Plot

A portrait of the acting craft of John Cazale and a tour through the movies that defined a generation.

John Cazale was in only five films - The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather, Part Two, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Deer Hunter - each was nominated for Best Picture. Yet today most people don't even know his name. I KNEW IT WAS YOU is a fresh tour through movies that defined a generation.—Reiss, Stacey

Documentary on the contribution of actor John Cazale to the cinema. He was primarily a stage actor and had won an Obie award when Fred Roos saw him on stage in New York. He knew instantly that he had found the actor to play Freddy Corleone in The Godfather (1972) which he was casting for director Francis Ford Coppola. His performance in that film (and all others, for that matter) is roundly praised by several fellow actors as his his follow-up performance in The Godfather Part II (1974). His other films included Dog Day Afternoon (1975), The Conversation (1974) and The Deer Hunter (1978). These films represent the sum total of his on-screen contribution and in the view of those who worked with him, his subtle but effective approach to his roles forced them to be better in theirs. In total, these 5 films earned earned 40 Academy Award nominations, though he never received one. He died as a result of bone cancer at the age of 42.—garykmcd