# Was there ever a novelization of the movie CHINATOWN? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [June 27, 2023, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-novelization-of-the-movie-chinatown/986169 "2023-06-27T12:26:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-novelization-of-the-movie-chinatown/986169/1 "2023-06-27T12:26:01Z")
Seems a natural to me. It ranks very high on my list of favorite movies, and I’d read a well-written novel based on it. I just learned of a bit, at the very opening, that got dropped, for example, that I’d start the novel with. “You’re not rich enough to get away with murder,” J.J. Gittes explains to Curly, his angry but poor client in the opening scene, who later plays a small part in the climax of the film. For some reason, this line got dropped, but of course it presages the theme of the movie–the rich get away with murder. Lots of good material for a novel–has anyone ever tried it? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-novelization-of-the-movie-chinatown/986169/2 "2023-06-27T17:11:45Z")
Evidently there is. Robert Towne, who wrote the screenplay, turned it into a novel > **[CHINATOWN. by Towne, Robert.](https://www.amazon.com/CHINATOWN-Robert-Towne/dp/B000FB44PQ)** > > CHINATOWN. \[Towne, Robert.\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. CHINATOWN. > [@](#): > > In 1971, producer Robert Evans offered Towne $175,000 to write a screenplay for The Great Gatsby (1974), but Towne felt he could not better the **F. Scott Fitzgerald novel**. Instead, Towne asked Evans for $25,000 to write his own story, Chinatown, to which Evans agreed. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-novelization-of-the-movie-chinatown/986169/3 "2023-06-27T17:13:30Z")
> [@](#): > > According to Robert Towne, both [Carey McWilliams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carey_McWilliams_(journalist))’s _Southern California Country: An Island on the Land_ (1946) and a _West_ magazine article called “[Raymond Chandler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Chandler)’s L.A”. inspired his original screenplay.[[22]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown_(1974_film)#cite_note-22) In a letter to McWilliams, Towne wrote that _Southern California Country_ “really changed my life. It taught me to look at the place where I was born, and convinced me to write about it”.[[23]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown_(1974_film)#cite_note-23) [Chinatown (1974 film) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown_(1974_film)#:~:text=In%201971%2C%20producer%20Robert%20Evans,Chinatown%2C%20to%20which%20Evans%20agreed). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-novelization-of-the-movie-chinatown/986169/4 "2023-06-27T17:16:14Z")
> **[Chinatown by Robert Towne Book Book The Fast Free Shipping 571204813 | eBay](https://www.ebay.com/itm/304549322682)** > > Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Chinatown by Robert Towne Book Book The Fast Free Shipping at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products! The screenplay by itself is also available as a book. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-novelization-of-the-movie-chinatown/986169/5 "2023-06-27T17:22:14Z")
Talk about your most horrifying, hopeless endings. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-novelization-of-the-movie-chinatown/986169/6 "2023-06-27T17:35:52Z")
Townes’ first draft had an upbeat ending. Polanski changed it. Ten years later Towne said Polanski got it right ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-novelization-of-the-movie-chinatown/986169/7 "2023-06-27T20:56:15Z")
[$488.87](https://www.amazon.com/CHINATOWN-Robert-Towne/dp/B000FB44PQ) is a little rich for my blood. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-novelization-of-the-movie-chinatown/986169/8 "2023-06-28T03:24:10Z")
Try interlibrary loan? I’ve gotten some very interesting, out-of-print stuff that way - stuff which I could probably never have afforded to buy (or that I’d just not want to pay _that_ much for).