The Parallax View (1974)

An ambitious reporter gets in way-over-his-head trouble while investigating a senator's assassination which leads to a vast conspiracy involving a multinational corporation behind every event in the world's headlines.

Director:

Alan J. Pakula

Writers:

David Giler, Lorenzo Semple Jr.

Stars:

Warren Beatty, Paula Prentiss, William Daniels

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Warren Beatty	...	Joseph Frady
Paula Prentiss	...	Lee Carter
William Daniels	...	Austin Tucker
Walter McGinn	...	Jack Younger
Hume Cronyn	...	Bill Rintels
Kelly Thordsen	...	Sheriff L.D. Wicker
Chuck Waters	...	Thomas Richard Linder
Earl Hindman	...	Deputy Red
William Joyce	...	Senator Charles Carroll (as Bill Joyce)
Betty Murray	...	Mrs. Charles Carroll (as Bettie Johnson)
Bill McKinney	...	Parallax Assassin
Jo Ann Harris	...	Chrissy - Frady's Girl (as JoAnne Harris)
Ted Gehring	...	Schecter - Hotel Clerk
Lee Pulford	...	Shirley - Salmontail Bar Girl
Doria Cook-Nelson	...	Gale from Salmontail (as Doria Cook)

Storyline

Joe Frady is a determined reporter who often needs to defend his work from colleagues. After the assassination of a prominent U.S. senator, Frady begins to notice that reporters present during the assassination are dying mysteriously. After getting more involved in the case, Frady begins to realize that the assassination was part of a conspiracy somehow involving the Parallax Corporation, an enigmatic training institute. He then decides to enroll for the Parallax training himself to discover the truth.

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Plot Keywords:

conspiracy | reporter | investigative reporter | conspiracy theory | assassination plot | 

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Taglines:

As American as apple pie.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 September 1974 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Zeuge einer Verschwörung

Filming Locations:

Griffith Park & Southern Railroad - 4400 Crystal Springs Dr, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Doubleday Productions, Gus, Harbor Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The acronym "PEP" stood for "pulmonary embolism pill".

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Goofs

When the deputy pulls up to the sheriff's house, he parks pretty much right behind the sheriff's car. Yet the subsequent shot looking out from the house toward the two cars shows the deputy's car quite a bit past the sheriff's vehicle.

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Quotes

Joseph Frady: Have you been calling me?
Lee Carter: A lot.
Joseph Frady: Any particular reason?
Lee Carter: Somebody's trying to kill me.
Joseph Frady: Somebody besides yourself?
Lee Carter: How can you say that? I've never tried to kill myself successfully.
Joseph Frady: Last time you were here I think you lost your cat and I had to find it under the freeway?
Lee Carter: I haven't lost my cat.
Joseph Frady: Yeah, and it was the time before that it was your husband.
Lee Carter: You may find this difficult to accept but I'm terrified.
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Bad Eggs (2003)

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Soundtracks

Wild and Woolly West
Written by Paul Francis Webster and Sammy Fain

User Reviews

Mainstream US Cinema at its 70s Best

A US Senator is assassinated and the official inquiry concludes it was the work of a lone gunman. Three years later, with 6 witnesses dead, a TV reporter present at the killing is frightened for her life. She takes her fears to a journalist ex-boyfriend. At first he is sceptical...

Brilliant paranoid thriller from Pakula, utilising choppy realism and naturalistic dialogue to create a bleak and uncompromising picture of cynical, corporate conspiracy within US politics. Beatty has never been better as the ambitious journo-hack Joe Frady, and he is superbly supported by Cronyn, Daniels and a deeply compelling cameo from Prentiss. You can bet this wasn't diluted by audience testing prior to release... unmissable.