Cinema Wellman Salutes Gene Hackman

Hello, and welcome to Cinema Wellman. I am your host, David, and today we’re going to pay tribute to Gene Hackman, an actor I’ve always enjoyed watching over the years. 

Gene Hackman left us earlier this year at the age of 95, and he left us with a pretty impressive resume:

A five time Oscar nominee; Best Actor Nomination: Mississippi Burning (1988), Best Supporting Actor Nominations: Bonnie and Clyde (1967), I Never Sang for My Father  (1970), and two time Oscar winner;  Best Actor Win: The French Connection (1971) and Best Supporting Actor Win: Unforgiven (1992).

And the Academy, as usual, totally whiffed on a few of his performances that should have been honored with Oscar nominations, if not statues as well. 

In any event, today’s episode will highlight our 10 favorite Gene Hackman films, and three of those five Oscar nominated films I just mentioned will NOT be part of it!

After all, these films are our favorites and nothing more than that. 

That’s how this works. It’s not a democracy. 

While preparing for this episode I was curious as to just how many Gene Hackman movies I had seen.

According to IMDb, Hackman has 102 acting credits. If you remove his television work (21 credits), you’re left with 81 films.

With the movie I watched recently (which was HORRIBLE!) I have now seen 50 films featuring Gene Hackman. 

What’s interesting about him is that whenever I think of him, I always think of him as a good guy, but an overwhelming number of his roles are of men of questionable moral character at best. 

Our Top 10 includes Hackman as an over the top comic villain, an immoral president, a basketball coach with a past, a cop who walks a very thin line, and a nuclear submarine captain who probably shouldn’t have those codes. 

Even when he’s playing a good guy, there’s much more to the character thanks to the man who is playing them. 

Thank you, Mr. Hackman for the hours and hours of pleasure you’ve provided over the years whether we were rooting for you or against you. 

Here are Cinema Wellman’s Top 10 favorite Gene Hackman movies:

Oh, and message to my friend Larry if he’s watching, you can turn your radio off, Mrs. Ruland, you know what movie is #1. 

But we have nine others to discuss before we get there, so let’s get started. Actually #10 is two movies (I cheated again), but he plays the same character in both movies, and these are my rules, and…

#10

Lex Luthor in two films:

Superman (1978)

PG/143 m/IMDb: 7.4/directed by Richard Donner

AND

Superman II (1980)

PG/121 m/IMDb: 6.8/directed by Richard Lester

So right out of the chute I want to mention that Unforgiven isn’t on this list. Nor is Mississippi Burning or I Never Sang for My Father. That’s three of Gene Hackman’s five Oscar nominations (and one of his wins!).

I also had an opportunity to go with The Birdcage, The Royal Tenenbaums, Young Frankenstein, Class Action, Runaway Jury, or Marooned, all which could have appeared on this list. 

Instead I went full Lex Luthor.

There’s something about an accomplished actor doing something “against character” during their career that has always fascinated me.

It’s certainly risky to bail on who brought you to the dance and do something different, but when it works it can be magical.

It’s one of the reasons Airplane worked so well. Audiences just hadn’t seen Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, or Leslie Neilsen do comedy before and when they did it with their usual dramatic delivery, it was gold.

The Superman movies obviously aren’t as comically broad as Airplane, but seeing Hackman chew all of the scenery as the untrustworthy, unscrupulous Lex Luthor, ESPECIALLY in Superman II is just brilliant.

In Superman II, Hackman gets to play opposite Terrance “Come to me, son of Jor-El, kneel before Zod!” Stamp, another terrific actor who also recently passed.

Not all great actors are great in all genres, but in the roles Hackman stretched himself by entering the comedy pool, he certainly did not disappoint. 

Even though Lex Luthor is considered a “Super Villain,” Luthor is probably a more decent person than some of the characters were about to talk about including a president who makes the current one seem like a bit of a Boy Scout.

#9

President Richmond in

Absolute Power (1997)

R/121 m/IMDb: 6.7/directed by Clint Eastwood

Gene Hackman made a career out of playing characters that walked the line between good and bad; men who were certainly morally challenged to say the least, but men who we still rooted for from time to time during the movie.

President Richmond in Absolute Power is not one of these characters.

He’s just a ruthless, immoral, corrupt, hateful asshole. Not the first president to check those boxes, but at least Richmond is fictional.

IMDb: “Career thief Luther Whitney witnesses a horrific crime involving U.S. President Alan Richmond.”

If you think of everything you’d NOT want in a president, that’s who this character is. Complete with the fake exterior of kindness, caring, and helpfulness. 

Chilling in its evilness.

Number 8 is next up and it’s a 90s action movie with Gene Hackman portraying…

#8

Ramsey in

Crimson Tide (1995)

R/116 m/IMDb: 7.4/directed by Tony Scott

The director who gave us Top Gun puts Hackman in command of a nuclear sub and takes the action underwater for this Cold War thriller co-starring Denzel Washington (who I’d watch read an Applebee’s menu).

IMDb: “On a U.S. nuclear submarine, a young first officer stages a mutiny to prevent his trigger-happy captain from launching his missiles before confirming his orders to do so.”

Hackman’s Ramsey is manipulative, controlling, egotistical, and a bit unhinged. 

There is a submarine movie episode coming at some point during which I’ll talk about Crimson Tide in more detail, but this is a thrilling suspense/action film at times and watching two of my favorite actors of all-time go head to head with all the Navy rules along with the mind games is an absolute popcorn muncher! 

The director of Top Gun (Tony Scott) strikes again! He directed Crimson Tide AND #7 on our list.

And talk about a character with issues regarding rules and protocols…

#7

Brill in

Enemy of the State (1998)

R/132 m/IMDb: 7.3/directed by Tony Scott

IMDb: “A lawyer becomes targeted by a corrupt politician and his N.S.A. goons when he accidentally receives key evidence to a politically motivated crime.”

IMDb should have added the adjective “hot-shot” in front of the word lawyer since Will “The Slapper” Smith certainly plays him with arrogance and cockiness that has you rooting against him from the start, even though he’s the protagonist.

This film is also a total waste of Regina King, but we’re here to talk about Gene Hackman!

Hackman’s Brill is paranoia in human form. A walking conspiracy theory with a closet full of tinfoil hats.

Smith’s character inadvertently involves Brill and forces him into the open, which he is not crazy about to say the least.

A good amount of their screen time together is taken up by Hackman yelling at Smith for the stupid things he does that may get them both killed.

To me this was the best part of the movie, along with the conspiracy stuff, big fan.

Next is a film that not many people mention as Top 10 Hackman, but this is my list, so…

#6

Robert Caulfield in

Narrow Margin (1990)

R/97 m/IMDb: 6.6/directed by Peter Hyams

Narrow Margin is a remake of The Narrow Margin, a film noir gem from 1952 starring Charles McGraw that is definitely worth seeing as well. 

IMDb: “A Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney is sent to protect a woman who accidentally witnessed a Mafia murder.”

The woman is played by Anne Archer, and the assassins sent to kill her are also excellent.

The fact that the cat and mouse chase takes place on a train makes this a top notch old fashioned thriller. 

And if we were to rank all 10 of the characters on this list played by Hackman, Robert Caufield may be the only one we could really consider a totally “good” guy.

Even when playing a character who is seemingly on the good side of the ledger, there’s usually something else dark there.

A perfect example of this is…

#5

Reverend Scott in

The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

PG/117 m/IMDb: 7.1/directed by Ronald Neame

So I’m ignoring Oscar nominated/Oscar winning roles by Gene Hackman to talk about his overacting in a 70s disaster movie?

Yes.

Yes, I am. 

I’m 10 years old when The Poseidon Adventure came out, so it was absolutely amazing!

Captain Leslie Neilsen saying “Oh my God!” as he looked through the binoculars at the tidal wave, the guy hanging upside down from the table in the ballroom after the ship capsizes, Shelly Winters swimming, the song “The Morning After,” and Gene Hackman as the right Reverend Scott yelling at God during most of the movie.

Cinematic gold, especially for a 10 year old. 

Not for nothing, but a 7.1 on IMDb, and it was nominated for eight Oscars, and did win for “The Morning After” (thank you Maureen McGovern), so maybe it does belong on this list.

Next up is a straight up bad guy. A gangster with few redeeming qualities.

#4

Buck Barrow in

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

R/111 m/IMDb: 7.7/directed by Arthur Penn

Best Supporting Actor Oscar Nomination

This was a tremendous performance, a statement backed up by the Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, and Buck Barrow is a bad guy, but he’s also just a simple-minded brute at the same time. 

I realize this film is famous for the iconic slow-motion bullet ridden death scene of the title characters, but this is well worth a watch if you’ve never seen it. Tremendous performances by the leads as well as the entire supporting cast which includes Estelle Parsons, Michael J. Pollard, Dub Taylor, and Gene Wilder.

Number three on our list is a good guy with a shady past in a film set in a time when there really was such a thing as a “shady past.”

#3

Coach Norman Dale in

Hoosiers (1986)

PG/114 m/IMDb: 7.4/directed by David Anspaugh

IMDb: “A coach with a checkered past and a local drunk train a small-town high school basketball team to become a top contender for the state championship in 1950s Indiana.”

This is a tremendous character study/basketball movie that we featured on an earlier episode about sports movies so I’m not going to talk about this much other than to mention how I think this film absolutely nails 1950s Indiana.

Wasn’t alive in the 50s, but I have been to Indiana.

I’m pretty sure this film nails it. 

That’s what movies do. 

#2

Eddie “Popeye” Doyle in

The French Connection (1971)

R/104 m/IMDb: 7.7/directed by William Friedkin

Best Actor Oscar Winner

It would make total sense to have Gene Hackman’s only Best Actor Oscar win at the top of the list, but…not so fast!

We’re not saying this isn’t a phenomenal performance in a fantastic film, we’re just saying it’s not our favorite performance by Gene Hackman.

His performance in Bonnie and Clyde in 1967 certainly got everyone’s attention, but it wasn’t until four years later when Hackman exploded on the scene with his portrayal of real-life cop “Popeye” Doyle and one of the most famous drug cases in NYC history.

I’m going to sound like Stefon here for a minute, but this movie has everything; William Friedkin directing, location shooting in a gritty NYC, international intrigue, Roy Scheider as Popeye’s partner, and a car chase only rivaled in my mind by the one in Bullit (same driver!).

And holding all of that together is an actor still at the start of his career. 

This character is a police detective and therefore on the right side of the law, but Doyle is still a complicated man who is required to walk the thin line between good and not so good.

If you have somehow missed this gritty action gem, put it on the top of your list.

Even if you’ve never picked your feet in Poughkeepsie. 

So, what could be better than Gene Hackman as Popeye Doyle in The French Connection?

Well…Gene Hackman as…

#1

Harry Caul in

The Conversation (1974)

PG/113 m/IMDb: 7.7/directed by Francis Ford Coppola

IMDb: “A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.”

Using the adjectives paranoid and secretive to describe Harry Caul are perfect.

And those descriptors are just the outer layer of what I consider to be Hackman’s most complicated character.

Francis Ford Coppola directs, and this film is also near the very top of HIS list for me, so you know how much I enjoy this conspiracy thriller.

The cast features solid character actor veterans like Allen Garfield, and Frederic Forrest, along with Cindy Williams, Teri Garr, and a small role by Harrison Ford.

Harry Caul’s closest friend, if Caul is capable of having friends, is played by the great John Cazale who deserves a Cinema Wellman episode all to himself one of these days.

Talk about a track record. Look up John Cazale’s filmography on IMDb, and you’ll see what I mean. Cazale made “only” five feature films in his career, but here are the five:

The Godfather     (10 Oscar nominations/3 Oscars)

The Conversation     (3 Oscar nominations)

The Godfather Part II (11 Oscar nominations/6 Oscars)

Dog Day Afternoon     ( Oscar nominations/ Oscars)

The Deer Hunter     ( Oscar nominations/ Oscars)

An amazing resume in an impressive career cut way too short by cancer. 

Like he does in every film, Cazale is there to support, and in The Conversation, he supports his friend Harry who is slowly losing his grip on his world and control over it as the movie progresses. 

Hackman’s Harry Caul is so secretive and introverted he doesn’t have very far to fall when everything around him seems to be falling apart.

Even the climax of the film is a slow burn as Harry is convinced he himself is being surveilled and becomes obsessed with finding the listening devices in his own apartment.

An amazing film that is vastly underrated in my opinion.

I also want to mention that there’s a great fan theory out there that Brill in Enemy of the State is actually Harry Caul under an assumed name. 

Love that!

Well, that is a wrap from here at Cinema Wellman as we celebrated the late, great Gene Hackman.

We hope you join us next time when we take a quick visit to the Cinema Wellman DVD Vault!

You never know what you’ll find in there!

Until then, take care.