The Conversation (1974)

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.

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola

Writer:

Francis Ford Coppola

Stars:

Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 14 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

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

Storyline

Harry Caul is a devout Catholic and a lover of jazz music 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, one who designs and constructs his own surveillance equipment. He is an intensely private and solitary man in both his personal and professional life, which especially irks 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 intended 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, known only to him as "the director", is to provide the audio recording of the ...

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Plot Keywords:

recording | surveillance | saxophone | eavesdropping | hotel | 

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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.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1974 (Japan)

Also Known As:

La conversación

Filming Locations:

Alamo Square, Hayes Valley, San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,600,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Directors Company, The, The Coppola Company, American Zoetrope

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Dolby Digital (restored version)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Robert Duvall:  the director who hires Harry Caul.

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Goofs

In the close-up at 7:30, when Paul knocks on the rear window of the surveillance van the curtains are open, clearly showing his face. In the next shot, as Harry unlatches the door, they're closed.

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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.

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Connections

References Psycho (1960)

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Soundtracks

"Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home"
(1902)
Written by Hughie Cannon
Sung by an unidentified duo

User Reviews

One of the 1970s best!

'The Conversation' sadly doesn't get mentioned as much as Coppola's other (more flamboyant) seventies movies ('The Godfather' parts one and two, 'Apocalypse Now'), even though it as good as, if not better than the aforementioned. In fact if someone argued that this was his greatest achievement as a director, I would be hard pressed to disagree.

'The Conversation' bears many similarities to Antonioni's 'Blowup', another superb movie that requires multiple viewings to really appreciate. Both movies are very much of their time, and therefore 'The Conversation' is fuelled by the keywords of the decade it was made in - paranoia and deceit. The other main difference between the two movies it that 'The Conversation' is not only a head trip but also a taut and suspenseful thriller. Post Simpson/Bruckheimer audiences may not have the attention spans to appreciate it, but that is their failing, not this movie's.

Gene Hackman gives one of the finest performances of his career here as the complex and troubled surveillance expert Harry Caul, one that is possibly rivaled only by his too little seen gem 'Scarecrow'. And the supporting cast is first rate, and includes the late John Cazale, a favourite of Coppola's, Harrison Ford, Frederick Forrest, Cindy Williams, Teri Garr, and (an uncredited) Robert Duvall. Last but not least a superb turn from the underrated Allen Garfield, an actor who has appeared in many odd movies, from 'Get To Know Your Rabbit' to 'Destiny Turns On The Radio'. He is dynamite here, in a role originally intended for the legendary Timothy Carey, as a pushy rival bugging expert.

'The Conversation' is hypnotic, multi-layered and haunting. See it whatever you do.