Robert Towne

Robert Towne

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).

  • Popularity : 4.08
  • Known For : Writing
  • Birthday : 1934-11-23
  • Place of Birth : San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, USA
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Robert Towne Movies

  • 1961
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    Creature from the Haunted Sea
    Creature from the Haunted Sea

    3.7 1961 HD

    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...

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  • 1960
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    Last Woman on Earth
    Last Woman on Earth

    4.4 1960 HD

    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...

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  • 1971
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    Drive, He Said
    Drive, He Said

    6 1971 HD

    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...

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  • 2008
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    Revolution! The Making of 'Bonnie and Clyde'
    Revolution! The Making of 'Bonnie and Clyde'

    4.6 2008 HD

    The making-of documentary of Bonnie and Clyde.

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  • 2005
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    Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That
    Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That

    7 2005 HD

    Documentary about filmmaker Budd Boetticher.

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  • 1975
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    Shampoo
    Shampoo

    6 1975 HD

    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...

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  • 2004
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    Suspect Zero
    Suspect Zero

    5.562 2004 HD

    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.

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  • 2019
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    What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael
    What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael

    6.5 2019 HD

    Pauline Kael (1919–2001) was undoubtedly one of the greatest names in film criticism. A Californian native, she wrote her first review in 1953...

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  • 1987
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    The Pick-up Artist
    The Pick-up Artist

    5.62 1987 HD

    A womanizer meets his match when he falls for the daughter of a gambling addict who is in debt to the mob.

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  • 1997
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    Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature
    Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature

    1 1997 HD

    Documentary on water usage, money, politics, the transformation of nature, and the growth of the American west, shown on PBS as a four-part...

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  • 2004
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    The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made
    The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made

    4.6 2004 HD

    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...

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  • 1971
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    The Zodiac Killer
    The Zodiac Killer

    4.9 1971 HD

    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....

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  • 1998
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    Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy
    Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy

    6 1998 HD

    A profile of writer-director Billy Wilder

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  • 2001
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    A Sad Flower in the Sand
    A Sad Flower in the Sand

    1 2001 HD

    About a largely unsung writer of the twentieth century: John Fante, the renegade author whose highly autobiographical novels illustrate his...

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  • 2013
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    Salinger
    Salinger

    6.3 2013 HD

    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...

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  • 2001
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    Rescued from the Closet
    Rescued from the Closet

    6 2001 HD

    A collection of interviews recorded for the making of the 1995 documentary "The Celluloid Closet," on the subject of LGBT representation in film...

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  • 2008
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    You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story
    You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story

    8.5 2008 HD

    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...

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  • 2003
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    A Decade Under the Influence
    A Decade Under the Influence

    8 2003 HD

    A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential...

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  • 1988
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    Tequila Sunrise
    Tequila Sunrise

    6.1 1988 HD

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  • 1988
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    Tequila Sunrise
    Tequila Sunrise

    6.1 1988 HD

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  • 2006
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    Ask the Dust
    Ask the Dust

    5.349 2006 HD

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  • 2006
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    Ask the Dust
    Ask the Dust

    5.349 2006 HD

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  • 2000
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    Mission: Impossible II
    Mission: Impossible II

    6.128 2000 HD

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  • 1996
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    Mission: Impossible
    Mission: Impossible

    6.989 1996 HD

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  • 1990
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    Days of Thunder
    Days of Thunder

    6.36 1990 HD

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  • 1984
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    Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes
    Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes

    6.331 1984 HD

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  • 1998
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    Without Limits
    Without Limits

    6.5 1998 HD

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  • 1998
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    Without Limits
    Without Limits

    6.5 1998 HD

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  • 1975
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    Shampoo
    Shampoo

    6 1975 HD

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  • 1990
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    The Two Jakes
    The Two Jakes

    5.956 1990 HD

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  • 1982
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    Personal Best
    Personal Best

    5.9 1982 HD

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  • 1974
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    The Yakuza
    The Yakuza

    7.052 1974 HD

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  • 1964
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    The Tomb of Ligeia
    The Tomb of Ligeia

    6.2 1964 HD

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  • 1993
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    The Firm
    The Firm

    6.734 1993 HD

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  • 1973
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    The Last Detail
    The Last Detail

    7.028 1973 HD

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  • 1994
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    Love Affair
    Love Affair

    5.4 1994 HD

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  • 1968
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    Villa Rides
    Villa Rides

    6.3 1968 HD

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  • 1960
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    Last Woman on Earth
    Last Woman on Earth

    4.4 1960 HD

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  • 1982
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    Personal Best
    Personal Best

    5.9 1982 HD

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  • 1990
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    The Two Jakes
    The Two Jakes

    5.956 1990 HD

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  • 1972
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    The New Centurions
    The New Centurions

    6.7 1972 HD

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  • 1986
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    8 Million Ways to Die
    8 Million Ways to Die

    5.5 1986 HD

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  • 1987
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    Tough Guys Don't Dance
    Tough Guys Don't Dance

    4.6 1987 HD

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  • 1988
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    Frantic
    Frantic

    6.724 1988 HD

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  • 1971
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    McCabe & Mrs. Miller
    McCabe & Mrs. Miller

    7.1 1971 HD

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  • 1972
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    Cisco Pike
    Cisco Pike

    5.6 1972 HD

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  • 1983
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    Deal of the Century
    Deal of the Century

    4.6 1983 HD

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  • 1967
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    Bonnie and Clyde
    Bonnie and Clyde

    7.5 1967 HD

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  • 1978
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    Heaven Can Wait
    Heaven Can Wait

    6.619 1978 HD

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  • 1974
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    The Parallax View
    The Parallax View

    6.79 1974 HD

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  • 1971
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    Drive, He Said
    Drive, He Said

    6 1971 HD

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  • 1982
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    Personal Best
    Personal Best

    5.9 1982 HD

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  • 1986
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    8 Million Ways to Die
    8 Million Ways to Die

    5.5 1986 HD

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  • 1990
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    Days of Thunder
    Days of Thunder

    6.36 1990 HD

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  • 1987
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    The Bedroom Window
    The Bedroom Window

    6.3 1987 HD

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  • 1970
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    Battle of Britain
    Battle of Britain

    1 1970 HD

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  • 1974
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    Chinatown
    Chinatown

    7.912 1974 HD

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  • 2011
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    The Story of Film: An Odyssey
    The Story of Film: An Odyssey

    7.627 2011 HD

    A worldwide guided tour of the greatest movies ever made and the story of international cinema through the history of cinematic innovation.

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  • 1998
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    AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies
    AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies

    8 1998 HD

    To commemorate the first century of American filmmaking, the American Film Institute embarked on a celebration of America's greatest movies from the...

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  • 1970
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    AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies
    AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies

    5 1970 HD

    The Lloyd Bridges Show is an American anthology drama series produced by Aaron Spelling, which aired on CBS from September 11, 1962 to May 28, 1963,...

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  • 1970
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    AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies
    AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies

    7.8 1970 HD

    The Outer Limits is an anthology tv series of self-contained sci-fi-horror stories, sometimes with a plot twist at the end.

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  • 1970
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    AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies
    AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies

    1 1970 HD

    Welcome To The Basement is a show about watching, discussing and having fun with movies. The series stars Matt Sloan as the preponderant host; with...

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