Topic: I Knew It Was You--Rediscovering John Cazale

[Johnm]

Hi all,
We re-watched a documentary last night, "I Knew It Was You--Rediscovering John Cazale", a tribute to the late actor John Cazale, who died at the age of 42 after appearing in just five movies and doing a great deal of stage work. You may remember him as Fredo, in "The Godfather , Parts 1 and 2", Gene Hackman's assistant, Stan, in "The Conversation", Al Pacino's bank-robbing partner, Sal, in "Dog Day Afternoon", or in "The Deer Hunter", which was released after his death from lung cancer. The movies he appeared in were nominated for 40 Academy Awards, although he never received a nomination himself. One of the great things about the documentary is that it has a lot of interview footage with acting contemporaries and people he worked with, like Gene Hackman, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Olympia Dukakis,  Meryl Streep (who was his partner up to his death), as well as actors of the next generation, like Steve Buscemi, Sam Rockwell and the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman. There are also segments of interviews with personal friends, his brother and a playwright, Israel Horowitz, with whom he worked a lot.
If you're a movie fan or a fan of great acting, you might want to seek this movie out. I do think John Cazale was a wonderful actor. He was so far inside the people he played, and he could just break your heart. It's also just great to see someone so admired and lauded by colleagues.
All best,
Johnm

[Stuart]

Thank you for this, John. I hadn't seen it. In his four distinct film roles, he always played a different character, not a different version of himself.

[Johnm]

I'm glad you enjoyed the film, Stuart, and thank you for embedding it here, so that other folks can watch it without having to track it down.

[MarkC]

That was great. I didn’t know Meryl Streep was his partner, or that he died before The Deer Hunter was released. Great actor. Thanks for posting this John, and thanks for the link Stuart.