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A special effects knife from Chinatown image 1
A special effects knife from Chinatown image 2
Lot 807

A special effects knife from Chinatown

30 November 2016, 12:00 EST
New York

Sold for US$8,125 inc. premium

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A special effects knife from Chinatown

Paramount, 1974. Switchblade knife retooled with hinged tip and spring mechanism screwed to blade and small metal ring on handle. Director Roman Polanski cameos in his classic film Chinatown as the "Man With Knife" sent to intimidate private eye Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) by slashing his nose with a switchblade; Gittes's nose remains bandaged for much of the film. In his autobiography, Roman, Polanski states that he personally designed the knife. The film's effects man, Logan Frazee, suggested using a fake nose, but "What we needed, I told Frazee, was a knife with a hinged tip," Polanski writes. "Frazee built me just what I wanted: a hinge-tipped knife with a concealed tube down one side connected to a bulbful of blood...." The effect proved unforgettable. Sold with a DVD copy of the film.
Provenance: the Logan Frazee estate.
9 in

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