Why did Evelyn not object to the relationship between her husband and her daughter? If she expressed any anger or outrage, I must have missed it. You would think this would be unbearable to her, considering all the circumstances.
shareHollis was a surrogate father to Katherine; they had a loving father-daughter relationship, not a sexual one. It was Jake's misunderstanding, based on the false premise put to him by the fake Mrs. Mulwray, that the two were lovers.
shareOK, I can accept that. I thought of it myself, but the film (unless I missed something) didn't make it clear that the relationship was not sexual, so I felt I had to assume that it was. Thank you for your response. I really, really like this film!
shareYou're welcome—I know this discussion has come up in the past, though the thread is probably long gone. But since we see just about everything through Jake's eyes, we tend to have the same misconceptions that he does. There are hints about the actual nature of the relationship, for example when Yelburton tells Gittes that a man is either "the kind who chases after women or he isn't....[Mulwray] never even kids about it." And Hollis also cuts a somewhat asexual figure. It even seems likely that Hollis was more of a father figure to Evelyn than a husband, since there's such an age difference between them; he was more like her guardian angel than a romantic partner. Anyway, it's good to know you like the film so much!
shareYes, I did notice what Yelburton said, and the fact that Hollis seems like a pretty asexual figure. And Evelyn's description of how they got together indicates that he was like a father figure to her as well. Still, in films, sometimes you have to say to yourself, "Are they giving me a clue, or purposely leading me down a false road?" But yeah, I do like the film enough to put all this thought and energy into trying to understand it! It's one of my all-time favorite movies and I never get tired of it.
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