Fans of Peter Biskind's Easy Riders, Raging Bulls and Mark Harris's Pictures at the Revolution will adore Sam Wasson's (Improv Nation) superbly written history of the making of the 1974 noir classic Chinatown. This Oscar-winning masterpiece was created by combining the talents of Jack Nicholson (in his first romantic leading man role), screenwriter Robert Towne (suffering from writers' block after spending two years writing Warren Beatty's Shampoo), producer Robert Evans (the new head of a floundering Paramount Pictures who brought profits back by producing Love Story and The Godfather) and director Roman Polanski (whose two films post-Rosemary's Baby had tanked).
More than half of Wasson's brilliant book is just a lead-up to filming Chinatown--but what a thrilling first half it is. Wasson backtracks to create full and psychologically insightful biographies of all four men, leading up to their friendships and working partnerships. The murder of Polanski's eight-months pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, in 1969 devastated him and changed Hollywood. "That was the end of the Sixties," said Towne. "The door closed, the curtain dropped, and nothing and no one was ever the same." Wasson's detective work goes beyond juicy tales of Faye Dunaway's alienating behavior. He uncovers several surprises, including Towne's longtime (but secret) writing partnership with Edward Taylor; the disastrous first previews of the film; and the last-minute jettison of the film's musical score to one composed and recorded in 10 days by Jerry Goldsmith.
The Big Goodbye reaches beyond the filming of Chinatown to create a fascinating and superbly reported look at Hollywood in the 1970s and beyond. --Kevin Howell, independent reviewer and marketing consultant