At a movie theatre in Florida a patron left his seat to tell the theater manager that the reels of the movie were running out of sequence. The manager went to check and confirmed this, but then told the moviegoer "this movie's been playing here for three weeks and you're the first person who noticed that something was wrong."
Paramount wanted Harvey Keitel fired and replaced with a more bankable actor. Jack Nicholson refused and told Keitel, "Nobody's firing you on this picture."
Robert Evans underwent major plastic surgery before the film began, reportedly bringing pictures of cats with him to get the look he wanted. Jack Nicholson and Robert Towne were horrified when they saw the results, because Evans had become unrecognizable.
The movie's troubled production start was summarized in an article in the September 10, 1989 edition of The New York Times. It reported: "Paramount almost made the picture four years ago with Mr. Nicholson, Mr. Towne, and Robert Evans as financial partners in the venture. Mr. Towne was to direct, and Mr. Evans, the producer of 'Chinatown' in 1974, was to produce, and also play the second Jake opposite Mr. Nicholson. But Mr. Towne suddenly decided that Mr. Evans wasn't a strong enough actor, and tried to drop him from the part. Mr. Evans balked. There was a vicious fight between the two. The film fell apart. A million dollars' worth of sets were torn down, and the lawsuits commenced. 'I was the only person who had any money, so the lawsuits went after me,' Mr. Nicholson says. 'It bored me to death. When I work, I don't just step in and learn my lines. I have to plan a year in advance, and I had to work my schedule around the lawsuits.' It was Mr. Nicholson who mended the project, patiently cementing the pieces back together a year ago."
Faye Dunaway: As the voice of Evelyn Mulwray, her character from Chinatown (1974). The film's final credits bill "special thanks" to Dunaway.