Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation hit a deep social nerve in the proto-technological Watergate era, when political intrigue, taped conversations, and concern with surveillance loomed large in the public consciousness. Gene Hackman delivers a brilliant performance as Harry Caul, a pathologically private wiretapper who is haunted by a previous assignment that ended in murder. On a new case, he becomes convinced that those he is spying on are in grave danger and feels compelled to intervene.