The Conversation

The Conversation

Harry Caul

Stan

Bernie Moran

Mark

Ann

Paul

Meredith (as Elizabeth Mac Rae)

Amy

Martin Stett

Receptionist

The Mime

Lurleen

Man at Party (uncredited)

Boy in Church (uncredited)

The Director (uncredited)

Salesman (uncredited)

Salesman at Surveillance Convention (uncredited)

Man in Yellow Hat (uncredited)

In the original script, Harry Caul was the owner of the building in which he lived. There was a deleted scene where he had a meeting with the other tenants. One of the people there was Mrs. Evangelista. Now, we only know of her character when Caul speaks to her on the phone after she leaves him a birthday present.

As Harry refines and re-refines the recording, he interprets what he hears in different ways. In fact, the dialog was recorded multiple times with different readings to get this effect.

Gene Hackman learned to play the saxophone especially for the film.

When Caul (escorted by Martin Stett) boards the elevator following a meeting with The Director, Caul holds the door open in order to complete an exchange (with Stett). Yet in the last shot of that sequence, it's Stett who's holding the door.

Presumably, the "conversation" was recorded over the noon hour. In the opening shot, the shadows are much too long for mid-day, even in winter.

At the party in Caul's workshop, Stan describes the targets of a job only as "two people". At that time, Caul was at the far side of the shop, leafing through photos of them, many yards away - and obscured by fellow attendees and equipment - from a woman in the group who later asks, "What did they do...the boy and the girl?" Even had she been able to see the photos, there was no way she could have connected them with the subjects, no way she could have known their gender nor age. (She may however, knew about the job and merely slipped her tongue.)

Martin Stett: I'm not following you, I'm looking for you. There's a big difference.

Mark: He'd kill us if he got the chance.

Ann: I can't stand it. I can't stand it any more.