duffy, go over and sit on Mulvihill.
(to Walsh)
Jesus Christ, I didn't tell you to
bring the police department with
you.WALSH
Jake, it's Chinatown. They're all
over the place. You oughta know
better.GITTES
(to Walsh, meaning
Cross)
Gimme your keys. Watch this old fart,
will you?
(moving to Evelyn)
Take Duffy's car. Curly's boat's in
Pedro, near the Starkist cannery.
It's the Evening Star. He'll be
waiting. I'll take care of this.She looks to Gittes. He looks at her. She turns and he looks
at her.She turns and Escobar is standing between her and it.ESCOBAR
Mrs. Mulwray, you don't want to run
around like that.GITTES
Oh, Christ. Escobar, you don't know
what's going on. Let her go. I'll
explain it later.ESCOBAR
Mrs. Mulwray, it's a very serious
offense pointing that at an officer
of the law. It's a felony.GITTES
Let her go. She didn't kill anybody.ESCOBAR
(starting toward her)
I'm sorry, Mrs. Mulwray.GITTES
Lou, she will kill you. Let her go
for now. You don't know.ESCOBAR
Gittes, stay outta this.Escobar continues to move toward her. Gittes grabs him.GITTES
(to Evelyn)
Now take off.Evelyn gets in the car. She starts it. Gittes lets Escobar
go.ESCOBAR
I'll just have her followed. She's
not going anywhere.There's a single GUNSHOT. Both men look surprised. Down the
block a uniformed officer has fired, standing beside his
double-parked car.Duffy's sedan slows to a stop in the middle of the street.
It jerks a couple of times, still in gear, then comes to a
halt.Gittes rushes to the car. He opens it. Evelyn falls out,
inert.Blood is pouring from her right eye.GITTES
(yelling)
No!He holds onto Evelyn as Escobar and others hurry up. Cross
himself elbows through.GITTES
Where is he? I'll kill him, I'll
kill the son of a bitch.Several officers contain Gittes.GITTES
(to Escobar)
Who is he, get his name? I'll kill
him.ESCOBAR
(badly shaken)
Take it easy, take it easy, it was
an accident.GITTES
An accident?Gittes looks down. What he sees horrifies him. Cross is on
the ground, holding Evelyn's body, crying.GITTES
Get him away from her. He's
responsible for everything. Get him
away from her!ESCOBAR
(stunned)
Jake, you're very disturbed. You're
crazy. That's her father.Walsh and Duffy elbow through the crowd.ESCOBAR
(to them)
You wanna do your partner the biggest
favor of his life? Take him home.
Just get him the hell out of here!Duffy bear hugs the protesting Gittes, along with Walsh,
literally dragging him away from the scene, with Gittes trying
to shake free.Through the crowd noises, Walsh can be heard saying, "Forget
it, Jake. It's Chinatown."THE END
Here is the movie version of the last half of the scene:
Trivia: Robert Towne originally intended to have a happy ending. However, during pre-production Roman Polanski and Towne argued over it, with Polanski insisting on a tragic ending. Polanski won the argument and, when the picture was re-released in 1999, Towne admitted that he had been wrong.
Can you imagine Chinatown with a happy ending?
Compare the script to the scene and identify any differences between the two. Why do you think they made the changes they did?
One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.