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Robert Towne, Chinatown, and the Bewitchments of 'Tone'

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dc.contributor.authorCameron, Evan Wm.
dc.date.accessioned2019-04-12T18:45:24Z
dc.date.available2019-04-12T18:45:24Z
dc.date.issued2006
dc.description.abstractScreenwriters during the 'studio era' were required to work in sequence upon the screenplays of movies. After the studios collapsed, however, they were obliged increasingly to work alone, many striving to secure above all what Robert Towne was to call the 'tone' of a movie – the 'feel' of its scenes. Towne wrote the screenplay for CHINATOWN, released in 1974, and among the most acclaimed movies of the last half of the twentieth-century. The ending of CHINATOWN, however, lacks power, as he acknowledged. Why? Because the scenes before it, when encountered in sequence, fail to cohere. Within this essay I unpack the weaknesses of the 'story' of CHINATOWN, concluding that screenwriters ought to avoid working alone, especially if bewitched by 'tone'.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10315/36133
dc.language.isoen
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/*
dc.subjectBonnie and Clyde (Motion picture)en_US
dc.subjectChase, Bordenen_US
dc.subjectChekov, Antonen_US
dc.subjectChinatown (Motion picture)en_US
dc.subjectCliff, Montgomeryen_US
dc.subjectCooper, Garyen_US
dc.subjectDouble Indemnity (Motion picture)en_US
dc.subjectDuryea, Danen_US
dc.subjectFilmmakingen_US
dc.subjectGodfather (Motion picture)en_US
dc.subjectIreland, Johnen_US
dc.subjectJhabvala, Ruth Praweren_US
dc.subjectLancaster, Burten_US
dc.subjectLast Detail (Motion picture)en_US
dc.subjectLubitsch, Ernsten_US
dc.subjectMaltese falcon (Motion picture : 1941)en_US
dc.subjectMarathon man (Motion picture)en_US
dc.subjectPolanski, Romanen_US
dc.subjectPostman always rings twice (Motion picture : 1981)en_US
dc.subjectRaphaelson, Samsonen_US
dc.subjectRiskin, Roberten_US
dc.subjectRoom with a view (Motion picture)en_US
dc.subjectScreenwritingen_US
dc.subjectScreenwriting, History ofen_US
dc.subjectScreenwriting, Teaching ofen_US
dc.subjectStewart, Jimmyen_US
dc.subjectTone (of scenes)en_US
dc.subjectTowne, Roberten_US
dc.subjectTwo Jakes (Motion picture)en_US
dc.subjectWayne, Johnen_US
dc.subjectWinchester '73 (Motion picture)en_US
dc.subjectZanuck, Darrylen_US
dc.subjectCameron, Evanen_US
dc.titleRobert Towne, Chinatown, and the Bewitchments of 'Tone'en_US
dc.typePresentationen_US

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Screenwriting, 1970-1985 Journey into Twilight

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