The Conversation (1974 Film)

Gene Hackman stars as an investigator who lets his paranoia get the better of him in Francis Ford Coppola's 1974 film The Conversation. Released between the original The Godfather and its sequel, this well-received movie garnered three Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071360/awards

In The Conversation Henry Caul, played by Gene Hackman is a surveillance expert who has been hired by an unseen Director to follow the director's wife, Ann, played by Cindy Williams and record her conversations. As Henry does so, he hears her having a conversation with her lover Mark, played by Frederic Forrest. The conversation he hears makes him fear for their lives if he turns over his findings to the Director. Henry becomes more and more paranoid as he tries to protect the tapes and thus Ann and Mark's lives. When the tapes are stolen, Henry goes to the hotel Ann and Mark talked about and finds a bloody hand print in their hotel room. He immediately fears the worst, only to learn that Ann and Mark are fine - but the papers are reporting that the Director has been killed in a car accident. Ann and Mark were the perpetrators rather than the victims. And now they are watching Henry.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071360/synopsis

• Gene Hackman as Harry Caul

• John Cazale as Stan

• Allen Garfield as William P. 'Bernie' Moran

• Frederic Forrest as Mark

• Cindy Williams as Ann

• Teri Garr as Amy Fredericks

• Harrison Ford as Martin Stett

• Elizabeth MacRae as Meredith

"There's a strong case to be made for The Conversation being Coppola's greatest film. Which, when you consider what else he's made, is high praise indeed."—Channel 4 Filmhttp://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=102303§ion=review&page=all#reviewnav

"Coppola manages to turn an expert thriller into a portrayal of the conflict between ritual and responsibility without ever letting the levels of tension subside or the complicated plot get muddled."—Don Druker, Chicago Readerhttp://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-conversation/Film?oid=1049082