Editing Robert Towne (section)

==Career==
===Roger Corman===
Towne originally sought work as a writer and actor. He took an acting class with [[Roger Corman]] taught by [[Jeff Corey]] where his classmates also included [[Jack Nicholson]] (with whom he shared an apartment), [[Irvin Kershner]], and [[Sally Kellerman]].<ref name="Brady p 390">Brady p 390</ref>

Corman was known for giving work to untested people of talent. Towne wrote the screenplay for the Corman-financed ''[[Last Woman on Earth]]'' (1960), in which Towne also played one of the lead roles.

The following year he also starred in the Corman-financed ''[[Creature from the Haunted Sea]]'' (1961).

===Television===
Towne started writing for television on such programs as ''[[The Lloyd Bridges Show]]'', ''[[Breaking Point (1963 TV series)|Breaking Point]]'', ''[[The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)|The Outer Limits]]'', and ''[[The Man from U.N.C.L.E.]]''.

He also wrote a screenplay for the Corman-directed ''[[The Tomb of Ligeia]]'' (1965). In 1981 Towne said "I worked harder on... [that] screenplay for him than on anything I think I have ever done."<ref name="Brady p 390"/>

Towne went back to working in television when Corman hired him to write a script for a Western, which became ''[[A Time for Killing]]'' (1967). Corman left the project during filming and Towne took his name off the credits. Towne said later he "hated" the film.<ref name="Brady p 388">Brady p 388</ref>

===Script doctor===
Towne's script for ''A Time for Killing'' had been read and admired by [[Warren Beatty]], who asked Towne to help out on the script for ''[[Bonnie and Clyde (film)|Bonnie and Clyde]]'' (1967). Towne later claimed his main contributions were removing the [[ménage à trois]] relationship between Bonnie, Clyde, and W.D., making some structural changes.<ref>Brady p 396-398</ref> Towne was on set during filming and continued to work during post-production. The film was a huge success and although Towne's contribution was credited only as a "special consultant", he began to earn a reputation in Hollywood as a top script doctor.<ref name="Brady p 399">Brady p 399</ref>

Towne was credited on ''[[Villa Rides]]'' (1968), which he later said he did as a favor for [[Robert Evans]], head of Paramount. He hated the experience.<ref>Brady p 386-387</ref>

Towne did uncredited work on the scripts for ''[[Drive, He Said]]'' (1971), directed by [[Jack Nicholson]]; ''[[Cisco Pike]]'' (1972), which Towne said turned into "a pretty good movie" but where he got "so angry with the director" he took his name off;<ref name="Brady p 388"/> and ''[[The New Centurions]]'' (1972), where he was to share credit with [[Stirling Silliphant]] but asked for his name to be taken off after he saw the film.<ref>Brady p 387</ref>

He did uncredited work for [[Francis Ford Coppola]] during the making of ''[[The Godfather]]'' (1972), including the final scene between Michael and Vito in a garden, shortly before Vito dies.<ref name="Brady p 399"/> Coppola later thanked Towne for writing this pivotal and "very beautiful" scene in his Academy Award speech for Best Screenplay.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-03 |title=Robert Towne: Tributes to Chinatown and Mission: Impossible writer |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3g3dy6jdlpo |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Towne also did some work on ''[[The Parallax View]]'' (1974) at the behest of star Warren Beatty.

===''The Last Detail'', ''Chinatown'', and ''Shampoo''===
Towne received acclaim and was nominated in the Best Original and Adapted Screenplay categories for his scripts ''[[The Last Detail]]'' (1973), ''[[Chinatown (1974 movie)|Chinatown]]'' (1974), and ''[[Shampoo (film)|Shampoo]]'' (1975).
He won for ''Chinatown''.<ref>McDougal, Dennis (2008) [https://books.google.com/books?id=FMkTJzvSUqQC&pg=PA416 ''Five easy decades''] pp.146, 182, 416</ref><ref name="nyt1">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/27/movies/film-robert-towne-s-hollywood-without-heroes.html | title=Robert Towne's Hollywood Without Heroes | first=Kenneth | last=Turan | author-link=Kenneth Turan | date=1988-11-27 | work=The New York Times | access-date=2020-03-29 | archive-date=3 July 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240703025950/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/27/movies/film-robert-towne-s-hollywood-without-heroes.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Nicolas Cage, DVD commentary, ''The Rock'' Criterion Collection</ref> 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.

