Jack Nicholson plays the role of private detective Jake Gittes in which 1974 film?
Jack Nicholson that one of his favorite Nicholson scenes from all his films was in this one, when Nicholson slaps his gun on the bar yelling he "was" the Shore Patrol. Critic Roger Ebert called it a very good movie, but credited Nicholson's acting as the main reason: "He creates a character so complete and so complex that we stop thinking about the movie and just watch to see what he'll do next." In 1974, Nicholson starred in Roman Polanski's noir thriller, "Chinatown", and was again nominated for Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Jake Gittes, a private detective.
Chinatown (1974 film) who also directed, with Robert Towne returning to write the screenplay. The film failed to generate the acclaim of its predecessor. A woman identifying herself as Evelyn Mulwray hires private investigator J.J. "Jake" Gittes to follow her husband, Hollis Mulwray, chief engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Gittes tails him, hears him publicly refuse to create a new reservoir that would be unsafe, and shoots photographs of him with a young woman, which are published on the front page of the following day's paper. Back at his office, Gittes is confronted by a woman who informs