Fass Black, an accomplished black man in Los Angeles, is bullied to play another record labels music at his disco club, but continually refuses because it ain't groovy enough.

Two blue-collar buddies search the underworld for a winning lottery ticket lost in a nightclub holdup.

Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together.