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The Conversation (1974)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
Francis Ford Coppola (written by)
Release Date:
1974 (Japan)
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Tagline:
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. more
Plot:
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. | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Surveillance
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Hotel Room
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Neo Noir
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Paranoia
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Sound
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Awards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars.
Another 11 wins
&
11 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(42 articles)
Edward Woodward: A life in clips | Catherine Shoard
(From The Guardian - TV News. 16 November 2009, 9:38 AM, PST)
Edward Woodward: A life in clips | Catherine Shoard
(From The Guardian - Film News. 16 November 2009, 9:38 AM, PST)
(From The Guardian - TV News. 16 November 2009, 9:38 AM, PST)
Edward Woodward: A life in clips | Catherine Shoard
(From The Guardian - Film News. 16 November 2009, 9:38 AM, PST)
User Comments:
Everyone's Talking at Me.....I Think I Hear Every Word They Say.
more (217 total)
Cast
(Complete credited cast) | Gene Hackman | ... | Harry Caul |
 | John Cazale | ... | Stan |
 | Allen Garfield | ... | William P. 'Bernie' Moran |
 | Frederic Forrest | ... | Mark |
| Cindy Williams | ... | Ann |
| Michael Higgins | ... | Paul |
| Elizabeth MacRae | ... | Meredith |
 | Teri Garr | ... | Amy Fredericks |
 | Harrison Ford | ... | Martin Stett |
| Mark Wheeler | ... | Receptionist |
| Robert Shields | ... | The Mime |
| Phoebe Alexander | ... | Lurleen |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
113 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono |
Dolby Digital (restored version)
Certification:
Spain:18 |
Portugal:M/12 |
South Korea:15 |
Brazil:14 |
Australia:M |
Finland:K-16 |
Ireland:15 |
Norway:16 |
Singapore:PG |
Sweden:15 |
UK:12 (re-rating) (2002) |
UK:15 (video rating) (1988) |
UK:AA (original rating) |
USA:PG |
West Germany:16
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Opening aerial shot taken from atop what was then the City of Paris department store. Today (2000) it's a Neiman-Marcus.
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Goofs:
Continuity: When Harry Caul is in the elevator, you see the woman come in and three buttons are pushed. After stopping on a floor, a cut back to the shot of the woman and only one button remains lit whereas two should still be lit.
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Quotes:
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Mad About You: The Conversation (#6.9)" (1997)
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Soundtrack:
Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home
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FAQ
A Note Regarding SpoilersIs "The Conversation" based on a novel?
Is it true that Francis Ford Coppola was a wire-tapper himself?
more
more (217 total)
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Enigmatic, frustrating, confusing, intelligent and overall extremely brilliant work by writer/director Francis Ford Coppola (Oscar-nominated for his screenplay) has surveillance expert Gene Hackman recording a conversation between Cindy Williams and Frederic Forrest. It immediately appears that the duo are having an affair behind Williams' very wealthy husband's (a cameo by Robert Duvall) back. However nothing is quite as cut and dry as it seems. Hackman, a devout Catholic, has a bout of conscience as he worries that Duvall might have deviant plans for his wife and her apparent lover. Apparently Hackman's work had meant the lives of some he had spied on many years earlier in New York and he is shown as a quiet man who has some loud personal demons within his soul. The suspense builds when Hackman is followed by Duvall's shady employee (Harrison Ford) and eventually the heat rises to a boil as all the very loose ends are tied together in a wickedly twisted final act. "The Conversation" was Coppola's other film from 1974 (remember Best Picture Oscar winner "The Godfather, Part II"?). With this movie, Coppola created arguably the two best films of that dominant cinematic campaign (of course Roman Polanski's "Chinatown" would have something to say about that). Hackman delivers a deceptively difficult and dark performance as a man who seems to be self-destructing slowly on the inside out. By the end "The Conversation" is a thought-provoking product that will chill you to the bone with its cold elements. 5 stars out of 5.