“You know what happens to nosey fellas?”
Man with the Knife in Chinatown (played by the director Roman Polanski)
“Every film I make represents a departure for me. You see, it takes so long to make a film. By the time you get to the next one you’re already a different man. You’ve grown up by one or two years.
Chinatown is a thriller and the story line is very important. There is a lot of dialogue. But I missed some opportunity for visual inventiveness. I felt sometimes as if I were doing some kind of TV show. I thought I had always been an able, inventive, creative director and there I was putting two people at a table and letting them talk. When I tried to make it look original I saw it start to become pretentious, so concentrated on the performances and kept an ordinary look.”
Chinatown director Roman Polanski 1974 Interview
P.S. This morning I will be having surgery on my nose for skin cancer. The plastic surgeon will be removing a Squamous Cell Carcinoma from almost the exactly place where J.J. Gittis (Jack Nicholson) is cut in the movie Chinatown. I’m guessing that I will have a bandage on my nose similar to Nicholson’s in the above photo. As a word of warning, if you have what appears to be a larger than normal zit (perhaps reddish or pink) anywhere on your body, it would be wise to talk to your doctor and see if he or she thinks you should have a biopsy done. I was fortunate that mine was one my nose, because that’s a hard area to miss. And one of the benefits to having this procedure done in Iowa is the doctor is a graduate of the Mayo Clinic Grad School located just about an hour and a half away in Rochester, Minnesota.
Here’s to a speedy healing process, Scott. Suggest you get a big white fedora to wear with the bandage, just for show around Cedar Falls. And seriously, thanks for spreading the word about taking care with skin cancer. It’s a sly one.
I’m new to your blog and really enjoying it. Godspeed on the Fing cancer (as we call it in our family) recovery. Glad you caught it early. And a reminder to watch for it is always a welcome note. Sounds like Florida, a fedora and and sunscreen are in your future.
Thanks for sharing your journey.
Wish you a speedy recovery. Thank you very much for your blog. It is educational, inspiring, insightful regarding movies, screen writing and life. Take care and Good luck to you.
Thanks all. Had surgey this morning and just a few hours later was back talking to clients and editing a video project. It was a fairly simple process. Guess the key with skin cancer is to catch it early. I grew up in the Sunshine State in the days before video games and got more than my share of unprotected sun, so I knew this day would come. I just wish I had a bandage like Jack Nicholson’s in “Chinatown.” My dressing looks more like a big wad of gum on my nose.