The Parallax View (1974)

Director:

Alan J. Pakula

Writers:

David Giler and
Lorenzo Semple Jr. ...
(more)

Release Date:

14 June 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

There is no conspiracy. Just twelve people dead.

Plot:

An ambitious reporter gets in way-over-his-head trouble while investigating a senator's assassination which leads to a vast conspiracy involving a multinational corporation behind every event in the worlds headlines.

Plot Keywords:

Assassination | Conspiracy | Reporter | Senator | Investigative Reporter

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Warren Beatty	...	Joseph Frady
Paula Prentiss	...	Lee Carter
William Daniels	...	Austin Tucker
Walter McGinn	...	Jack Younger
Hume Cronyn	...	Bill Rintels
Kelly Thordsen	...	Sheriff L.D. Wicker
Chuck Waters	...	Thomas Richard Linder
Earl Hindman	...	Deputy Red
William Joyce	...	Senator Charles Carroll (as Bill Joyce)
Bettie Johnson	...	Mrs. Charles Carroll
Bill McKinney	...	Parallax Assassin
Jo Ann Harris	...	Chrissy - Frady's Girl (as JoAnne Harris)
Ted Gehring	...	Schecter - Hotel Clerk
Lee Pulford	...	Shirley - Salmontail Bar Girl
Doria Cook-Nelson	...	Gale from Salmontail (as Doria Cook)
Jim Davis	...	George Hammond
Joan Lemmo	...	Organist
Kenneth Mars	...	Former FBI Agent Will
William Jordan	...	Tucker's Aide
Edward Winter	...	Senator Jameson
Stacy Keach Sr.	...	Commission Spokesman #1
Ford Rainey	...	Commission Spokesman #2
Alma Beltran	...	Joy Holder
Richard Bull	...	Parallax Goon
Suzanne Cohane	...	Stewardess
Ronda Copland	...	Girl
Joe Di Reda	...	Ralph Scoletta (as Joseph Di Reda)
Patsy Garrett	...	Woman
Penelope Gillette	...	Woman
Robert P. Lieb	...	Senator Gillingham (as Robert Lieb)
William Swan	...	Herbert Moon
John S. Ragin	...	Buster Himan
Vernon Weddle	...	Harry Lutz
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Craig R. Baxley	...	C.I.A. Agent - Top of Space Needle (uncredited)
Steve Kelley	...	Class President (uncredited)
Anthony Zerbe	...	Prof. Nelson Schwartzkopf (uncredited)

Directed by
Alan J. Pakula

Writing credits
David Giler		and
Lorenzo Semple Jr.
Loren Singer		(novel)
Robert Towne		uncredited

Produced by
Robert Jiras	....	assistant producer (as Robert E. Jiras)
Gabriel Katzka	....	executive producer
Charles H. Maguire	....	associate producer
Alan J. Pakula	....	producer

Original Music by
Michael Small

Cinematography by
Gordon Willis

Film Editing by
John W. Wheeler

Casting by
Alixe Gordin
Joe Scully

Production Design by
George Jenkins

Set Decoration by
Reg Allen

Costume Design by
Frank L. Thompson		(as Frank Thompson)

Makeup Department
William Turner	....	makeup artist (as Bill Turner)

Production Management
Charles H. Maguire	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hawk Koch	....	first assistant director (as Howard W. Koch Jr.)
John M. Poer	....	second assistant director (as John Poer)

Art Department
Dudley Holmes	....	property master (as R. Dudley Holmes)

Sound Department
David Dockendorf	....	sound re-recordist
Charles Grenzbach	....	sound re-recordist (as Bud Grenzbach)
Tom Overton	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Tim Smyth	....	special effects

Stunts
Paul Baxley	....	stunt coordinator
Denny Arnold	....	stunts (uncredited)
Craig R. Baxley	....	stunt double: Warren Beatty (uncredited)
Steven Burnett	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Waters	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Brian Hamill	....	still photographer: special assignment
George Holmes	....	gaffer
Chris Schwiebert	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Donald Freeman	....	final colorist (uncredited)

Other crew
Jon Boorstin	....	assistant to director
Karen Hale Wookey	....	script supervisor (as Karen Wookey)
Don Record	....	design consultant
Barbara Spitz	....	production secretary

Production Companies

• Doubleday Productions
• Gus
• Harbor Productions

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1974) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1977) (USA) (TV) (original airing) (pan/scan)
• Paramount Home Video (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Pacific Titles & Optical

Other Companies

• DeForest Research  research
• Pacific Title  opticals

Also Known As:

"À cause d'un assassinat" - Canada (French title), France
"Zeuge einer Verschwörung" - Austria, West Germany
"A Última Testemunha" - Portugal
"A Parallax-terv" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"A Trama" - Brazil
"Ansa - Parallax View" - Finland
"Asesinos, S.A." - Puerto Rico
"El último testigo" - Spain
"Parallax esrari" - Turkey (Turkish title) (imdb display title)
"Perché un assassinio" - Italy
"Sidste vidne" - Denmark
"Sista vittnet" - Sweden
"Syndykat zbrodni" - Poland
"Ubice i svedoci" - Serbia (imdb display title)
"Ypothesi Parallax" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Brazil:12 | UK:AA | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Ontario) | France:U | Norway:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | USA:R (certificate #23909)

Filming Locations:

Gorge Dam, Skagit River, Washington, USA

Company:

Doubleday Productions

Trivia:

The opening sequence was designed to mirror that of Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 assassination.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the deputy pulls up to the sheriff's house, he parks pretty much right behind the sheriff's car. Yet the subsequent shot looking out from the house toward the two cars shows the deputy's car quite a bit past the sheriff's vehicle.

Quotes:

Sheriff L.D. Wicker:[Frady just beat up Deputy Red.] You just come over here and sit down. You're alright, son.
Joseph Frady:Listen, you wouldn't be offended if I called the police, would you?
Sheriff L.D. Wicker:No, but you don't have to call very far because Red's a deputy. And if that isn't good enough, I'm the sheriff.
Joseph Frady:You got some interesting ideas about law enforcement.
Sheriff L.D. Wicker:I could have stopped the fight. I would have if you'd have been gettin' whipped, but I dearly love seeing ol' Red get stomped.
Joseph Frady:He's your deputy?
Sheriff L.D. Wicker:Well, you see he's my sister's boy. Had to do something nice for her, he's so damn mean he can't get along with anybody else. He's dumb. He's a real turkey. You know, you move his plate five inches, that boy's gonna starve to death.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Echelon Conspiracy/Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li/Crossing Over (#1.1)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Wild and Woolly West

Once upon a time, before Oliver Stone...

In the early 1970's, distrust of the government was widespread. "The Parallax View" was one of the movies that reflected this.* Joe Frady (Warren Beatty) is a reporter who one day is covering a candidate's campaign, when the candidate is assassinated. A governmental committee concludes that there was no conspiracy. However, within three years, Joe is the only witness still alive. As he tries to investigate further, he finds himself on the run.

I'm guessing that the central idea was loosely based on the Kennedy assassination. Director Alan J. Pakula sets every scene so as to maintain a sense of impending doom. You may be uncertain as to whom you can trust after watching this movie. It's that well done. It just goes to show that the world's real horrors aren't supernatural at all.

*Others include "Three Days of the Condor" and "All the President's Men".