The Conversation
Updated: 12/11/2025, 10:26:12 AM Wikipedia source
The Conversation is a 1974 American neo-noir mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It stars Gene Hackman as surveillance expert Harry Caul who faces a moral dilemma when his recordings reveal a potential murder. Supporting cast members include John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, and Frederic Forrest. Harrison Ford and Teri Garr appear in credited roles, and Robert Duvall in an uncredited role. Mackenzie Phillips, who had just worked for Coppola on American Graffiti along with Williams and Ford, had a supporting role as Harry Caul's niece that was dropped during the film's editing stage. Likewise, Abe Vigoda's role as Caul's lawyer also ended up on the cutting room floor. The Conversation premiered at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme d'Or, and was released theatrically on April 7, 1974, by Paramount Pictures to critical acclaim. It made $4.4 million during its original release, and after several re-releases, its total rose to $4.8 million on a $1.6 million budget. The film received three nominations at the 47th Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Sound. Since its release in 1974, the film has not lost its current relevance to the subject matter. In 1995, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Infobox
Directed by
Francis Ford Coppola
Written by
Francis Ford Coppola
Produced by
Francis Ford Coppola & Fred Roos
Starring
mw- Gene Hackman John Cazale Allen Garfield Cindy Williams Frederic Forrest
Cinematography
Bill Butler Haskell Wexler (uncredited)
Edited by
Walter Murch Richard Chew
Music by
David Shire
Productioncompany
The Directors Company
Distributed by
Paramount Pictures
Release date
April 7, 1974 (1974-04-07)
Running time
113 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$1.6 million
Box office
$4.9 million
Tables
· Reception › Accolades
Academy Awards
Academy Awards
Award
Academy Awards
Date of ceremony
April 8, 1975
Category
Best Picture
Recipient(s)
Francis Ford Coppola & Fred Roos
Result
Nominated
Best Original Screenplay
Best Original Screenplay
Award
Best Original Screenplay
Date of ceremony
Francis Ford Coppola
Category
Nominated
Best Sound
Best Sound
Award
Best Sound
Date of ceremony
Walter Murch and Art Rochester
Category
Nominated
British Academy Film Awards
British Academy Film Awards
Award
British Academy Film Awards
Date of ceremony
1975
Category
Best Direction
Recipient(s)
Francis Ford Coppola
Result
Nominated
Best Actor
Best Actor
Award
Best Actor
Date of ceremony
Gene Hackman
Category
Nominated
Best Screenplay
Best Screenplay
Award
Best Screenplay
Date of ceremony
Francis Ford Coppola
Category
Nominated
Best Editing
Best Editing
Award
Best Editing
Date of ceremony
Walter Murch, Richard Chew
Category
Won
Best Soundtrack
Best Soundtrack
Award
Best Soundtrack
Date of ceremony
Art Rochester, Nat Boxer, Mike Ejve, Walter Murch
Category
Won
Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
Award
Cannes Film Festival
Date of ceremony
May 9–24, 1974
Category
Grand Prix du Festival International du Film
Recipient(s)
Francis Ford Coppola
Result
Won
Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America
Award
Directors Guild of America
Date of ceremony
1974
Category
Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
Recipient(s)
Nominated
Golden Globes
Golden Globes
Award
Golden Globes
Date of ceremony
January 25, 1975
Category
Best Motion Picture – Drama
Result
Nominated
Best Director – Motion Picture
Best Director – Motion Picture
Award
Best Director – Motion Picture
Date of ceremony
Francis Ford Coppola
Category
Nominated
Best Screenplay
Best Screenplay
Award
Best Screenplay
Date of ceremony
Nominated
Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Award
Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Date of ceremony
Gene Hackman
Category
Nominated
National Board of Review
National Board of Review
Award
National Board of Review
Date of ceremony
December 25, 1974
Category
Best Film
Result
Won
Best Director
Best Director
Award
Best Director
Date of ceremony
Francis Ford Coppola
Category
Won
Best Actor
Best Actor
Award
Best Actor
Date of ceremony
Gene Hackman
Category
Won
Top Ten Films
Top Ten Films
Award
Top Ten Films
Category
Won
National Society of Film Critics
National Society of Film Critics
Award
National Society of Film Critics
Date of ceremony
January 5, 1975
Category
Best Director
Recipient(s)
Francis Ford Coppola
Result
Won
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
| Academy Awards | April 8, 1975 | Best Picture | Francis Ford Coppola & Fred Roos | Nominated | |
| Best Original Screenplay | Francis Ford Coppola | Nominated | |||
| Best Sound | Walter Murch and Art Rochester | Nominated | |||
| British Academy Film Awards | 1975 | Best Direction | Francis Ford Coppola | Nominated | |
| Best Actor | Gene Hackman | Nominated | |||
| Best Screenplay | Francis Ford Coppola | Nominated | |||
| Best Editing | Walter Murch, Richard Chew | Won | |||
| Best Soundtrack | Art Rochester, Nat Boxer, Mike Ejve, Walter Murch | Won | |||
