BY LEE PFEIFFER
It's rare that a feature included as a bonus in a Blu-ray release of a classic movie would rate having us provide a separate review. However, director Richard Shepard's acclaimed documentary "I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazle" merits exceptional treatment. The 2009 movie gained considerable praise when first released but suffered the fate of most documentaries in that it was not widely seen outside of the art house circuit and a DVD release the following year. Fortunately, Warner Home Video had the good instincts to include it in their 40th anniversary Blu-ray release of "Dog Day Afternoon" (click here for review) , a film in which Cazale stole the show despite sharing the screen with some of the most talented actors on the planet. The documentary packs a great deal into it's all-too-brief 40 minute running time and sheds much light on the career of Cazale, perhaps the least-heralded main cast member of "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II". The "Godfather" saga saw the resurrection of Marlon Brando's career and made top stars of Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall and Diane Keaton. Not so with Cazale, who in many ways played the most interesting character in the story lines. As Fredo, the much-beloved underachiever of the Corleone crime family, Cazale gave performances for the ages. This is especially true in "The Godfather Part II", my personal choice for the best American movie of the sound era. It was here that the brilliant screenplay gave the character - and Cazale- the opportunity to dominate key scenes. The results need not be described here if you are a classic movie lover. Yet, Cazale never achieved fame except among film historians and trivia experts. His chameleon-like qualities enabled him to bring remarkable characters and performances to the screen but also resulted in his remaining anonymous to the public. In many cases, movie- goers failed to realize that the edgy and dumb bank robber of "Dog Day Afternoon" was the same actor who had played Fredo. To prove the point, director Richard Shepard stops people on the street and shows them a photo of cast members from "The Godfather": Brando, Pacino, Caan and Cazale. No one can identify Cazale's real name, although most realize he was the actor who portrayed Fredo. (One person assertively insists that "Fredo" was not only the name of the character but the actor who portrayed him, which for a method actor like Cazale might be considered a compliment.)
Shepard became fascinated by Cazale after seeing him in a reissue of "The Godfather". Despite all the enormously talented actors on screen, it was Cazale's non-glam, hangdog look that resonated with him. After becoming a successful director in his own right, Shepard was disturbed that, while the characters he portrayed were still very much a part of pop culture, Cazale's name had virtually vanished from the landscape. Determined to put him back in the spotlight, he and his producing partner Stacey Reiss decided to film a feature length documentary about Cazale- a man who only made five movies, each of which either won or was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: "The Conversation", the first two "Godfather" films, "Dog Day Afternoon" and "The Deer Hunter". Cazale died in March, 1978 at age 42, having barely been able to complete the latter film due to his battle with lung cancer. Like most great actors who died young, Cazale's image is frozen in time. Unlike most of those who shared his fate, however, his name never became legendary. In his audio commentary for "I Knew It Was You" (a pivotal line of dialogue from "The Godfather Part II" spoken by Michael Corleone to Fredo in regards to his ultimate betrayal of Corleone family loyalty), Shepard relates the almost insurmountable challenge of finding financing for the documentary. Everyone thought it was a great idea but, in true Hollywood fashion, no one was willing to put up any money. Ultimately, producer/director Brett Ratner backed the project and succeeded in getting funding from HBO. The only downside was that HBO insisted on limiting the running time to 40 minutes, thus dashing Shepard's original plan to make a feature length film. Nonetheless, he was grateful to the network for financing the project at all and he set to work lining up possible interviews with those who knew or admired Cazale. He succeeded admirably. The documentary boasts an impressive line-up of talent who pay tribute to Cazale and acknowledge his influence. Chief among them is Al Pacino, who knew Cazale during their days as struggling actors in New York City. They both would run into each other occasionally and went on to work in several plays together before being reunited for "The Godfather" and "Dog Day Afternoon". Pacino's affection for Cazale is such that he admits he idolized him. He and others express the belief that Cazale was one of the most intelligent- if eccentric- people they ever knew. Cazale's appeal was that he was no matinee idol. He looked like the guy next door (assuming you lived in a blue collar area of the Bronx or New Jersey.) Others who extol his value as an actor and human being are Richard Dreyfuss, producer Fred Roos, Olympia Dukakis, Sam Rockwell, Francis Ford Coppola (who directed Cazale in three of his five films), Carol Kane, Steve Buscemi, John Savage and playwright Israel Horowitz, who worked with Cazale on ten plays in the 1960s. Shepard even managed to get interviews with such press-shy titans as Gene Hackman, Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep, who discusses her intense love affair with Cazale on camera for the first time. There are also moving comments from Cazale's brother Steve, who relates a sobering story about how he found out that his brother was suffering from lung cancer. There also interviews with two other show business legends who themselves have now left us: Sidney Lumet and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The entire film is filled with sincere, sentimental tales about Cazale that are both touching and humorous.
The "Dog Day Afternoon" edition of "I Knew It Was You" features some excellent extras pertaining to the documentary. Richard Shepard's audio commentary is truly fascinating, as he relates the trials and tribulations of bringing the project to the screen and how he had to shame the rights holders to Cazale's movies into allowing him to use extensive film clips for virtually no fees. There are also extensive outtakes of the interviews with Al Pacino and Israel Horowitz that contain some of the most interesting revelations and stories. A pity they couldn't have been included in the final cut of the movie itself. In one sequence, Pacino is overcome with emotion discussing his friendship with Cazale and comes close to breaking down. He also expresses frustration that Cazale was never even nominated for an Oscar. Horowitz ends his segment in a most unforgettable fashion by reading verbatim the beautiful eulogy he wrote in praise of Cazale for The Village Voice. The extras also contain two short early career films that Cazale was involved with. "The American Way" is a zany, Monty Python-like comedy made in 1962 in which Cazale is seen as an inept anarchist. Cazale doesn't appear at all in the 1969 film "The Box", but served as the credited cinematographer. The comedy involves a guy who finds that his new television set seems to be possessed and determined to drive him insane through playing practical jokes on him.
The fact that "Dog Day Afternoon" is itself a classic of American cinema is reason enough to add this anniversary Blu-ray edition to your library. However, the addition of "I Knew It Was You" would merit the purchase alone.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON