“It was a little strange”: the “obscure” Gene Hackman movie he called his personal favourite
When the news of Gene Hackman‘s demise broke earlier this year, fans all over the world rushed to social media platforms to pay tribute to one of the greatest to ever do it.
When people talk about the most important films Hackman was involved in, titles like William Friedkin’s The French Connection are usually the first to come up. His portrayal of a cop with a serious taste for brutality still seems to serve as a grim template for plenty of officers in the US today. Over the years, he also teamed up with the likes of Clint Eastwood and Arthur Penn, putting together a résumé that’s honestly stacked to the rafters.
For those who have followed Hackman’s professional exploits a little closer than most, one film that will always stand out is 1975’s Night Moves. Another project with Penn (and in my opinion, the best one), Hackman is at his most brilliant in this neo-noir, perfectly playing the role of a private detective who slowly slips into a case that gets stranger by the minute, all while the world around him transforms into a muddle of paranoia and shadows.
Interestingly, none of these names were at the top of Hackman’s list when he was asked about the favourite projects he had ever worked on. During a conversation with CNN, the actor once revealed that he always held a 1973 movie, where he starred alongside Al Pacino, to be the best goddamn entry in his illustrious and acclaimed filmography.
Titled Scarecrow, Jerry Schatzberg’s road movie was closest to Hackman’s heart. He explained, “I always say this, that my favourite was not a film that worked commercially. It was called Scarecrow, that I did with Al Pacino. I love Al, I love his work… I just think he is one of our great, great actors. I loved working on that.”
Like Hackman himself said, Scarecrow neither captured the attention of many critics nor did it rack up insane box office numbers. However, it did end up winning the Palme d’Or (which had a different name back in 1973), and looking back at Hackman’s entire oeuvre now, it’s definitely on the more interesting side of the spectrum.
Hackman seamlessly assumes the role of an ex-convict who teams up with Al Pacino’s ex-sailor as they take to the road as a couple of bums, travelling across the country while trying to deal with some truly bizarre circumstances they find themselves in. For those used to more direct narratives from both Hackman and Pacino, this is definitely a significant change of pace, but it’s one that Hackman never really forgot, especially since it gave him the opportunity to act alongside someone whom he considered one of the very fucking best.
While talking about the unique status that Scarecrow holds within his body of work, Hackman concluded: “I don’t know. It was a little bit obscure, the film. It was a little strange. Two guys on the road hitchhiking. It didn’t – wasn’t much of a story, really. It was just – it kind of wandered a bit, I suppose.”
