Chinatown: Robert Evans, John A. Alonzo, Sam O’Steen

The most memorable people from a film are usually the actors, director and writer, but a film is comprised of elements from many other people.  The producer, cinematographer and editor of Chinatown each made successful careers in Hollywood spanning decades.

            Robert Evans was the producer of Chinatown.  He was born June 29, 1930 in New York City.  As a young adult, he did promotional work for his brother’s fashion company as well as some radio voice work.  In 1956, Norma Shearer, an actress, saw him at a pool and thought he would be good for a role.  She cast him in the movie Man of a Thousand Faces which led to a few roles in other films.

            Evans was not happy with his ability to act and desired to become a producer.  He purchased the rights to the novel The Detective and adapted it into a film starring Frank Sinatra.  The film’s success led to Evans becoming the Head of Production at Paramount Pictures.  At the time, Paramount was ranked ninth among production companies, but Evans pushed the company to first.  Some popular films produced as the Head of Production of Paramount include: Rosemary’s Baby, The Odd Couple, The Italian Job, True Grit, Love Story, Harold and Maude, The Godfather, Serpico, Save the Tiger, The Great Gatsby and The Conversation.

            Eventually Evans quit his job at Paramount to produce films independently.  Some popular films he independently produced include: Chinatown, Marathon Man, Black Sunday, Urban Cowboy, Popeye and The Cotton Club.

            John A. Alonzo was the cinematographer of Chinatown.  He was born June 12, 1934 in Dallas, Texas.  He started his career as a crewmember of a Dallas television station.  He would do everything from building sets to directing shows.  He partnered up with Hank Williamson to create a comedy duo where he would voice and puppeteer a turtle and introduced cartoons.  The duo got a show on a television station in Hollywood in 1956, but it was cancelled after six months.  Alonzo then worked as a photographer and actor in television shows such as the Twilight Zone, Combat, 77 Sunset Strip and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

            While acting on The Magnificent Seven, he met cinematographer Charles Lange who inspired him to move into the field.  His earliest shooting was on documentaries including: Revolution in Our Time, Do Blonds Have More Fun?, A Nation of Immigrants, The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, and various National Geographic specials.  His more popular film and television works include: Vanishing Point, Harold and Maude, Chinatown, The Bad News Bears, Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby, Black Sunday, Scarface, Roots: The Gift, The Guardian, and WWII When Lions Roared.

Alonzo’s talents laid in hand held shooting, lighting and HD development.  He had two Oscar Nominations; one for Best Short Film (The Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes), and one for Best Camera (Chinatown).  He had two Emmy Nominations; one for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography (WWII When Lion’s Roared, the first American HD movie), and one for Outstanding Cinematography (Lansky).  Alonzo won an Emmy in 2000 for Outstanding Lighting Direction (Fail-Safe).

 

            Sam O’Steen was the editor of Chinatown.  He was born November 6, 1923 in Paragould, Arkansas.  At a young age, he knew he wanted to be an editor and spent time at Warner Brothers to get his foot in the door.  In 1956 he was hired as the Assistant Editor for The Wrong Man.  He was an Assistant editor on many films until 1964 when he was promoted to Editor for Youngblood Hawke.  O’Steen soon became the editor on Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, directed by Mike Nichols.  Over a span of 28 years, O’Steen was the primary editor on twelve of Nichols’ films including The Graduate, Catch-22, Carnal Knowledge, The Day of the Dolphin, Silkwood, Heartburn, Biloxi Blues, Working Girl, Postcards from the Edge, Regarding Henry and Wolf.

O’Steen’s editing abilities gave him three Academy Award nominations, one BAFTA nomination (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), and one BAFTA win.  Nominations were for the films Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Chinatown and Silkwood.  The BAFTA Award was for his work on The Graduate, which writer Patrick J. Sauer praises for the long cuts on Dustin Hoffman’s face which helped viewers absorb what the character was thinking.

Chinatown in part was a critical success for Robert Evan’s ability to efficiently produce, John A. Alonzo’s skills in lighting and cinematography, and Sam O’Steen’s innovative editing.

-Isaac Fingerle