Alan J. Pakula

Directing

Alan J. Pakula

Born — Died

1928-04-07 — 1998-11-19

Place of birth

New York City, New York, USA

Known for

Directing

Credits

48 titles

Alan Jay Pakula (/pəˈkuːlə/; April 7, 1928 – November 19, 1998) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Associated with the New Hollywood movement, his best-known works include his critically acclaimed "paranoia trilogy": the neo-noir mystery Klute (1971), the conspiracy thriller The Parallax View (1974), and the Watergate scandal drama All the President's Men (1976). His other notable films included Comes a Horseman (1978), Starting Over (1979), Sophie's Choice (1982), Presumed Innocent (1990), and The Pelican Brief (1993). Pakula received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for All the President's Men and Best Adapted Screenplay for Sophie's Choice. He was also …

Known for

The Dick Cavett Show poster
6.8

The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks.

The Dick Cavett Show

1968

The Oscars poster
7.1

An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially the Academy Award of Merit, that is better known by its nickname Oscar.

The Oscars

1953

No artwork available
5.1

The BBC's flagship cinema review TV program featuring reviews of new releases, news items and interviews. The title of the program changes each year to incorporate the year of broadcast.

Film '72

1971

The Devil's Own poster
6.2

Frankie McGuire, one of the IRA's deadliest assassins, draws an American family into the crossfire of terrorism. But when he is sent to the U.S. to buy weapons, Frankie is housed with the family of Tom O'Meara, a New York cop who knows nothing about Frankie's real identity. Their surprising friendship, and Tom's growing suspicions, forces Frankie to choose between the promise of peace or a lifetime of murder.

The Devil's Own

1997

To Kill a Mockingbird poster
8.0

Scout Finch, 6, and her older brother Jem live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, spending much of their time with their friend Dill and spying on their reclusive and mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. When Atticus, their widowed father and a respected lawyer, defends a black man named Tom Robinson against fabricated rape charges, the trial and tangent events expose the children to evils of racism and stereotyping.

To Kill a Mockingbird

1962

The Pelican Brief poster
6.6

A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.

The Pelican Brief

1993

Film credits

2020s · 2 titles

Series credits

Behind the camera

The Devil's Own poster
6.2

Frankie McGuire, one of the IRA's deadliest assassins, draws an American family into the crossfire of terrorism. But when he is sent to the U.S. to buy weapons, Frankie is housed with the family of Tom O'Meara, a New York cop who knows nothing about Frankie's real identity. Their surprising friendship, and Tom's growing suspicions, forces Frankie to choose between the promise of peace or a lifetime of murder.

The Devil's Own

1997

To Kill a Mockingbird poster
8.0

Scout Finch, 6, and her older brother Jem live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, spending much of their time with their friend Dill and spying on their reclusive and mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. When Atticus, their widowed father and a respected lawyer, defends a black man named Tom Robinson against fabricated rape charges, the trial and tangent events expose the children to evils of racism and stereotyping.

To Kill a Mockingbird

1962

The Pelican Brief poster
6.6

A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.

The Pelican Brief

1993

The Pelican Brief poster
6.6

A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.

The Pelican Brief

1993

The Pelican Brief poster
6.6

A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.

The Pelican Brief

1993

All the President's Men poster
7.7

During the 1972 elections, two reporters' investigation sheds light on the controversial Watergate scandal that compels President Nixon to resign from his post.

All the President's Men

1976

Presumed Innocent poster
6.8

Rusty Sabich is a deputy prosecutor engaged in an obsessive affair with a coworker who is murdered. Soon after, he's accused of the crime. And his fight to clear his name becomes a whirlpool of lies and hidden passions.

Presumed Innocent

1990

Presumed Innocent poster
6.8

Rusty Sabich is a deputy prosecutor engaged in an obsessive affair with a coworker who is murdered. Soon after, he's accused of the crime. And his fight to clear his name becomes a whirlpool of lies and hidden passions.

Presumed Innocent

1990

Sophie's Choice poster
7.3

Stingo, a young writer, moves to Brooklyn in 1947 to begin work on his first novel. As he becomes friendly with Sophie and her lover Nathan, he learns that she is a Holocaust survivor. Flashbacks reveal her harrowing story, from pre-war prosperity to Auschwitz. In the present, Sophie and Nathan's relationship increasingly unravels as Stingo grows closer to Sophie and Nathan's fragile mental state becomes ever more apparent.

Sophie's Choice

1982

Sophie's Choice poster
7.3

Stingo, a young writer, moves to Brooklyn in 1947 to begin work on his first novel. As he becomes friendly with Sophie and her lover Nathan, he learns that she is a Holocaust survivor. Flashbacks reveal her harrowing story, from pre-war prosperity to Auschwitz. In the present, Sophie and Nathan's relationship increasingly unravels as Stingo grows closer to Sophie and Nathan's fragile mental state becomes ever more apparent.

