Al Pacino on the screen
After debuting in a small role in 1969's Me, Natalie, Al Pacino earned five Oscar nominations in his first decade in films — a feat equaled only by Brando in the '50s. Pacino's film output dropped off in the '80s, as he spent much of his time in the theater. But just when most of us thought he had disappeared, he made his return to the screen in Sea of Love and Dick Tracy, with his third Godfather to come. Here — except for the forgettable Me, Natalie — is a complete Pacino filmography, with comments by the actor. All the movies (excluding The Panic in Needle Park) are available on video.
The Panic in Needle Park (1971)
Pacino's first leading role was in
this relentlessly depressing story of young junkies in love on the
streets of New York. Female lead Kitty Winn was thrust into the
spotlight first, winning Best Actress at Cannes. But it was Pacino's
performance that caught the eyes of American critics, who praised his
instincts and intensity.
The Godfather (1972)
Pacino landed the role of Michael, heir to
the Corleone crime empire, only at director Francis Coppola's
insistence. The studio heads felt a big name was needed, and not even
Pacino thought he was right for the role. ''I didn't understand why
Francis wanted me to play that part,'' he says. ''I was shocked, like
everybody else. I always thought he wanted me for Sonny, but Michael
was the only character he saw me as.'' The performance won him his
first Oscar nomination.
Scarecrow (1973)
Pacino and Gene Hackman are drifters who become
unlikely friends while hitchhiking across the country. A downbeat
buddy movie in the Midnight Cowboy mold, it shared the Best Film
award at Cannes, and while critical opinion was mixed, acclaim for
its stars was nearly unanimous. Despite rough edges, this
lost-in-America travelogue remains an unsung high point in the
careers of both actors.
Serpico (1973)
Sidney Lumet's street-smart drama based on real
events and people starred Pacino as Frank Serpico, an honest New York
cop who led a one-man crusade against rampant police corruption.
''(The role) was exciting to work on because I had the real guy to
study,'' says Pacino, whose Oscar-nominated performance captures how
Serpico's passion veered into obsession. Watergate-era audiences
embraced the character as a bona fide hero, and the movie became a
hit.
The Godfather Part II (1974)
If Godfather was about Michael
Corleone's rise to power, Godfather II showed him preserving that
power at the expense of his humanity. The part earned Pacino his
third Oscar nomination but almost cost him his life. He fell ill
during filming in the Dominican Republic and was hospitalized, where
his condition deteriorated. When his longtime friend Lee Strasberg
saw the actor's state, he contacted Pacino's personal physician, who
whisked him back to the States. ''The doctor told me I would have died
if I'd been in there one more day,'' Pacino says.
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Back on the streets of New York, Pacino
reunited with Sidney Lumet to play another character from real life,
a nobody who becomes somebody when he tries to rob a bank to pay for
his male lover's sex-change operation. When he takes hostages, the
heist escalates into a media circus. Pacino's mercurial portrayal
brought him Oscar nomination No. 4.
Bobby Deerfield (1977)
Pacino's title character is a cold,
controlled Grand Prix driver who falls in love with a dying woman
(Marthe Keller). ''The middle of the film wasn't quite thought out,''
he says, but he was intrigued because ''it played a little on my
condition, having to do with isolation and loneliness and what can
happen with success and money.'' Sydney Pollack directed Alvin
Sargent's screenplay, from a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, but all
that talent couldn't save Pacino's first wrong career move.
