Film bio explores Cazale's career

John Cazale.

Drawing a blank? Well, then, how about this clue?

He played Fredo, the screw-up middle Corleone son in "The Godfather" and "The Godfather: Part II."

Oh, you say. That guy.

Yeah, that guy.

John Cazale made only five movies before dying of lung cancer in 1978 at age 42. But all five films -- the first two "Godfathers," "The Conversation," "Dog Day Afternoon" and "The Deer Hunter" -- were nominated for best picture Oscars. Three of them won.

That's a phenomenal track record, and Richard Shepard's short but evocative documentary "I Knew It Was You" suggests that had Cazale lived, he might have been one of the greatest screen actors of all time.

Sez who? Well, Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Sam Rockwell, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Francis Ford Coppola, Steve Buscemi, Richard Dreyfuss, Olympia Dukakis, Gene Hackman and Sidney Lumet, among others.

All sat down to talk about Cazale as a co-worker and friend or as a cinema icon who three decades after his death continues to inspire with a handful of filmed performances that radiate brilliance.

Shepard's lovingly structured film follows Cazale from his Boston childhood through an Obie-winning stage career and on to his six years as a film actor. His friends, colleagues and lovers (Streep and Cazale were engaged when he died) recall a brilliant if eccentric intellect always on the prowl for new ways to develop a character.

Some of the revelations are heartbreaking. Pacino says that even today when thinking about Streep, he rarely dwells on her acting talent. Rather, he remembers how she nursed Cazale through his final days.

Sometimes real life trumps art.

Though only 40 minutes long, "I Knew It Was You" (the line with which Michael Corleone sadly accuses Fredo of betraying his family) is essential watching for those who consider themselves film buffs.

This slickly packaged Oscilloscope DVD comes with a director commentary by Shepard, extended interviews with Pacino and playwright Israel Horovitz and two short films on which Cazale worked.

Cazale was the star of the offbeat "The American Way" (1962) and was the cinematographer for "The Box" (1969).