Four-Star Films : ‘Chinatown’

One of the quintessential private eye yarns and one of the finest films of the ‘70s, this Roman Polanski film, written by Robert Towne, is the kind of movie that Hollywood does best: a story about love and murder provoked by an idealist posing as a cynic whose curiosity uncovers the truth and destroys that which he most wants to protect. Jack Nicholson (pictured) plays the dapper private investigator who takes on what seems like a routine case of marital infidelity and gets suckered into a labyrinth of treachery and revenge. With Faye Dunaway, John Huston (TNT Tuesday at 10 p.m.).

Other selected four-star films airing this week:

Tunes of Glory / Bravo, Tuesday, 2:05 p.m. and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m.

In Cold Blood / TMC, early Wednesday, 12:40 a.m.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea / Disney, Wednesday, 3 p.m. and early Thursday, 1:50 a.m.

Laura / AMC, Wednesday, 5:30 and 8:45 p.m.; Thursday, 12:30 a.m.

Bonnie and Clyde / KCOP, early Saturday, 2:30 a.m.

Stagecoach (1939) / Bravo, Saturday, 12:15 p.m.