According to [[Sam Wasson]]'s ''The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood'', Towne "secretly employed an old college friend named Edward Taylor as his uncredited writing partner for more than 40 years." (Taylor died in 2013).<ref name="Sam Wasson book">{{cite news |last1=Horowitz |first1=Mark |title=Once Upon a Time in Hollywood |issue=Book Review p. 21 |publisher=The New York Times Company |date=March 15, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://themillions.com/2020/04/does-robert-townes-chinatown-oscar-need-an-asterisk.html |title=Does Robert Towne's 'Chinatown' Oscar Need an Asterisk? |date=17 April 2020 |access-date=3 July 2024 |archive-date=22 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240622120028/https://themillions.com/2020/04/does-robert-townes-chinatown-oscar-need-an-asterisk.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Towne was credited for his work on ''[[The Yakuza]]'' (1975) and did script doctoring on ''[[The Missouri Breaks]]'' (1976), ''[[Orca (1977 film)|Orca]]'' (1977) and ''[[Heaven Can Wait (1978 film)|Heaven Can Wait]]'' (1978).

===Director===
Towne turned to directing with ''[[Personal Best (film)|Personal Best]]'' (1982). He also wrote the script for ''[[Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes]]'', hoping to direct, but ''Personal Best'' was a financial failure, and he had to sell the ''Greystoke'' script. He grew dissatisfied with the production and credited his dog, P. H. Vazak, with the script. Vazak became the first dog [[Fictional people nominated for Academy Awards|nominated]] for an Academy Award for screenwriting.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ward |first1=Jason |title=Intriguing film credits that you probably missed |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/23703/1/film-credits-that-you-probably-missed |website=hwww.dazeddigital.com |date=20 February 2015 |access-date=13 September 2022 |archive-date=13 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913045655/https://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/23703/1/film-credits-that-you-probably-missed |url-status=live }}</ref>

Towne did uncredited work on ''[[Deal of the Century]]'' (1983), ''[[8 Million Ways to Die]]'' (1986) (<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.efilmcritic.com/feature.php?feature=87 | title=Robert Towne – From Chinatown to Hollywood | first=Dov | last=Kornits | date=1999-08-27 | website=eFilmCritic.com | access-date=2020-03-29 | archive-date=22 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122102138/https://www.efilmcritic.com/feature.php?feature=87 | url-status=live }}</ref>), ''[[Tough Guys Don't Dance (film)|Tough Guys Don't Dance]]'' (1987) and ''[[Frantic (film)|Frantic]]'' (1988).

His second feature film as director was ''[[Tequila Sunrise (film)|Tequila Sunrise]]'' (1988), which he wrote back in the early 1980s. Towne told ''[[The New York Times]]'' that ''Tequila Sunrise'' is "a movie about the use and abuse of friendship."<ref name="nyt1" />

===''The Two Jakes''===
Towne expressed his disappointment in ''The Two Jakes'' in many interviews.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} He told writer Alex Simon, "In the interest of maintaining my friendships with Jack Nicholson and Robert Evans, I’d rather not go into it, but let’s just say ''The Two Jakes'' wasn’t a pleasant experience for any of us. But, we’re all still friends, and that’s what matters most."<ref>{{cite interview | url=http://thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com/2008/01/robert-towne-hollywood-interview.html | title=Robert Towne Dusts Off a Classic | first=Robert | last=Towne | interviewer=Alex Simon | date=2012-12-06 | work=The Hollywood Interview | access-date=2020-03-29 | archive-date=23 September 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923170305/http://thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com/2008/01/robert-towne-hollywood-interview.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

In a November 5, 2007, interview with MTV, Jack Nicholson claimed that Towne had written the part of Gittes specifically for him and had conceived ''Chinatown'' as a trilogy, with the third film set in 1968 and dealing in some way with Howard Hughes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1573487/story.jhtml |title=Jack Nicholson Talks! In Rare Interview, Actor Reveals Details Of Never-Shot 'Chinatown' Sequel |archive-date=6 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071106164644/http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1573487/story.jhtml |publisher=Mtv.com |date=2007-11-05 |access-date=2013-06-14}}</ref> Towne said he did not know how the rumour started and denied any planned trilogy.

===Tom Cruise===
Towne wrote the script for ''[[Days of Thunder]]'' (1990) and formed a close friendship with its star [[Tom Cruise]].

He was one of the writers on Cruise's ''[[The Firm (1993 film)|The Firm]]'' (1993), then Beatty's ''[[Love Affair (1994 film)|Love Affair]]'' (1994). Cruise brought him on to ''[[Mission: Impossible (film)|Mission: Impossible]]'' (1996) and co-produced Towne's third film as director, ''[[Without Limits]]'' (1998). He also co-wrote ''[[Mission Impossible II]]'' (2000) for Cruise.

