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The Conversation (1974)

PG  113 min  -  Drama | Mystery | Thriller   -  1974 (Japan)
8.0
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Ratings: 8.0/10 from 40,735 users   Metascore: 86/100 
Reviews: 247 user | 96 critic | 6 from Metacritic.com

A paranoid and personally-secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that a couple he is spying on will be murdered.

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Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 12 wins & 11 nominations See more awards »
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Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gene Hackman ...
John Cazale ...
Allen Garfield ...
Bernie Moran
Frederic Forrest ...
Cindy Williams ...
Ann
Michael Higgins Michael Higgins ...
Paul
Elizabeth MacRae Elizabeth MacRae ...
Meredith (as Elizabeth Mac Rae)
Teri Garr ...
Amy
Harrison Ford ...
Mark Wheeler Mark Wheeler ...
Receptionist
Robert Shields Robert Shields ...
The Mime
Phoebe Alexander Phoebe Alexander ...
Lurleen
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Storyline

Harry Caul is a devout Catholic and a lover of jazz music, he who plays his saxophone while listening to his jazz records. He is a San Francisco based electronic surveillance expert who owns and operates his own small surveillance business. He is renowned within the profession as being the best, he who designs and constructs his own surveillance equipment. He is an intensely private and solitary man, both in his personal and professional life, which irks especially Stan, his business associate who often feels shut out of what is happening with their work. This privacy, which includes not letting anyone into his apartment and always telephoning his clients from pay phones, is in part to be able to control what happens around him. His and Stan's latest job, a difficult one, is to record the private discussion of a young male/female couple meeting in crowded and noisy Union Square. The arrangement with his client... Written by Huggo  

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

Recording | Surveillance | Saxophone | Eavesdropping | Hotel  | See more »

Taglines:

Harry Caul is an invader of privacy. The best in the business. He can record any conversation between two people anywhere. So far, three people are dead because of him. See more »

Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

(Japan) See more »

Also Known As:

La conversación See more »

Box Office

Budget:

$1,600,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$4,420,000 (USA)
See more »

Company Credits

Show detailed company contact information on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Mono  | Dolby Digital (restored version)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See full technical specs »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Opening aerial shot taken from atop what was then the City of Paris department store. Today (2000) it's a Neiman-Marcus. See more »

Goofs

Continuity: After Harry Caul has violently closed the hotel curtains, they appear open, and then closed again. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Passerby: Well, I want to go over to my place and start, you know, getting it on...
Ann: Oh, that's terrible.
Mark: Yeah. Do you ever, uh... ballet?
Ann: Be thankful. Do you have a quarter for them?
Mark: Yes, I do.
Ann: [gives it to street band]
Ann: What about me?
Mark: You'll see.
Ann: A lot of fun you are. You're supposed to tease me, give hints, make me guess, you know.
See more »

Connections

Referenced in Munich (2005) See more »

Soundtracks

"Take Five"
By Paul Desmond See more »