Robert Towne
Biography: Robert Towne (born Robert Bertram Schwartz; November 23, 1934 - July 1, 2024) was an American screenwriter, producer, director and actor. He was part of the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning original screenplay for Roman Polanski's Chinatown (1974), which is widely considered one of the greatest screenplays ever written. He later said it was inspired by a chapter in Carey McWilliams's Southern California Country: An Island on the Land (1946) and a West magazine article on Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles. Towne also wrote the sequel, The Two Jakes (1990); the Hal Ashby comedy-dramas The Last Detail (1973) and Shampoo (1975); and the first two Mission: Impossible films. Towne directed the sports dramas Personal Best (1982) and Without Limits (1998), the crime thriller Tequila Sunrise (1988), and the romantic crime drama Ask the Dust (2006).
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: November 23, 1934
Deathday: July 01, 2024
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Known For
Creature from the Haunted Sea
1961-06-01
Creature from the Haunted Sea
Overview: A crook decides to bump off members of his inept crew and blame their deaths on a legendary sea creature. What he doesn't know is that the creature is real.
Genres: Horror Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-06-01
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Last Woman on Earth
1960-08-05
Last Woman on Earth
Overview: Harold Gern, a shady businessman from New York, is spending a holiday in Puerto Rico with his attractive wife Evelyn. They are joined by Martin Joyce, Harold's lawyer, who has come to discuss the latest indictment. Harold invites him along on a boat trip during which all three try out some newly bought scuba diving equipment. When they resurface, they find out that the world has changed forever.
Genres: Science Fiction Drama Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1960-08-05
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Drive, He Said
1971-06-13
Drive, He Said
Overview: Hector is a star basketball player for the College basketball team he plays for, the Leopards. His girlfriend, Olive, doesn't know whether to stay with him or leave him. And his friend, Gabriel, who may have dropped out from school and become a protestor, wants desperately not to get drafted for Vietnam.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1971-06-13
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Revolution! The Making of 'Bonnie and Clyde'
2008-03-25
Revolution! The Making of 'Bonnie and Clyde'
Overview: The making-of documentary of Bonnie and Clyde.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2008-03-25
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Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That
2005-12-21
Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That
Overview: Documentary about filmmaker Budd Boetticher.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2005-12-21
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Suspect Zero
2004-08-27
Suspect Zero
Overview: A killer is on the loose, and an FBI agent sifts through clues and learns that the bloodthirsty felon's victims of choice are other serial killers.
Genres: Crime Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2004-08-27
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Shampoo
1975-02-11
Shampoo
Overview: A Beverly Hills hairdresser runs around town on the eve of the 1968 presidential election trying to make heads or tails of his financial and romantic entanglements. His attempts to gather the money to open his own salon are continually side-tracked by the distractions presented by his many lovers.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1975-02-11
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What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael
2019-03-22
What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael
Overview: Pauline Kael (1919–2001) was undoubtedly one of the greatest names in film criticism. A Californian native, she wrote her first review in 1953 and joined ‘The New Yorker’ in 1968. Praised for her highly opinionated and feisty writing style and criticised for her subjective and sometimes ruthless reviews, Kael’s writing was refreshingly and intensely rooted in her experience of watching a film as a member of the audience. Loved and hated in equal measure – loved by other critics for whom she was immensely influential, and hated by filmmakers whose films she trashed - Kael destroyed films that have since become classics such as The Sound of Music and raved about others such as Bonnie and Clyde. She was also aware of the perennial difficulties for women working in the movies and in film criticism, and fiercely fought sexism, both in her reviews and in her media appearances.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2019-03-22
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The Pick-up Artist
1987-09-18
The Pick-up Artist
Overview: A womanizer meets his match when he falls for the daughter of a gambling addict who is in debt to the mob.
Genres: Romance Comedy Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1987-09-18
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Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature
1997-06-24
Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature
Overview: Documentary on water usage, money, politics, the transformation of nature, and the growth of the American west, shown on PBS as a four-part miniseries.
Genres: Documentary History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1997-06-24
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The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made
2004-07-13
The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made
Overview: There are some movies that are so bad they're good. And there are some movies that are so bad- that they're just bad...
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2004-07-13
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The Zodiac Killer
1971-04-07
The Zodiac Killer
Overview: The San Francisco area is beset by a series of seemingly random murders without motive or pattern. The police are taunted by phone calls and letters. Could the maniac be the violent truck driver, or the seemingly mild-mannered mailman, or even a cop?
Genres: Crime Horror Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1971-04-07
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Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy
1998-02-04
Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy
Overview: A profile of writer-director Billy Wilder
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1998-02-04
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A Sad Flower in the Sand
2001-01-01
A Sad Flower in the Sand
Overview: About a largely unsung writer of the twentieth century: John Fante, the renegade author whose highly autobiographical novels illustrate his deep-rooted love of Los Angeles and his struggles working through poverty and prejudice.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2001-01-01
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Salinger
2013-09-06
Salinger
Overview: An in-depth investigation into the private world of the American writer J. D. Salinger (1919-2010), who lived most of his life behind the impenetrable wall of a self-imposed seclusion: how his dramatic experiences during World War II influenced his life and work, his relationships with very young women, his obsessive writing methods, his many literary secrets.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2013-09-06
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Rescued from the Closet
2001-05-29
Rescued from the Closet
Overview: A collection of interviews recorded for the making of the 1995 documentary "The Celluloid Closet," on the subject of LGBT representation in film history.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2001-05-29
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You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story
2008-05-15
You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story
Overview: Jack L. Warner, Harry Warner, Albert Warner and Sam Warner were siblings who were born in Poland and emigrated to Canada near the turn of the century. In 1903, the brothers entered the budding motion picture business. In time, the Warner Brothers moved into film production and would open their own studio in 1923.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2008-05-15
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A Decade Under the Influence
2003-04-25
A Decade Under the Influence
Overview: A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential directors of that time.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2003-04-25
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Reel Radicals: The Sixties Revolution in Film
2002-04-02
Reel Radicals: The Sixties Revolution in Film
Overview: illustrates how directors pushed boundaries and altered the art of filmmaking during the turbulent, swinging 1960s. Narrated by Woody Harrelson, "Reel Radicals" features clips from such seminal films as Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967); Mike Nichols' "The Graduate" (1967); Dennis Hopper's "Easy Rider" (1969); John Frankenheimer's "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962); Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove" (1964) and "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968); John Schlesinger's "Midnight Cowboy" (1969); Richard Brooks' "Elmer Gantry" (1960) and "In Cold Blood" (1967); and Norman Jewison's "In the Heat of the Night" (1967) and "The Thomas Crown Affair" (1968). Frankenheimer, Jewison, Hopper, Schlesinger, Penn, Buck Henry, Paul Mazursky, Roger Corman and Arthur Hiller are among the filmmakers who discuss the decade.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2002-04-02
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