Wild timing since he died yesterday. Towne had a buddy from high school who was his silent writing partner for a long time - or at least the person he bounced all idea off. I helped move the guy into a house a couple of doors down from Towne's house on the beach in Malibu. The guy's daughter Nikki was a friend of mine. And amazing that so many people didn't get the script and it probably wouldn't have been made had Robert Evans not been a fan of it.
That's my understanding. Evans had to talk everyone into making it - he saw it, but Polanski got the darker ending he wanted instead of Gittes gitting away with her to Mexico.
Wild timing since he died yesterday. Towne had a buddy from high school who was his silent writing partner for a long time - or at least the person he bounced all idea off. I helped move the guy into a house a couple of doors down from Towne's house on the beach in Malibu. The guy's daughter Nikki was a friend of mine. And amazing that so many people didn't get the script and it probably wouldn't have been made had Robert Evans not been a fan of it.
My understanding is not even Polanski was that crazy about it, right?
That's my understanding. Evans had to talk everyone into making it - he saw it, but Polanski got the darker ending he wanted instead of Gittes gitting away with her to Mexico.