The Parallax View

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Alan J. Pakula directs. Gordon Willis behind the camera. Michael Small scores. John W. Wheeler cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $2.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 252 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3Directed by Alan J. Pakula, shot by Gordon Willis. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Michael Small. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor John W. Wheeler shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Warren Beatty and Paula Prentiss and William Daniels carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "As American as apple pie.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0071970 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Classified under 14 themes, including "assassination", "corruption", "based on novel or book", "politics".

The technical file

Cinematography

Gordon Willis

Original score

Michael Small

Editing

John W. Wheeler

Production design

George Jenkins

Costume design

Frank L. Thompson

Makeup / hair

William Turner

Sound

David Dockendorf

Stunt coordinator

Paul Baxley

Runtime

102 min · 1h 42m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$2,900,000

Box office

$2,940,000

Return

101% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

The Parallax View (1974) ↗

Also by

Alan J. Pakula

• 
  All the President's Men

  1976 · ★ 7.7
• 
  Sophie's Choice

  1982 · ★ 7.3
• 
  Presumed Innocent

  1990 · ★ 6.8
• 
  Klute

  1971 · ★ 6.8
• 
  The Pelican Brief

  1993 · ★ 6.6
• 
  Starting Over

  1979 · ★ 6.4

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Imprint Blu-ray Trailer

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  Trailer

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  Karyn Kusama on THE PARALLAX VIEW

  Featurette

Community reviews

What people are saying

• JPV8522021-02-03
  ★ 7/10

  Slow paced but decent political thriller. Not as good as something like The Manchurian Candidate (both versions) or Three Days of the Condor, but engaging enough with a fine performance by Warren Beatty. 3.5/5

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• DO

  Doubleday Productions

• HA

  Harbor Productions

  US

• 

  Paramount Pictures

  US

• GU

  Gus Productions

Key crew

• NovelLoren Singer
• Costume DesignFrank L. Thompson
• First Assistant DirectorHawk Koch
• Script SupervisorKaren Hale Wookey
• Production AssistantJon Boorstin
• Second Assistant DirectorJohn M. Poer
• Production SecretaryBarbara Spitz
• Sound MixerTom Overton
• Sound Re-Recording MixerDavid Dockendorf
• Sound Re-Recording MixerCharles Grenzbach
• Set DecorationReg Allen
• Camera OperatorChris Schwiebert
• GafferGeorge Holmes
• Property MasterDudley Holmes
• Production ManagerCharles H. Maguire
• Makeup ArtistWilliam Turner
• Stunt CoordinatorPaul Baxley
• Special EffectsTim Smyth
• Art DesignerDon Record
• Additional WritingRobert Towne
• ProducerAlan J. Pakula
• Executive ProducerGabriel Katzka
• Associate ProducerCharles H. Maguire
• EditorJohn W. Wheeler

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• assassination
• corruption
• based on novel or book
• politics
• seattle, washington
• senator
• conspiracy
• reporter
• psychological thriller
• los angeles, california
• political assassination
• montage
• political thriller
• film within a film

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1974-06-14R

Also known as

International titles

• A TramaBR
• Винтовка с оптическим прицеломRU
• ПараллаксRU
• A Parallax gyilkosságokHU
• هدف پارالاکسIR