Bonnie and Clyde. Arthur Penn, 1967
The first of Gene Hackman's films is not famous for its appearance, but for what he meant to make the story of these thieves known and for his leading couple.
The thing is, Hackman had been doing minor roles for several years when he got the call to play Buck Barrow in this Arthur Penn movie. It was quite an important role, reinforcing Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in the lead roles, and in which Hackman plays an irrepressible and insufferable braggart. But this, only until later we reconsider a bit and, seeing it in his face, we can't take a mania. Here began the legend of Gene Hackman and, incidentally, his first Oscar nomination.
The French Connection. William Friedkin, 1971
After Bonnie and Clyde, Gene Hackman was on his toes for a while, doing good work, but not getting the leading roles he deserved. But there was a stroke of luck with this crime thriller in which he authentically plays a true villain.
We're not going to say that Hackman was very comfortable in this role, and much of what we get on screen is due to the enormous motivation provided by director William Friedkin. The origin does not matter, but the end, and what we remember here is not only the great Popeye Doyle, but one of the most famous and recommended Gene Hackman films in his filmography.
The Poseidon Adventure. Ronald Neame, 1972
With a rising Gene Hackman headlining, The Poseidon Adventure was a rather curious bet to conquer the box office. And boy did he get it. So much so that, for those born in those years and later, the mere presence of him on television programming still meant a great occasion.
Very spectacular, very catastrophic, and very everything. What was taken was the visual spectacle and, in this sense, it is not that the acting talent of any of the actors was going to be squeezed to the maximum, neither Hackman, Ernest Borgnine nor Shelley Winters. But even with almost fifty years behind him, it is still impressive.
The Scarecrow. Jerry Schatzberg, 1973
Without being completely unknown, this may be one of Gene Hackman's films that has been hidden from the memory of the general public for the longest time. But I want to do my bit to make someone discover or rediscover it and have a presence again.
The Scarecrow is a buddy movie and it's also a road movie. It is a journey of discovery and a journey of search, which the characters of Gene Hackman and Al Pacino take side by side. Their roles are those of two homeless people who meet and, despite being complete opposites, decide to start an adventure together, in search of the American dream. An extravagant friendship that undeniably brings out one of the best performances of Eugene's career and, consequently, forces us to include it in the list of Gen Hackman films that must be seen no matter what.
The Conversation. Francis Ford Coppola, 1974
This is another one of Hackman's films that everyone cites for the tremendous dramatic work that he does. And also because it is by Coppola and he did it between one Godfather and the other. But that doesn't matter here.
The role of Harry Caul, the microphone expert and extremely introverted, is a role that just doesn't seem like a fit for Hackman. But here, he brings out the best of his acting talents, and while his relationship with Francis Ford Coppola was a rocky one, the result is one of the brightest in all of Hackman's filmography. It is hard to understand why this film has not achieved the status that other contemporaries have or, directly, from those responsible for it.
