Talking of changes, however, adding this Rolfe guy as an obnoxiously grouchy sidekick to John Ireland's cop, a role played to the hilt by the great Harry Dean Stanton, was a rather amusing move (doesn't the guy actually steal something from a crime scene at one point?
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I haven't read the original novel, but I felt that the Dean Stanton/Ireland relationship echoed the one, a year earlier, in Chinatown between Nicholson's friend cop and HIS assistant(the one who fires "the fatal shot" at the end.) Almost as if written in 'Homage."
Indeed, whereas Nicholson's pal cop in the Chinatown is mildly corrupt ("He has to swim in the same water as the rest of us" notes Nicholson), Ireland's cop in Farewell My Lovely is presented as totatlly on the take - but he decides to go straight and battle the mob at the end, leaving his crooked sideman(Harry) on the street.
Interesting: both Chinatown and Farewell My Lovely have the same great cinematographer -- John Alonzo -- but while 30's LA is wide screen, plush and gleaming in Chinatown, 40's LA is regular screen, blurry and mottled in Farewell My Lovely. Alonzo created both looks, though he wanted Farewell My Lovely also to awash in neon colors.
I met Alonzo at a screening of Farewell My Lovely in 1975 and he discussed his different photography schemes for Chinatown and Farewell My Lovely. He also noted that while he could influence the rather new and unsure Dick Richards on his direction of Farewell My Lovely, he could not at all influence Polanski on Chinatown.
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LTUM (1034)
5 years ago
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ecarle (14979)
5 years ago
great post! this is what i love about the boards, finding little gems like this.
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Thank you. Back in the 70's I lived in LA and went to a few seminars and screenings with filmmakers present, like John Alonzo at this one. I learned these things from people like Alonzo, and it gives me pleasure to share this information with the outside world.
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interesting point about polanski.
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He was very confident at a young age about his direction. His European films had been well received and Rosemary's Baby was considered a classic. He knew what he wanted on Chinatown, and he knew from camerawork and editing from his days at film school.
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IMO chinatown looked way better than this one.
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Agreed, and according to Alonzo, that was on purpose, though I wonder: Chinatown had a bigger budget, more famous director...maybe it could "buy" better cinematography from Alonzo. He did note that one story was set in the 30s' and one in the 40's, it made a difference to his "pallette."
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I'd never guess they were the same cinematographer! don't get me wrong, there's things i love about the look of farewell my lady. but i don't attribute that to camerawork; more to set design.
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Yes, likely the set design. Farewell My Lovely is more "stylized" than Chinatown I think, creates a different world.
Note in passing: before John Alonzo was a cinematographer, he was a film actor. He is one of the Mexican peasants who hires Yul Brynner to lead The Magnificent Seven in that 1960 film.
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Tabbycat (878)
4 years ago
Absolutely right about the homage to Chinatown.
I love the neon noir look of this flick — especially the red flicker of HOTEL in the smoky dark of his office.
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