BEST FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA MOVIES
“You’re a Big Boy Now” (1966)
Half of a Turner Classic Movies double feature saluting director Coppola on Sunday, Dec. 12, this comedy follows a young New York newcomer’s (Peter Kastner) romantic exploits.
“The Rain People” (1969)
A pregnant wife (Shirley Knight) goes AWOL and becomes involved with an athlete (James Caan) in this earnest drama.
“The Godfather” (1972)
The movie that really put Coppola on the map of movie history, this masterful, Oscar-winning version of Mario Puzo’s bestseller traces the dealings of the crime family led by Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando, an Oscar recipient for the performance). Al Pacino became a star as son Michael Corleone.
“The Conversation” (1974)
Gene Hackman gives a great performance as a surveillance expert who learns too much.
“The Godfather: Part II” (1974)
Coppola attained the seemingly impossible by watching the quality – and the best-picture Oscar victory – of the original movie by switching back and forth between two stories: the young Vito Corleone’s (Academy Award winner Robert De Niro) education in the criminal life, and Michael’s (Al Pacino) relocation of the family business to Las Vegas.
“Apocalypse Now” (1979)
After their “Godfather” association, Coppola reteamed with Marlon Brando, the latter playing a renegade colonel targeted for assassination (“with extreme prejudice”) during the Vietnam War. Martin Sheen and Robert Duvall also star the striking adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness.”
“One From the Heart” (1981)
Coppola tried musicals again with Frederic Forrest and Teri Garr as a couple seemingly on the verge of a breakup.
“The Outsiders” (1983):Many
then-stars-to-be – including Ralph Macchio, Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze – had an early showcase as gang members in Coppola’s take on the S.E. Hinton book.
“The Cotton Club” (1984)
Despite its famously troubled production history, Coppola’s saga of musicians, mobsters and the famed title site makes for engrossing viewing. Richard Gere and Gregory Hines star.
“Peggy Sue Got Married” (1986)
Kathleen Turner has a plum role as a woman thrust back into her younger years.
“Gardens of Stone” (1987)
James Caan and James Earl Jones are excellent as military superiors watching over a former comrade’s soldier son (D.B. Sweeney).
“The Godfather, Part III” (1990)
Though this is regarded widely as the least of the three “Godfathers,” it does have its moments. Coppola recut the film last year into the version he had intended, now subtitled “Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone.”
“Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992)
Coppola adds true lyricism to one of the most famous of all horror stories, with Gary Oldman as the vampire.
“Jack” (1996)
Robin Williams excels as a youngster whose aging is accelerated by an unusual medical condition.
“The Rainmaker” (1997)
A solid version of the John Grisham novel casts Matt Damon as a novice attorney learning the ropes from a colleague (Danny DeVito).