===Later career===
A project Towne had long sought to bring to the screen came to fruition in 2006 with ''[[Ask the Dust (film)|Ask the Dust]]'', a romantic period piece set in Los Angeles based on the [[Ask the Dust|novel]] by [[John Fante]] and starring [[Colin Farrell]] and [[Salma Hayek]]. Towne had found the novel decades earlier during his research for ''Chinatown'', as he was looking for authentic descriptions of 1930s Los Angeles. He enjoyed the book, considering it "the best book about Los Angeles ever written", and arranged a meeting with Fante, himself a screenwriter. As a result of that meeting, Towne was granted the screen rights to the novel. The rights eventually lapsed, and the new owner was [[Mel Brooks]]. In 1993, Towne wrote the script for free in exchange for the chance to direct the film.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.combustiblecelluloid.com/interviews/roberttowne.shtml | title=Interview with Robert Towne: From 'Dust' to 'Dust' | first=Jeffrey M. | last=Anderson | date=2006-02-07 | website=Combustible Celluloid | access-date=2020-03-29 | archive-date=3 July 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240703030019/https://www.combustiblecelluloid.com/interviews/roberttowne.shtml | url-status=live }}</ref> Tom Cruise (with Paula Wagner and Cruise/Wagner Productions) served as one of the film's producers. ''Ask the Dust'' received mixed reviews and failed at the box office. The film was entered into the [[28th Moscow International Film Festival]].<ref name="Moscow2006">{{cite web |url=http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=2006 |title=28th Moscow International Film Festival (2006) |access-date=2013-04-21 |work=MIFF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130421051006/http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=2006 |archive-date=2013-04-21 }}</ref>

Towne framed several of his signature films as elaborate [[melodramas]]. He told ''The New York Times'' "I think melodrama is always a splendid occasion to entertain an audience and say things you want to say without rubbing their noses in it. With melodrama, as in dreams, you're always flirting with the disparity between appearance and reality, which is a great deal of fun. And that's also not unrelated to my perception of my life working in Hollywood, where you're always wondering, 'What does that guy really mean?'"<ref name="nyt1" />

In 2006, Towne was the subject of artist [[Sarah Morris]]'s film, ''Robert Towne''. Morris describes him as an “elliptical figure” whose career exemplifies a certain characteristic mode of working in the film industry, marked by collaboration, shared or changing roles.<ref>[http://www.publicartfund.org/pafweb/.../06/morris/morris-06.html "Public Art Fund"]{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Morris's {{convert|19744|sqft|m2|adj=on}} painting installation in the entryway to the [[Lever House]] in Manhattan, commissioned by the Public Art Fund, was also titled "Robert Towne".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://observer.com/2006/09/wonderful-towne-lever-house-hosts-homage-to-screenwriter/ | title=Wonderful Towne! Lever House Hosts Homage to Screenwriter | first=Toni | last=Schlesinger | author-link=Toni Schlesinger | date=2006-09-18 | work=The New York Observer | access-date=2020-03-29 | archive-date=30 March 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200330023343/https://observer.com/2006/09/wonderful-towne-lever-house-hosts-homage-to-screenwriter/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

===Return to television===
In the 2010s, Towne returned to television, working as a consulting producer on ''[[Mad Men]]'' and writing two episodes of ''Welcome to the Basement''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Robert Towne|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001801/|access-date=2021-08-28|website=IMDb|archive-date=3 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903122717/https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001801/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2019, Towne began co-writing, with [[David Fincher]], a [[Netflix]] prequel miniseries based on ''Chinatown'' character J. J. Gittes, with Fincher serving as [[showrunner]].<ref name="JJ">{{cite web|last1=Fleming|first1=Mike Jr.|title=Netflix Teams Robert Towne And David Fincher for 'Chinatown' Prequel Series Pilot Script|url=https://deadline.com/2019/11/chinatown-prequel-series-pilot-robert-towne-david-fincher-netflix-1202789041/|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|date=November 19, 2019|access-date=June 16, 2021|archive-date=19 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191119010306/https://deadline.com/2019/11/chinatown-prequel-series-pilot-robert-towne-david-fincher-netflix-1202789041/|url-status=live}}</ref> By June 2024, a week before his death, Towne confirmed that the script for each episode had been completed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2024/film/features/chinatown-50th-anniversary-robert-towne-prequel-david-fincher-1236043979/|work=Variety|title=As 'Chinatown' Turns 50, Robert Towne Reflects on His Netflix Prequel Plans With David Fincher and Writing Jack Nicholson's Most Iconic Role|author=Murphy, J. Kim|date=June 22, 2024|access-date=June 24, 2024}}</ref>