
Robert Towne
Writer · 1934 – 2024 · San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, USA
Robert Towne (born Robert Bertram Schwartz; November 23, 1934 - July 1, 2024) was an American screenwriter, producer, director and actor. He was part of the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning original screenplay for Roman Polanski's Chinatown (1974), which is widely considered one of the greatest screenplays ever written. He later said it was inspired by a chapter in Carey McWilliams's Southern California Country: An Island on the Land (1946) and a West magazine article on Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles. Towne also wrote the sequel, The Two Jakes (1990); the Hal Ashby comedy-dramas The Last Detail (1973) and Shampoo (1975); and the first two Mission: Impossible films. Towne directed the sports dramas Personal Best (1982) and Without Limits (1998), the crime thriller Tequila Sunrise (1988), and the romantic crime drama Ask the Dust (2006). Description above from the Wikipedia article Robert Towne, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movies20
Movie5.6CrimeThrillerA killer is on the loose, and an FBI agent sifts through clues and learns that the bloodthirsty felon's victims of choice are other serial killers.
Suspect Zero
2004 · 412 votes
Movie5.7RomanceComedyA womanizer meets his match when he falls for the daughter of a gambling addict who is in debt to the mob.
The Pick-up Artist
1987 · 207 votes
Movie6.0ComedyDramaOn Election Day, 1968, irresponsible hairdresser and ladies' man George Roundy is too busy cutting hair and dealing with his girlfriends and mistress Felicia Karpf, whose husband Lester is having an affair with his ex-girlfriend Jackie.
Shampoo
1975 · 248 votes
Movie6.7DocumentaryPauline Kael (1919–2001) was undoubtedly one of the greatest names in film criticism. A Californian native, she wrote her first review in 1953 and joined ‘The New Yorker’ in 1968. Praised for her highly opinionated and feisty writing style and criticised for her subjective and sometimes ruthless reviews, Kael’s writing was refreshingly and intensely rooted in her experience of watching a film as a member of the audience. Loved and hated in equal measure – loved by other critics for whom she was immensely influential, and hated by filmmakers whose films she trashed - Kael destroyed films that have since become classics such as The Sound of Music and raved about others such as Bonnie and Clyde. She was also aware of the perennial difficulties for women working in the movies and in film criticism, and fiercely fought sexism, both in her reviews and in her media appearances.
What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael
2019 · 16 votes
Movie7.9DocumentaryA documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential directors of that time.
A Decade Under the Influence
2003 · 45 votes
- Movie8.0Documentary
illustrates how directors pushed boundaries and altered the art of filmmaking during the turbulent, swinging 1960s. Narrated by Woody Harrelson, "Reel Radicals" features clips from such seminal films as Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967); Mike Nichols' "The Graduate" (1967); Dennis Hopper's "Easy Rider" (1969); John Frankenheimer's "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962); Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove" (1964) and "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968); John Schlesinger's "Midnight Cowboy" (1969); Richard Brooks' "Elmer Gantry" (1960) and "In Cold Blood" (1967); and Norman Jewison's "In the Heat of the Night" (1967) and "The Thomas Crown Affair" (1968). Frankenheimer, Jewison, Hopper, Schlesinger, Penn, Buck Henry, Paul Mazursky, Roger Corman and Arthur Hiller are among the filmmakers who discuss the decade.
Reel Radicals: The Sixties Revolution in Film
2002 · 1 votes
Movie6.4DocumentaryAn in-depth investigation into the private world of the American writer J. D. Salinger (1919-2010), who lived most of his life behind the impenetrable wall of a self-imposed seclusion: how his dramatic experiences during World War II influenced his life and work, his relationships with very young women, his obsessive writing methods, his many literary secrets.
Salinger
2013 · 70 votes
Movie6.5DocumentaryRescued from the Closet is a 2001 documentary consisting of interviews originally recorded for the 1995 film The Celluloid Closet. It explores the history and impact of LGBT representation in cinema, providing insights into the portrayal and evolution of LGBT characters and themes within the film industry.
Rescued from the Closet
2001 · 2 votes
Movie8.5DocumentaryJack L. Warner, Harry Warner, Albert Warner and Sam Warner were siblings who were born in Poland and emigrated to Canada near the turn of the century. In 1903, the brothers entered the budding motion picture business. In time, the Warner Brothers moved into film production and would open their own studio in 1923.
You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story
2008 · 12 votes
Movie7.0DocumentaryDocumentary about filmmaker Budd Boetticher.
Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That
2005 · 7 votes
Movie5.6ComedyDramaHector is a star basketball player for the College basketball team he plays for, the Leopards. His girlfriend, Olive, doesn't know whether to stay with him or leave him. And his friend, Gabriel, who may have dropped out from school and become a protestor, wants desperately not to get drafted for Vietnam.
Drive, He Said
1971 · 26 votes
Movie3.6HorrorComedyA crook decides to bump off members of his inept crew and blame their deaths on a legendary sea creature. What he doesn't know is that the creature is real.
Creature from the Haunted Sea
1961 · 55 votes
Movie4.4Science FictionDramaHarold Gern, a shady businessman from New York, is spending a holiday in Puerto Rico with his attractive wife Evelyn. They are joined by Martin Joyce, Harold's lawyer, who has come to discuss the latest indictment. Harold invites him along on a boat trip during which all three try out some newly bought scuba diving equipment. When they resurface, they find out that the world has changed forever.
Last Woman on Earth
1960 · 62 votes
Movie6.0DocumentaryA profile of writer-director Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy
1998 · 1 votes
Movie4.8CrimeHorrorThe San Francisco area is beset by a series of seemingly random murders without motive or pattern. The police are taunted by phone calls and letters. Could the maniac be the violent truck driver, or the seemingly mild-mannered mailman, or even a cop?
The Zodiac Killer
1971 · 31 votes
Movie4.6DocumentaryThe making-of documentary of Bonnie and Clyde.
Revolution! The Making of 'Bonnie and Clyde'
2008 · 5 votes
MovieTV MovieComedy1991's NBC Halloween special with John Astin and Rhonda Shear. Features clips from classic horror movies with commentary.
- MovieDocumentary
A short documentary tracing Mission: Impossible from TV series to film franchise, featuring clips and interviews with producer Paula Wagner, Tom Cruise, screenwriter Robert Towne, directors Brian De Palma, John Woo, and J.J. Abrams, and actor Jon Voight. It covers the TV show's influence on the first film, the plot and production challenges, casting and locations, the sequel's development, and beyond.
MovieDocumentaryA three-part documentary produced by Laurent Bouzereau for the 2007 DVD release of Chinatown, featuring interviews with Roman Polanski, Jack Nicholson, Robert Towne, and Robert Evans.
MovieDocumentaryAbout a largely unsung writer of the twentieth century: John Fante, the renegade author whose highly autobiographical novels illustrate his deep-rooted love of Los Angeles and his struggles working through poverty and prejudice.
Series2
TV7.7DocumentaryA worldwide guided tour of the greatest movies ever made and the story of international cinema through the history of cinematic innovation.
The Story of Film: An Odyssey
2011 · 69 votes
TVDocumentaryDocumentary on water usage, money, politics, the transformation of nature, and the growth of the American west, shown on PBS as a four-part miniseries.
Cadillac Desert
1997