I was going to write an appreciation of Gene Hackman, who has died at 95, but Matt Zoller Seitz has written a brilliant obituary for him — hitting all the high points of Hackman’s career — so go read his piece here. The timing is ironic in that, two nights ago, my wife and I showed my daughter and her partner the classic “Bonnie & Clyde,” for which Hackman was Oscar-nominated.
Instead, I thought I’d recommend some of his lesser-known movies that I’ve enjoyed.
One is an under-seen, underrated movie in which you can see Hackman rising above the material, 1969’s “The Gypsy Moths.” Directed by John Frankenheimer, it stars Hackman, Burt Lancaster, and Scott Wilson as barnstorming skydivers working a small midwestern town on the Fourth of July. The movie pops up on TCM every couple of years, but it’s also available to rent for three bucks on Prime Video and elsewhere.
Other lesser-known Hackman movies I recommend: “Night Moves” (1975); “Bite The Bullet” (also 1975); and “Narrow Margin” (1990), in which he plays a District Attorney protecting a woman (Anne Archer) who witnessed a Mafia hit. The latter is available on several streamers for a few bucks.
Here’s my favorite scene from “Narrow Margin.” While Archer’s hidden away in his room on a train moving through the Canadian Rockies, Hackman goes to the cafe car, where he’s confronted over drinks by James B. Sikking (Lt. Howard Hunter on “Hill Street Blues”) as a Mafia hit man trying to find her. While Sikking does most of the talking, I get a real kick watching Hackman react, both facially and verbally.