Lot 01 · The council chamber
The hearing
Hollis Mulwray speaks against the new dam at a public hearing.
Tear the page out to see where this was filmed, and what is there now.
Jack Nicholson, 1976J. J. Gittes
Faye Dunaway, 1971Evelyn Mulwray
Hall of Records · Los Angeles · 1937 · Lot 01
Chinatown
WaterLandThe books
A city in a drought, water poured into the sea at night, and a detective reading the land books.
- 01The council chamber████████████
- 02Mulwray’s lake████████████
- 03The riverbed████████████
Folio 02The land books
Twelve entries.
Tear the page to read them.
In the film, Gittes tears pages from the land books to list who bought the Valley. Here the film’s names are on the left; the real addresses are under the page.
The right-hand column is covered by the page.
The land-books scene
Folio 03The autopsy
Fresh or salt?
Test the water.
Choose a sample. The float rides higher in salt water.
Mulwray drowned in salt water, not in the reservoir; Gittes finds broken bifocals in the house’s salt-water pond.
The record
Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority
Stone Canyon Overlook
Mulholland Drive · Free
The free lookout on Mulholland Drive above the film’s Oak Pass Reservoir, with parking and a short accessible trail.
Plan a visitFolio 04The drought
Dry bed,
full sea.
Big Tujunga Wash, under the Hollenbeck Bridge
Gittes walks the dry riverbed under the Hollenbeck Bridge, where Foothill Boulevard crosses the Big Tujunga Wash; a body is later found here.
See the wash from Foothill Boulevard, near West Conover Road.
The record
Point Fermin Park and Walker’s Cafe
At Point Fermin, Gittes watches water being dumped into the ocean. It happens in a severe drought, when the water ought to be going to the Valley.
A public clifftop park on Paseo del Mar. Walker’s Cafe, just along the road, is closed.
The record
At Walker’s Cafe on Paseo del Mar, Gittes leaves a watch under the wheel of Mulwray’s car; the cafe closed for good in 2021.
A cheap watch, face up, under the wheel.
The record
Catalina Tours
Casino VIP Backstage Tour
Avalon, Catalina Island · Daily · adults $42.44
An hour inside Avalon’s Casino: the 1929 ballroom, the theatre of more than 1,100 seats, and the dressing rooms backstage. It has 90-plus steps.
Book the tourFolio 05The city’s books
Three addresses
downtown.
Los Angeles City Hall
200 North Spring Street · Then and now
The public hearing where Hollis Mulwray opposes the new dam was filmed at City Hall.
Mulwray was loosely based on William Mulholland, who ran the city’s water and power and built the Owens River aqueduct. The aqueduct opened in 1913 and brings water from the Owens Valley, some 230 miles away.
The record
The Millennium Biltmore
506 South Grand Avenue
Gittes and Mulwray part company at the hotel’s rear entrance.
The Biltmore opened in 1923 and hosted the Academy Awards eight times between 1932 and 1942.
The record
Pacific Dining Car
1310 West Sixth Street · Struck off
The photographs of Mulwray arguing with Noah Cross were staged outside the Pacific Dining Car.
Opened in 1921, it had been closed since a fire in August 2024; a second fire, on 20 March 2025, burned through the attic and roof.
The record
Millennium Hotels
The Millennium Biltmore
Downtown Los Angeles
The 1923 hotel on Pershing Square where Gittes and Mulwray part at the rear entrance. It hosted the Academy Awards eight times between 1932 and 1942.
Check rooms
Folio 06The real man
Mulwray had
a model.
Not a film location: the memorial to William Mulholland, the engineer Hollis Mulwray was loosely based on. It was dedicated on 1 August 1940, where Mulholland had once lived in a small wooden house while working as a ditch tender.
Mulwray was loosely based on William Mulholland, who ran the city’s water and power and built the Owens River aqueduct. Mulholland’s St Francis Dam collapsed in 1928 and killed nearly 500 people.
Coloured lights earned it the nickname the “Kool-Aid” fountain; the Department of Water and Power restored it in 1996.
Colour the fountain: it is lit plain white.
A small public garden on a busy junction; cross with the lights.
The record
Robert Evans, 1981
Robert Towne wrote the film and won the Oscar for original screenplay; Robert Evans produced it, his first screen credit as producer.
Production notes
Folio 07Chinatown
A Chinatown
that moved.
In Chinatown, Evelyn shoots Noah Cross and is killed by the police. The film’s bleak climax was shot on Spring Street, south of Ord Street; the block has largely been redeveloped since.
The first Chinatown was cleared for Union Station: the plans were settled in 1931 and the demolition took the next few years. New Chinatown opened in 1938, led by Peter SooHoo, an American-born employee of the Department of Water and Power.
Open streets: walk Spring Street south from Ord Street, then into the plazas of New Chinatown.
The record
Where it is now
11 places you can visit. The Mulwray house in Pasadena and the Mi Casa apartments on Havenhurst Drive are private: the ledger shows their neighbourhoods, never the houses, and neither is pinned.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Open streets: walk Spring Street south from Ord Street, then into the plazas of New Chinatown.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. See the tower from Spring Street and from Grand Park opposite.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working hotel facing Pershing Square; see the front from Grand Avenue.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Nothing to visit: the restaurant has been closed since a fire in 2024.
Chinatown’s Central Plaza and its gate, 2014. Johnnydeezwax · CC BY-SA 3.0 Spring Street, south of Ord Street
1 · Chinatown, North Spring Street
The film’s bleak climax was shot on Spring Street, south of Ord Street; the block has largely been redeveloped since.
