Chinatown trivia
Chinatown Mini Quiz
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
Before playing corrupt water baron Noah Cross in the 1974 film Chinatown, what legendary filmmaker directed The Maltese Falcon?
John Huston actually made his directorial debut with The Maltese Falcon. He occasionally acted, bringing immense gravity to his patriarchal role in Chinatown.
Based on a real 1900s California scandal, the 1974 neo-noir film Chinatown centers on a plot to siphon what resource to Los Angeles?
This plot is heavily inspired by the real-life California Water Wars, where Los Angeles secretly bought up Owens Valley water rights to support its rapid urban expansion.
The 1974 film Chinatown uses what vital public resource to drive its central criminal conspiracy?
Screenwriter Robert Towne focused on this resource after concluding that whoever controlled the water supply essentially dictated the entire future development of Los Angeles.
Director Roman Polanski cameos in his film Chinatown to inflict what iconic injury on the lead detective?
Polanski plays a thug who attacks Jack Nicholson's character with a switchblade. As a result, Nicholson wears a prominent nasal bandage for the majority of the film.
Noah Cross, the antagonist of the 1974 film Chinatown, dumps city water into the ocean to do what?
Dumping the water creates a fake drought that ruins farmers, letting Cross buy their land cheaply in a scheme inspired by the real California Water Wars.