| Cannes Film Festival | May 9–24, 1974 | Grand Prix du Festival International du Film | Francis Ford Coppola | Won | |
| Directors Guild of America | 1974 | Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures | Nominated | ||
| Golden Globes | January 25, 1975 | Best Motion Picture – Drama | Nominated | ||
| Best Director – Motion Picture | Francis Ford Coppola | Nominated | |||
| Best Screenplay | Nominated | ||||
| Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama | Gene Hackman | Nominated | |||
| National Board of Review | December 25, 1974 | Best Film | Won | ||
| Best Director | Francis Ford Coppola | Won | |||
| Best Actor | Gene Hackman | Won | |||
| Top Ten Films | Won | ||||
| National Society of Film Critics | January 5, 1975 | Best Director | Francis Ford Coppola | Won |
References
- "The Conversation (1974)"https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0071360/
- "'The Conversation': Francis Ford Coppola's Paranoia-Ridden Tale of Surveillance, Guilt and Isolation"https://cinephiliabeyond.org/the-conversation/
- "The Conversation at 50: Why the paranoid thriller is more relevant than ever"https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240408-the-conversation-at-50-why-the-paranoid-thriller-is-more-relevant-than-ever
- "Complete National Film Registry Listing"https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/
- "The Conversation (1974)"https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/02/26/the_conversation_1974_review.shtml
- "The Conversation (1974)"https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/71469/the-conversation#articles-reviews
- "Haskell Wexler and the Making of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'"https://web.archive.org/web/20150418174824/http://worldcinemaparadise.com/2014/12/19/haskell-wexler-and-the-making-of-one-flew-over-the-cuckoos-nest/
- Ondaatje 2002, p. 157.
- Ondaatje 2002, p. 152.
- The Conversation
- The bug in the martini olive : and other true cases from the files of Hal Lipset, private eyehttps://archive.org/details/buginmartinioliv00holt/
- Scriptslughttps://assets.scriptslug.com/live/pdf/scripts/the-conversation-1974.pdf
- MUBIhttps://mubi.com/notebook/posts/notebook-soundtrack-mix-6-the-new-hollywood-mixtape
- "discussion of soundtrack"https://web.archive.org/web/20020115151208/http://www.soundtrack.net/soundtracks/database/?id=2939
- Intrada Special Collection Volume 2
- Odyssey of an eavesdropper: my life in electronic countermeasures and my battle against the FBIhttps://archive.org/details/isbn_9780786715466/
- Martykaiser.comhttp://www.martykaiser.com/odyssey2.htm
- "The Last HOPE: TSCM – A Brief Primer on Electronic Surveillance and 'Bug' Detection (Complete)"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb-bdHGBcUY#t=45m00s
- Cinephilia & Beyondhttps://web.archive.org/web/20191230123341/https://cinephiliabeyond.org/the-conversation/
- The Hollywood Reporterhttps://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/karl-schanzer-who-inspired-coppola-708829/
- Rotten Tomatoeshttps://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/conversation
- Metacritichttps://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-conversation
- Ebert, Roger (1974). "The Conversation". January 1, 1974. Retrieved June 2, 2023.https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-conversation-1974
- Ebert, Roger (2001). "The Conversation". February 4, 2001. Retrieved June 2, 2023.https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-conversation-1974
- Chicago Tribunehttps://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1996-01-04-9601040275-story.html
- filmsite.orghttps://web.archive.org/web/20071011161940/https://www.filmsite.org/100greatperformances3.html
- Cinemontage – Journal of the Motion Picture Editors Guildhttps://cinemontage.org/75-best-edited-films/
- BBChttps://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150720-the-100-greatest-american-films
- The Hollywood Reporterhttp://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/cannes-palme-dor-winners-ranked-891143/item/best-intentions-palme-dor-winners-891108
- New York Magazinehttps://www.vulture.com/article/best-oscar-best-picture-losers.html
- festival-cannes.comhttps://web.archive.org/web/20110908013434/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2226/year/1974.html
- "The 47th Academy Awards (1975) Nominees and Winners"http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1975
- Robert Towne Wins Best Original Screenplay for 'Chinatown' | 47th Oscars (1975)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKKb_VLA57E
- Earthquake Wins Best Sound: 1975 Oscarshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8uqeiiDAck
- Berliner 2010, p. 61.
- "Film in 1975"http://awards.bafta.org/award/1975/film?
- "DGA Awards History"https://www.dga.org/Awards/History.aspx
- "Conversation, The"http://www.goldenglobes.com/film/conversation
- "1974 Award Winners"http://www.nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1974/
- "Past Awards"https://nationalsocietyoffilmcritics.com/about-2/
- Pramaggiore & Wallis 2005, p. 283.
- Varietyhttps://variety.com/2008/scene/markets-festivals/amc-krantz-talking-conversation-1117990199/