A great deal has been written about thetragically short yet remarkably strong filmographyof the lateJohn Cazale, as has a short tribute documentary produced by HBO calledI Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale. He acted in theater throughout the 1960s, and then found success in the film industry during the 1970s,having key supporting roles in five films released between 1972 and 1978, though Cazale regrettably passed away from lung cancer in the latter year, at just 42 years old.
These five movies (plus another featuring archival footage of him released after his death) were all nominated for Best Picture, and three of them ended up winning. He worked with three remarkable filmmakers and various actors who can be counted among the best of all time, and Cazale himself may have become just as legendary had he lived longer. He remains well-known for having one of the most high-quality bodies of work among any actor, featuring in nothing but classics during his short time working in film. This makes ranking several excellent movies difficult, but that’s what the following attempts to do, starting with the great and ending with the greatest.
6Honorable Mention: ‘The Godfather: Part III’ (1990)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
When looking at all the movies John Cazale appeared in, there’s some doubt over whether it’s worth highlightingThe Godfather: Part III. One could argue the fact he only appears in it through archival footage disqualifies the film, and some may also claim that it’s simply not all that great as a sequel, or at leastnot nearly as good as the second installmentin what’s now known asThe Godfathertrilogy. But at the same time, his character’s absence from the plot after the tragic ending of the second movie does feel undeniably powerful and eerie.
Further,The Godfather: Part IIIwas also a Best Picture nominee, meaning that if one discusses it within the context of Cazale’s legacy, it shows he technically appeared in six Best Picture nominees, rather than five. So, take it or leave it. Fredo is seen in flashback, even if he’s not directly involved with the main storyline revolving around Michael Corleone’s desperate quest for redemption, anddirectorFrancis Ford Coppolachose to incorporate that old footage to bothhonor Cazale’s involvement in the series and remind viewers how deeply Michael had tumbled morally.
The Godfather: Part III
Watch on Showtime
5’The Conversation' (1974)
Francis Ford Coppola released two movies in 1974, with one of them winning Best Picture at the Oscars, and the other –The Conversation– winninga Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Both featured John Cazale, too, suggesting he was one of Coppola’s favorite actors at the time. InThe Conversation, Cazale is second-billed behind onlyGene Hackman, who plays the protagonist: a surveillance expert who believes, while on a job, that he hears evidence that a couple are in danger, and so becomes obsessed with trying to save them. Cazale’s an associate of Hackman’s character who also gets roped into the whole thing.
It’s a movie that’s unsurprisingly heavy on paranoia and tension, working as a slow, understated, yet engrossing thriller that’s continually intriguing,even if it’s not the kind of thrill-ride people would call particularly explosive or action-packed. Gene Hackman and John Cazale aren’t the only noteworthy actors who appear here, either, given aparticularly youngHarrison Fordhas a small role, andRobert Duvall– best-known for being in Coppola’sThe Godfathermovies as well asApocalypse Now– even has an uncredited cameo.
The Conversation
Watch on Netflix
4’The Deer Hunter' (1978)
Director: Michael Cimino
LikeThe Conversation,The Deer Hunteris another great movie featuring John Cazale as one part of a remarkable cast.This iconic and heartbreaking Vietnam War moviecenters on a group of friends, and tracks how their experience of fighting in Vietnam changes their outlooks on life, as well as their psychological well-being.Robert De Nirois the film’s central character, thoughChristopher Walkentends to steal most of the scenes he appears in, with a memorably Oscar-winning supporting role; similarly, the film itself won Best Picture.
It was also one of the firstbig moviesMeryl Streepappeared in, and she’d go on to win an Oscar for the following year’sBest Picture winner,Kramer vs. Kramer. Streep and Cazale never married, but they were partners from 1976 until his passing in 1978, the same yearThe Deer Huntercame out (a posthumous release for Cazale). He plays a friend of the main characters, yet doesn’t go off to Vietnam, meaning he ultimately clashes with anddoesn’t fully understand the experiences of the now-veterans after they return to civilian life. The already sad story ofThe Deer Hunteris made sadder, knowing John Cazale never got to see the finished film, but it’s a great performance, and he remains one reason why the overall movie is so compelling.
The Deer Hunter
Rent on Apple TV
3’Dog Day Afternoon' (1975)
Director: Sidney Lumet
Similar to how he played the most significant supporting role inThe Conversation, John Cazale was billed behind onlyan Oscar-nominatedAl PacinoinDog Day Afternoon, aclassic crime movie about a bank robberythat spirals dramatically out of control. Sonny (Pacino) is in charge, more or less, with Sal (Cazale) being there for support, though neither seems particularly skilled at the task they’ve given themselves. Once the police show up, the attempted robbery turns into more of a hostage situation, and then things get even wilder when the media finds out about the whole situation.
Dog Day Afternoonended up being Cazale’s penultimate film, and the first he appeared in that wasn’t directed by Francis Ford Coppola; instead, it was directed by the similarly legendarySidney Lumet. It might well be the film of his where he has the most screen time, but maybe not the most dialogue, given Sal is particularly quiet and seems more sensitive than the louder and more confident (at least outwardly) Sonny.Their dynamic is as engaging as it is ultimately sad, and the film’s nervous energy is sustained for essentially the whole runtime, makingDog Day Afternoona stomach-churning yet always compelling watch.
Dog Day Afternoon
2’The Godfather' (1972)
Beyond being an early role for Al Pacino, the firstGodfatheris also notable forstarring the likes ofMarlon Brando,James Caan, Robert Duvall, andDiane Keaton. It’s a huge and ambitious movie with an appropriately large cast, and John Cazale has a relatively small role within it as Fredo, the middle son of Vito’s, betweenolder brother Sonny (Caan)and younger brother Michael (Pacino). Fredo gets a great deal more to do in the sequel, with the first movie being more concerned with showing how Sonny and Michael might well be able to take over the family business, despite neither being ideal successors to their father.
Fredo is defined by his sensitivity and perhaps timidness, which puts him in contrast with the overly aggressive Sonny and the sometimes cold and cunning Michael. It’s hard to call it the best movie of Cazale’s if one is to take into account how much of a presence he has within his movies, but his small role here is still an important one, and the film itself is undeniably masterful,easily ranking up there as one of thebest (and most epic) Best Picture winnersin Oscar history.
The Godfather
1’The Godfather: Part II' (1974)
InThe Godfather: Part II, both Brando and Caan’s characters have exited the saga (the former relatively peacefully, and the latter violently), meaning that both Al Pacino as Michael and John Cazale as Fredo get even more to do here than they had before. Now that Michael Corleone has taken over his father’s criminal empire, the film largely revolves around his tragic fall from grace, and how his ruthlessness alienates those who once loved him, with his actions causing little else beyond misery and death. All the while, Vito’s rise to prominence as a mafia boss and family man is shown in a series of flashbacks, with Robert De Niro playing the younger version of Brando’s character.
With time spent in the “present” and past,The Godfather: Part IIis evenmore of an epic than the first movie, and might well manage to be even more emotionally powerful, thanks to the core story focusing on the two remainingCorleone brothers, and their gradual falling out. It’s a movie that featuresone of Pacino’s best-ever performances, and Cazale’s role as Fredo in this sequel is probably the single greatest performance of his short but great filmography, too. It’s an overall outstanding movie, andmore than lives up to its lofty reputation as one of the best movie sequels of all time.
