# Once again sucked in to the vortex of the movie Chinatown

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-sucked-in-to-the-vortex-of-the-movie-chinatown/931422>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** movies\
**Created:** [January 25, 2021, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-sucked-in-to-the-vortex-of-the-movie-chinatown/931422 "2021-01-25T03:45:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-sucked-in-to-the-vortex-of-the-movie-chinatown/931422/21 "2021-01-26T03:39:53Z")

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> [@Dropo](#):
>
> _Crime Wave_ (1954) – Decent crime thriller with excellent supporting cast includes a chase sequence through LA’s Chinatown.

I was thinking of mentioning that one. It’s worth watching just for the LA location filming.

_The Naked City_ (1948) is another one like that—filmed on real locations all over NYC (at a time when urban location filming was considered wildly impractical) and has a spectacular finale on the Williamsburg Bridge.

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**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-sucked-in-to-the-vortex-of-the-movie-chinatown/931422/22 "2021-01-26T05:04:59Z")

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I love the movie—as a story, for the characters, for the dialog, and for transporting me to 1937 Southern California.

I never perceived the questions posed to the Mexican boy in the river as anything deep or meaningful; it’s just the way a poor kid at the time, perhaps with uncertain English skills, would have acted around a white guy dressed the way Gittes was. In fact, typing this out suddenly reminded me of an extremely similar interaction I had with a 14-year-old boy in 1985—a conversation that took place very close to that location.

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