The Conversation
Harry Caul, a reclusive surveillance expert in San Francisco, races to uncover the truth behind a cryptic audio recording he created, as he becomes entangled in a deadly mystery that forces him to confront his haunted past and the moral cost of his trade.
“Harry Caul is an invader of privacy. The best in the business.”
Synopsis
A paranoid and secretive surveillance expert experiences a crisis of conscience when he begins to suspect that the couple he is monitoring will be murdered.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 74+ credited
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Richard ChewShot by Bill ButlerScored by David ShireDesigned by Dean Tavoularis
Box Office
1974 · Box office
✅ Made its money back — grossed 3.0× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$4.8M
Re-release box office
- 202416 theaters
- $280K($296K today)
- 202219 theaters
- $224K($253K today)
- Total re-release
- $504K
Domestic gross earned in theatrical re-release, by year · adjusted for inflation
Full synopsis
Also known as
- Der Dialogde
- La conversaciónes
- Conversation secrètefr
- (Flemish)Het geheim gesprek
- La conversazioneit
Release dates around the world4 countries · showhide
- United StatesApr 7, 1974
- CanadaApr 12, 1974
- FranceMay 22, 1974
- United KingdomJul 11, 1974
Companies
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Cast & Crew
74 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Supporting cast
11Phoebe Alexander
as Lurleen
Ramon Bieri
as Millard
Gian Carlo Coppola
as Boy in Church
George Dusheck
as TV Anchor
Robert Duvall
as The Director
Richard Hackman
as Confessional Priest, Security Guard
George Meyer
as Salesman
Al Nalbandian
as Salesman at Surveillance Convention
Ronald Kirk Stake
as Hotel Desk Clerk
Erick Vinther
as Businessman
Billy Dee Williams
as Man in Yellow Hat
Directors
1Writers
1Producers
3Other crew
49Jim Bloom
administrative assistant
Mona Houghton
administrative assistant
Randy Carter
administrative assistant
Doug Von Koss
as Doug Van Koss
Gary Armstrong
assistant camera (uncredited)
Robert Edesa
assistant camera (uncredited)
James Glennon
assistant cameraman (as Jim Glennon)
Charles Myers
assistant director (as Chuck Myers)
Julie Zale
assistant editor
Pat Jackson
assistant editor (uncredited)
Ralph Gerling
camera operator
Thomas Laughridge
camera operator
Parents Guide
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