Open streets: walk Spring Street south from Ord Street, then into the plazas of New Chinatown.
The record
Los Angeles City Hall at dusk, 2013. Michael J Fromholtz · Public domain 200 North Spring Street
2 · Los Angeles City Hall
The public hearing where Hollis Mulwray opposes the new dam was filmed at City Hall.
See the tower from Spring Street and from Grand Park opposite.
The record
The Millennium Biltmore across Pershing Square, 2012. Downtowngal · CC BY-SA 3.0 506 South Grand Avenue
3 · The Millennium Biltmore
Gittes and Mulwray part company at the hotel’s rear entrance.
A working hotel facing Pershing Square; see the front from Grand Avenue.
The record
The Pacific Dining Car site after the fire, 20 March 2025. Dylan6889 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Westlake
4 · Pacific Dining Car, 1310 West Sixth Street
The photographs of Mulwray arguing with Noah Cross were staged outside the Pacific Dining Car.
Nothing to visit: the restaurant has been closed since a fire in 2024.
The record
Stay
Sleep at the Biltmore.
The 1923 hotel on Pershing Square where Gittes and Mulwray part.
Millennium Hotels
The Millennium Biltmore
Downtown Los Angeles
The 1923 hotel on Pershing Square where Gittes and Mulwray part at the rear entrance. It hosted the Academy Awards eight times between 1932 and 1942.
Check roomsGo there
Out on the water.
Backstage at Avalon’s Casino, the lookout over Oak Pass Reservoir, and film-location tours.
Catalina Tours
Casino VIP Backstage Tour
Avalon, Catalina Island · Daily · adults $42.44
An hour inside Avalon’s Casino: the 1929 ballroom, the theatre of more than 1,100 seats, and the dressing rooms backstage. It has 90-plus steps.
Book the tourMountains Recreation and Conservation Authority
Stone Canyon Overlook
Mulholland Drive · Free
The free lookout on Mulholland Drive above the film’s Oak Pass Reservoir, with parking and a short accessible trail.
Plan a visit
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Los Angeles film-location tours
Los Angeles
Live marketplace results for movie-location and noir tours in Los Angeles. Check each itinerary for Chinatown stops.
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On a screen.
A free screening in York this month.
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Take it home
The 1974 posters, the books and the score.
Original Chinatown posters from our store, Towne’s screenplay, the making of the film, and Goldsmith’s score.
Printed Originals · Our poster store
Chinatown (1974) — US one-sheet
An original 1974 US one-sheet, 27 × 41 in, linen-backed, near mint.
In stock
View poster
Printed Originals · Our poster store
Chinatown (1974) — French poster
An original 1974 French poster, 16 × 21 in.
Check availability on the store
View poster
Printed Originals · Our poster store
Chinatown (1974) — 14 × 21
An original 1974 poster, 14 × 21 in, near mint.
Check availability on the store
View poster
Bookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate
The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood
Sam Wasson
How the film was made, and by whom.
Find the book
Bookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate
Chinatown and The Last Detail
Robert Towne
Towne’s two screenplays.
Find the book
Bookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate
Cadillac Desert
Marc Reisner
The American West and its water, Owens Valley included.
Find the book
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eBay · Ad / affiliate
Chinatown: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Jerry Goldsmith · LP, EMI Electrola, 1974
Goldsmith’s score, a 1974 German pressing.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
The whole ledger
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
13 of 13 places · 13 of 13 Moments
Chinatown, North Spring Street
Spring Street, south of Ord Street
Chinatown
The climax, on Spring Street in Chinatown.
Los Angeles City Hall
200 North Spring Street
The hearing
Hollis Mulwray speaks against the new dam at a public hearing.
The Millennium Biltmore
506 South Grand Avenue
The rear entrance
Gittes and Mulwray part company at the Biltmore’s rear entrance.
Pacific Dining Car, 1310 West Sixth Street
Westlake
The staged photographs
Mulwray and Noah Cross are photographed arguing outside the Pacific Dining Car.
Echo Park Lake
Glendale Boulevard and Park Avenue
The rowing boat
Gittes photographs Mulwray in a rowing boat on the lake.
The Mulholland Memorial Fountain
Riverside Drive at Los Feliz Boulevard
Stone Canyon Reservoir, from the overlook
13931 Mulholland Drive
Oak Pass Reservoir
Mulwray’s body is pulled from the reservoir; Gittes’s nose is cut.
The Archer School, the film’s Mar Vista rest home
11725 Sunset Boulevard, Brentwood
The Mar Vista rest home
The names of the rest home’s dead residents are on deeds to Valley land.
Big Tujunga Wash, under the Hollenbeck Bridge
Foothill Boulevard, Sunland
The dry riverbed
Gittes walks the dry bed of the Big Tujunga Wash.
Point Fermin Park and Walker’s Cafe
Paseo del Mar, San Pedro
Water in a drought
Water is dumped into the sea at night, in a drought.
The watch
Gittes leaves a watch under the wheel of Mulwray’s car outside Walker’s Cafe.
The Casino, Avalon, Catalina Island
1 Casino Way, Avalon
Noah Cross
Gittes goes to Catalina to see Noah Cross.
The Mulwray house, South El Molino
Pasadena
Salt water
The pond is salt water, and Mulwray drowned in salt water.
Mi Casa apartments, Havenhurst Drive
West Hollywood
The photographs
Gittes photographs Mulwray with a young woman.