Robert Towne

"Chinatown" writer Robert Towne has listed his estate on the Westside at $12.995 million. Built in 1926 and designed for grand entertaining, the restored English country-style mansion and guesthouse have seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms and 10,000 square feet of living space. The nearly three-quarter-acre property is wooded and includes a swimming pool, a rose garden and a spice garden. Towne, 77, won an Oscar for original screenplay in 1975 for the Jack Nicholson-starring film about land and water rights disputes.

"Chinatown" writer Robert Towne has listed his estate on the Westside at $12.995 million. Built in 1926 and designed for grand entertaining, the restored English country-style mansion and guesthouse have seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms and 10,000 square feet of living space. The nearly three-quarter-acre property is wooded and includes a swimming pool, a rose garden and a spice garden. Towne, 77, won an Oscar for original screenplay in 1975 for the Jack Nicholson-starring film about land and water rights disputes.

Robert Towne, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Chinatown," will chair the selection committee for the USC Scripter Award, which honors the year's best English-language film adaptation of a book or novella. Bestowed annually since 1989 by the USC Friends of the Libraries, the award is billed as the only honor that recognizes both the author and screenwriter for a film adaptation.

Only in Hollywood could a screenwriter mine the rather unsexy topics of water and land rights in Southern California during the early 20th century and come up with one of the most beguiling, beautiful and arresting films of all time. Robert Towne, who wrote the screenplay for "Chinatown," screens the 1974 classic, which won the Academy Award for original screenplay. After the film, Towne will be joined by California historian Kevin Starr, and Mark J. Harris and Ted Braun, USC cinematic arts professors, to discuss the film's resonance with our sense of Los Angeles.

Hollywood may be obsessed with youth, but some films improve with age. On the 25th anniversary of "Chinatown," the film's creators have revisited the movie and are somewhat surprised to find that it holds up better than they ever could have imagined. One evening not long ago, "Chinatown" director Roman Polanski happened upon the movie while channel-surfing with his wife, actress Emmanuelle Seigner, at their Paris home.

Whoosh!! "Days of Thunder" just streaked in (citywide), fast as a race-car paint job and about as flat. The movie's excitement comes from its racing footage; its massive case of attitude comes from producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer's assurance that they can retool the formula of "Top Gun," bless it with a little sprinkle of Valvoline and send it out as a brand-new movie. They have a few things working for them. Tom Cruise's slowly dawning grin remains unassailable.

Few screenwriters traverse California history with the surety of Robert Towne. Raised in San Pedro, he seems as wedded to the land as are the people he writes about. His Pacific Palisades home is surrounded by lush lawns, pepper trees and birds of paradise, and you can hear the backyard fountain from inside the house.

These are the cats that walked by themselves. Woody Allen Robert Altman Michael Caine John Cassavetes Francis Ford Coppola Lillian Gish Katharine Hepburn John Huston Akira Kurosawa Burt Lancaster Jack Nicholson Martin Scorsese RUNNERS UP Robert Duvall Elaine May Harry Dean Stanton Meryl Streep Robert Towne

Screenwriter Robert Towne has struck a deal to develop a remake of the Alfred Hitchcock classic "The 39 Steps." The Hollywood veteran, who won an Oscar for 1974's "Chinatown" and was nominated for "The Last Detail," "Shampoo" and "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes," will write and direct the thriller for Carlton International Media, Daily Variety reported.

A hot screen debut in "Bad Boys." Oscar-talk for "La Bamba." So whatever happened to Esai Morales? Well, we would have seen him in Robert Towne's "Tequila Sunrise"--but his scenes were axed. "That's moviemaking," said a philosophical Morales. He told us it was a small role, a couple days' work playing the drug-dealing son of drug dealer Raul Julia (Gibson portrays a cocaine dealer trying to go straight). "I did it to work with Mel and Robert Towne--two people I really admire."

LOVERS of Los Angeles literature and especially the works of John Fante have long anticipated the arrival of the movie version of "Ask the Dust." That it was entrusted to Robert Towne, of "Chinatown" fame and keeper of a tradition of Southern California writers, has been a source of comfort and high hopes. Thirty years of gestation have produced a film of great beauty with unfulfilled promise -- a disappointment, but with much to recommend and be glad about.

Few screenwriters traverse California history with the surety of Robert Towne. Raised in San Pedro, he seems as wedded to the land as are the people he writes about. His Pacific Palisades home is surrounded by lush lawns, pepper trees and birds of paradise, and you can hear the backyard fountain from inside the house.

Screenwriter Robert Towne has struck a deal to develop a remake of the Alfred Hitchcock classic "The 39 Steps." The Hollywood veteran, who won an Oscar for 1974's "Chinatown" and was nominated for "The Last Detail," "Shampoo" and "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes," will write and direct the thriller for Carlton International Media, Daily Variety reported.

Remember the scene in "Chinatown" in which private eye Jake Gittes visits the morgue on his lunch hour to find out "who died lately"? If you listen closely, you can hear race announcer Joe Hernandez calling a Seabiscuit race from Santa Anita racetrack in the background. Later, there's a quick insert of a newspaper headline about the horse.

Robert Towne, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Chinatown," will chair the selection committee for the USC Scripter Award, which honors the year's best English-language film adaptation of a book or novella. Bestowed annually since 1989 by the USC Friends of the Libraries, the award is billed as the only honor that recognizes both the author and screenwriter for a film adaptation.

What sets a great screenwriter on his path? Picking up a lifetime achievement award from the writer's organization PEN West last month, Robert Towne ("Chinatown," "Shampoo," "Mission: Impossible") thought back to his beginnings. Here is an excerpt from his remarks. I grew up in a time when Los Angeles and screenwriting were viewed along similar lines -- the best thing about L.A.

Once again, Robert Towne earns his reputation as being one of the superlative screenwriters in the industry (" 'M:I-2' Author to Critic: Forget It, Steve, It Isn't 'Notorious'," June 5). He writes, regarding "M:I-2": "Carefully orchestrated action sequences that make up at least half the movie . . . [do] not really allow for many 'layers of complexity and perversity' for the characters." What this renowned master of the art of subtext has thus said: "They already had the action sequences written in, and all I was asked to do was fill in the gaps with enough plot and people to carry them.

Most critics slammed the first "Mission: Impossible" for being overly convoluted and mechanical. To remedy that problem, the filmmakers behind the sequel set out to reclaim a more human focus. "This movie is different from the first 'Mission: Impossible,' " co-producer Paula Wagner announced. "This is a more personal story." In pursuit of this new agenda, screenwriter Robert Towne looked for inspiration to one of the greatest romantic thrillers of all time, Alfred Hitchcock's "Notorious."