Film Forum

“He had a modesty about him, but also a sense of reality, a groundedness about how the world really worked. He seemed to know something about everything.”
– Al Pacino

A retrospective of the short but extraordinary movie career of actor JOHN CAZALE (1935-1978), whose five films were all Oscar® Best Picture winners or nominees.

Cazale began his career as a theater actor in New York City, and for much of the ‘60s appeared in regional, off-Broadway, and Broadway productions alongside Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and Sam Waterston, often earning extra cash as a cab driver and messenger for Standard Oil.

He would soon become one of Hollywood's premiere character actors, starting with his momentous role as the doomed Fredo Corleone opposite longtime friend Pacino in Francis Ford Coppola's THE GODFATHER (1972) and THE GODFATHER PART II (1974). He then appeared in Coppola's THE CONVERSATION (1974) as the jittery protege and top assistant to Gene Hackman, and Sidney Lumet's DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975) as the anxious sweat-stained bank robber Sal.

Cazale was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1977 during the filming of THE DEER HUNTER, but decided to complete his role in the film. Due to his illness and the studio's initial reluctance to include him, all of Cazale's scenes were filmed first, with Meryl Streep and director Michael Cimino reportedly threatening to walk off the set if Cazale was replaced. It became Cazale's final film role, and he passed away before its premiere in 1978, cutting his remarkable career short.

Also playing this week: free screenings of documentary I KNEW IT WAS YOU: REDISCOVERING JOHN CAZALE (Richard Shepard, 2009), featuring interviews with Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Sidney Lumet, Francis Ford Coppola, Meryl Streep, and Gene Hackman. Director Richard Shepard will appear in person opening weekend.

Programmed by Bruce Goldstein, Film Forum Repertory Artistic Director.

Films in this Series