Another Classic I Haven't Seen Yet #7 - Chinatown (1974)

“Does this bandage make my nose look big?”

At first I thought this was just going to be a 70s interpretation of the old Noir films. It was. But it ended up being so much more as well.

Where most old noir films would find a silver lining or at the very least gloss over the darkest parts, this film went full boar into the deepest pits of darkness.

Of course the incestuous rich oligarch wins in the end. Everyone talks about the famous closing line, but I’ve never heard anyone discuss how Mr. Cross literally gets away with murder and walks away with his daughter/granddaughter. The hopelessness of the ending is what makes it one of my favorite noir films…even if it wasn’t released in the 40s/50s.