For some reason, I never liked this guy growing up. But he was in some of the greatest films ever, so am doing a reevaluation of his legacy though with a film festival of his work this weekend totaling: Dog Day Afternoon, The Deer Hunter, The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II and The Conversation.
What are you Dopers’ opinions, was he a great actor commiserate with the movies he’s in, or just lucky?
So far in Afternoon he is GREAT
I always admired John Cazale because he seemed to get into the skin of his character.
That’s the essence of a good actor. You weren’t watching an actor. You were watching the creep he was portraying. And let’s face it, he was cast as a creep.
Wow, Chris Sarandon made an impression in Afternoon. How is it he is not mentioned when we talk of heroic performances? A wannabe transexual, in the 70’s? That has to be courageous.
I’ve heard a couple of reviewers talk about him before he a while before he died and they raved. I also remember both Deniro and Pacino both praising him as an “actors’ actor” whatever that means. This was back before either of them really began playing the Hollywood game.
The poor guy died of bone cancer at the age of 42. I don’t think ‘lucky’ is the word I’d want to use.
He won Obies for “distinguished performances” in “Line” and “The Indian Wants the Bronx” before switching to film acting.
Plus he was in five feature films, all of which were nominated for Best Picture, and three of which won it: The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II, and The Deer Hunter. I can see being lucky once or twice, but you don’t bat 1.000 on luck.
It wasn’t like he was just a tack on in those films.
He made everyone of them, especially Dog Day, better.
If you look at overall filmography, there is no one who has a better resume.
Cazale was a fine actor. The five Oscar nominated films was luck, of course, but he was memorable in every one of them. If he had lived, he probably would have put together a strong body of work, though he would have been a character actor, of course.
You can’t really take that argument too far, since he passed away too soon and thus missed out on the inevitable career swoon that would have added a few stinkers to his batting average.
My vote here is for “lucky”, although it’s clear that he was an excellent actor. His career peaked during the seventies, when American cinema was enjoying one of its most creative and dynamic periods. Look at the talent that surrounded him in each of his movies, look at his directors, and you’d see that any actor would sell his soul to work with the people he did, like Brando, Pacino, and Coppola. (Francis, not Sofia.)
Obviously, he was both a good actor AND a very lucky actor.
He was in 5 movies that were nominated for Best Picture, but he wasn’t the star of any of them, and those films’ success didn’t depend on him. Still, he gave solid performances in all of them, and a superb performance in “The Godfather Part 2.”
“I’m SMART- not like people say!”
I don’t know that it was luck. His name wasn’t exactly pulled out of a hat to star in those movies, after all. He may have gotten jobs with A-list actors and directors simply because he was recognized as a great actor who enhances the films he’s in.
He was lucky in getting great roles but part of that luck was refining his skills on Broadway. He was also friends with Pacino back to High School days and wasn’t he linked romantically to Meryl Streep?
Poor guy died very young, I also wonder what he would have done if he lived.
He was so damn believable as Fredo, you forget he was a actor in a role.
Jim
The word you’re looking for is “commensurate.”
Cazale technically appeared in six feature films - archival footage of his previous work was included in The Godfather: Part III. But his record remained unbroken when this film was also nominated for Best Picture.
From Meryl Streep’s biography at tiscali which while not comprehensive has very good biographies of those actors covered.
She proceeded to knock the critics out once more in the Shakespeare In The Park season, playing in Henry V and as Isabella in Measure For Measure. Her co-star in both was John Cazale. Though now known predominantly as foolish, fun-loving brother Fredo in The Godfather, Cazale was then set for even greater things. He was a stage star and all five of the movies he made (two Godfathers, The Conversation, Dog Day Afternoon and The Deer Hunter) were nominated for Best Picture Oscars, 3 of them winning. He was a brilliant talent and it seemed correct that he should begin a passionate relationship with Meryl, the brightest new star in the New York stage firmament.
Wow, I thought they were linked, great info you found.
Jim