WARREN BEATTY STALKED IN ALAN J. PAKULA'S 'THE PARALLAX VIEW'

Warren Beatty in THE PARALLAX VIEW Year: 1974 Rating: ***1/2

Critically beloved TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD director Alan J. Pakula's political thriller before ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN titled THE PARALLAX VIEW opens with a doomed would-be senator taking Seattle's Sky Needle elevator to what will become his final speech... 

A candidate described as being too independent for his own good, here's a political thriller that attempts pleasing both sides of the aisle, which is surely and sadly a thing of the past... 

Warren Beatty in THE PARALLAX VIEW

With mainstream action from a bar fight to a car chase to an exploding boat, maverick reporter Beatty investigates the continual witness deaths by (most likely) the rudimentary assassination...

And from the edgy beginning to a frantic finale, Beatty wields his usual laidback style around the more animated likes of Hume Cronyn as his stern yet likeable, working-class editor; veteran baddie Kelly Thordsen as a crooked small town sheriff; William Daniels as this film's possible Deep Throat... 

From the famously weird montage in THE PARALLAX VIEW

And last but not least, a shady Walter McGinn (whose final role would be Al Pacino's brother in JOHNNY DEERFIELD), introducing Beatty into the PARALLAX Corporation... 

Along with a bizarre montage ranging from The Great Depression to Hitler to concentration camps whilst ironically shifting back and forth to happy hippies... this is meant for hypnotic indoctrination, a kind of icebreaker for what's basically a School for Assassins... 

Bill McKinney strolls with mild villainy in THE PARALLAX VIEW

And right when our timid hero goes undercover as one of the students, about to embark upon the first mission, he keeps getting distracted, following "real killer" Bill McKinney around liken to a standard detective flick...

Meanwhile director Pakula tells a nice tight story with big sets and gorgeous widescreen cinematography as the camera remains an impartial observer (or spy) and yet, in the process, with all the running around, he ultimately lets the more intriguing premise get away. 

Kelly Thorsden in THE PARALLAX VIEW

William Daniels in THE PARALLAX VIEW with William Jordan

Walter McGinn in THE PARALLAX VIEW

Walter McGinn in THE PARALLAX VIEW

Warren Beatty in THE PARALLAX VIEW with Kenneth Mars

Boria Cook-Nelson with Warren Beatty in The Parallax View

Alan J. Pakula's THE PARALLAX VIEW

Suzanne Cohan in THE PARALLAX VIEW

Alan J. Pakula's THE PARALLAX VIEW

Warren Beatty in THE PARALLAX VIEW

Betty Murray in THE PARALLAX VIEW

Betty Murray in THE PARALLAX VIEW

Betty Murray in THE PARALLAX VIEW

Warren Beatty in THE PARALLAX VIEW with Earl Hidman

Boria Cook-Nelson in The Parallax View

Warren Beatty in THE PARALLAX VIEW with Kelly Thordsen and Lee Pullford

Paula Prentiss and Warren Beatty in THE PARALLAX VIEW

Another of hottie Jo Ann Harris in THE PARALLAX VIEW

Warren Beatty in THE PARALLAX VIEW

Warren Beatty getting away in THE PARALLAX VIEW

Criterion Collection Blu Ray THE PARALLAX VIEW

Super cute non-speaking girlfriend Jo Ann Harris in THE PARALLAX VIEW

Super cute non-speaking girlfriend Jo Ann Harris in THE PARALLAX VIEW

Warren Beatty in THE PARALLAX VIEW

Warren Beatty in THE PARALLAX VIEW

Warren Beatty in THE PARALLAX VIEW and Kenneth Mars

Warren Beatty and Paula Prentiss in THE PARALLAX VIEW

Hume Cronyn and Warren Beatty in THE PARALLAX VIEW

Warren Beatty in The Parallax View with Dora Cook-Nelson

Kelly Thorsden in The Parallax View with half of Doria Cook-Nelson... Half Nelson

White Heat veteran Ford Rainey showing up in THE PARALLAX VIEW

From THE PARALLAX VIEW