[last lines] Walsh: Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.
Yelburton: My goodness, what happened to your nose? Jake Gittes: I cut myself shaving. Yelburton: You ought to be more careful. That must really smart. Jake Gittes: Only when I breathe.
Noah Cross: 'Course I'm respectable. I'm old. Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respectable if they last long enough.
Loach: What happened to your nose, Gittes? Somebody slammed a bedroom window on it? Jake Gittes: Nope. Your wife got excited. She crossed her legs a little too quick. You understand what I mean, pal?
Evelyn Mulwray: Tell me, Mr. Gittes: Does this often happen to you? Jake Gittes: What's that? Evelyn Mulwray: Well, I'm judging only on the basis of one afternoon and an evening, but, uh, if this is how you go about your work, I'd say you'd be lucky ...
Lt. Escobar: How'd you get past the guard? Jake Gittes: Well, to tell you the truth, I lied a little.
Evelyn Mulwray: She's my daughter. [Gittes slaps Evelyn] Jake Gittes: I said I want the truth! Evelyn Mulwray: She's my sister... [slap] Evelyn Mulwray: She's my daughter... [slap] Evelyn Mulwray: My sister, my daughter. [More slaps] Jake Gittes: I s...
Man with Knife: You're a very nosy fellow, kitty cat. Huh? You know what happens to nosy fellows? Huh? No? Wanna guess? Huh? No? Okay. They lose their noses.
Jake Gittes: But, Mrs. Mulwray, I goddamn near lost my nose. And I like it. I like breathing through it. And I still think you're hiding something.
Morty: Can you believe it? We're in the middle of a drought, and the water commissioner drowns. Only in L.A.
[an anonymous caller has telephoned Gittes] Ida Sessions: Are you alone? Jake Gittes: Isn't everybody?
Jake Gittes: How much are you worth? Noah Cross: I have no idea. How much do you want? Jake Gittes: I just wanna know what you're worth. More than 10 million? Noah Cross: Oh my, yes! Jake Gittes: Why are you doing it? How much better can you eat? Wha...
Jake Gittes: Mulvihill! What are you doing here? Mulvihill: They shut my water off. What's it to you? Jake Gittes: How'd you find out about it? You don't drink it; you don't take a bath in it... They wrote you a letter. But then you have to be able t...
Jake Gittes: What can I tell you, kid? You're right. When you're right, you're right, and you're right.
Jake Gittes: There's no point in getting tough with me. I'm just... Evelyn Mulwray: I don't get tough with anyone, Mr. Gittes. My lawyer does.
Yelburton: After you've worked with a man a certain length of time, you come to know his habits, his values - you come to know him - and either he's the kind who chases after women or he isn't. Jake Gittes: Mulwray isn't? Yelburton: He never even kid...
Noah Cross: You've got a nasty reputation, Mr. Gittes. I like that.
Noah Cross: You may think you know what you're dealing with, but, believe me, you don't. [Gittes grins] Noah Cross: Why is that funny? Jake Gittes: That's what the District Attorney used to tell me in Chinatown.
