THE CONVERSATION

USA 1974 - 35mm - 113 minutes, in English

Director, Screenplay, Producer: Francis Ford Coppola

Cast: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Frederic Forrest, Cindy Williams, Michael Higgins, Elizabeth MacRae, Teri Garr, Harrison Ford

Print Courtesy: Rialto Pictures

Wednesday, July 13 3:30 P.M. | WOH

Thursday, July 14 3:30 P.M. | WOH

What a streak—both artistically AND commercially—Francis Ford Coppola was on in the ‘70s! He made four films, three of which need no introduction today, and which were blockbusters and awards magnets: THE GODFATHER, THE GODFATHER: PART II and APOCALYPSE NOW. The fourth was emphatically NOT a blockbuster, and certainly more modest in scope and focus—and arguably, as great or maybe even better than the others, garnering three Oscar nominations including Best Picture, and a Cannes Film Festival Grand Prize. That’s THE CONVERSATION, and this newly restored, newly struck 35mm print is a revelation, both speaking to the specifics of its time period and anticipating the electronic future we now live in. Harry Caul (incarnated by Gene Hackman in a deliberately muted but unforgettable performance) is a crackerjack surveillance expert who fades into the woodwork the better to cover his privacy-invading purposes as he wiretaps his subjects’ conversations…until the day he begins to suspect that the couple he’s been hired to spy on may be about to be murdered by his employees. Both a devastating thriller and a brilliant character study, this is one of the truly great American films that defined the era as the apex of American moviemaking. —Ken Eisen Sponsored by PRO Moving Service

Wednesday, July 13 9:00 P.M. | RR3

Thursday, July 14 9:15 P.M. | RR2