Selected by the Production Design Branch.

Robert Towne’s Oscar-winning original screenplay wove Los Angeles history into an intricate mystery plot. Private detective J.J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson in one of his most effortlessly charismatic performances) discovers that what seems to be a simple divorce case is just one thread in a complex web that puts him in physical and emotional danger. The film earned 11 nominations including Best Picture and Art Direction, with the legendary production designer Richard Sylbert (aided by art director W. Stewart Campbell and set decorator Ruby Levitt) creating an indelible vision of 1937 Los Angeles that combined studio sets and memorable locations.

The Branch Selects program is made possible in part by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.

Academy Museum film programming is generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.