The Last Time We Saw Robert Towne
The last time we got Robert out was way back in 2009, when he talked to one of our photogs about his "Chinatown" script and dished on working with Roman Polanski and Tom Cruise.
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00:00I love Chinatown. I have to ask about your opinions of Polanski, man.
00:06I have no opinion on Roman other than I have great affection for him and respect.
00:12Do you think he should be extradited here?
00:15I'm not commenting on it. I just...
00:18Is it true the first draft of Chinatown was like 300 pages?
00:21No.
00:22No, not that much?
00:23No, it was 180.
00:25Wow. Who is harder to work with, Roman or Tom Cruise?
00:30Actually, they were both a pleasure to work with.
00:34And, you know, anybody who's any good is going to be tough.
00:39And you're going to have conflicts.
00:43How did you come up with the line, Jake, it's only Chinatown?
00:48Because I use it all the time when I'm describing things that are messed up in the world.
00:53It's a fatalistic line, you know.
00:56Oh, it's totally fatalistic.
00:58Well, thank you, Mr. Town. I'm a huge fan.