Sophie's Choice

1982

Sophie's Choice poster
7.3

Stingo, a young writer, moves to Brooklyn in 1947 to begin work on his first novel. As he becomes friendly with Sophie and her lover Nathan, he learns that she is a Holocaust survivor. Flashbacks reveal her harrowing story, from pre-war prosperity to Auschwitz. In the present, Sophie and Nathan's relationship increasingly unravels as Stingo grows closer to Sophie and Nathan's fragile mental state becomes ever more apparent.

Sophie's Choice

1982

The Parallax View poster
6.8

An ambitious reporter gets in trouble while investigating a senator's assassination which leads to a vast conspiracy involving a multinational corporation behind every event in the world's headlines.

The Parallax View

1974

The Parallax View poster
6.8

An ambitious reporter gets in trouble while investigating a senator's assassination which leads to a vast conspiracy involving a multinational corporation behind every event in the world's headlines.

The Parallax View

1974

The Stalking Moon poster
5.9

While moving a group of Apaches to a Native American reservation in Arizona, an American scout named Sam Varner is surprised to find a white woman, Sarah Carver, living with the tribe. When Sam learns that she was taken captive by an Indian named Salvaje ten years ago, he attempts to escort Sarah and her half-Native American son to his home in New Mexico. However, it soon becomes clear that Salvaje is hot on their trail.

The Stalking Moon

1968

Klute poster
6.8

A high-priced call girl is forced to depend on a reluctant private eye when she is stalked by a psychopath.

Klute

1971

Klute poster
6.8

A high-priced call girl is forced to depend on a reluctant private eye when she is stalked by a psychopath.

Klute

1971

Starting Over poster
6.4

After divorcing his ambitious singer wife, a middle-aged man begins a new relationship with a teacher.

Starting Over

1979

Starting Over poster
6.4

After divorcing his ambitious singer wife, a middle-aged man begins a new relationship with a teacher.

Starting Over

1979

Consenting Adults poster
5.4

Richard and Priscilla Parker are an ordinary suburban couple whose lives are invaded and rocked by their hedonistic, secretive new neighbors, Eddy and Kay Otis.

Consenting Adults

1992

Consenting Adults poster
5.4

Richard and Priscilla Parker are an ordinary suburban couple whose lives are invaded and rocked by their hedonistic, secretive new neighbors, Eddy and Kay Otis.

Consenting Adults

1992

Love with the Proper Stranger poster
6.8

Angie Rossini, an innocent New York City sales clerk from a repressive Italian-American family, engages in a short-lived affair with a handsome jazz musician named Rocky Papasano. When Angie becomes pregnant, she tracks down Rocky hoping he'll pay for her abortion.

Love with the Proper Stranger

1963

Comes a Horseman poster
6.1

Ella Connors is a single woman who gets pressured to sell her failing cattle farm to her corrupt ex-suitor, Jacob Ewing. She asks for help from her neighbor, Frank Athearn. As Ella and Frank fight back through stampedes, jealousy, betrayal, and sabotage... they eventually find love.

Comes a Horseman

1978

Up the Down Staircase poster
7.1

Sylvia, a novice schoolteacher, is hired to teach English in a high school, but she’s met with an apathetic faculty, a delinquent student body and an administration that drowns its staff in paperwork. The following days go from bad to worse as Sylvia struggles to reach her most troubled students.

Up the Down Staircase

1967

Inside Daisy Clover poster
5.6

A girl on the road to stardom fights the dehumanizing effects of Hollywood life.

Inside Daisy Clover

1966

Fear Strikes Out poster
7.2

True story of the life of Jimmy Piersall, who battled mental illness to achieve stardom in major league baseball.

Fear Strikes Out

1957

Rollover poster
5.1

The wife of a murdered petrochemical company chairman and a banker investigating the liquidity of his new bank stumble upon an international financial scheme that could lead to global economic collapse.

Rollover

1981

Orphans poster
5.7

Brothers Treat and Philip have only had each other since they were kids, when a small-time criminal abruptly upends their routine lives.

Orphans

1987

Orphans poster
5.7

Brothers Treat and Philip have only had each other since they were kids, when a small-time criminal abruptly upends their routine lives.

Orphans

1987

See You in the Morning poster
6.0

Two divorcees who fall in love must help their children cope with the changes in their families as they try to learn how to make own relationship survive.

See You in the Morning

1989

See You in the Morning poster
6.0

Two divorcees who fall in love must help their children cope with the changes in their families as they try to learn how to make own relationship survive.

See You in the Morning

1989

See You in the Morning poster
6.0

Two divorcees who fall in love must help their children cope with the changes in their families as they try to learn how to make own relationship survive.

See You in the Morning

1989

Dream Lover poster
4.4

After she's been attacked in her apartment, Cathy starts reliving the event in her dreams. She seeks help at a sleep disorder research center, but in doing so she encounters some unexpected results.

Dream Lover

1986

Dream Lover poster
4.4

After she's been attacked in her apartment, Cathy starts reliving the event in her dreams. She seeks help at a sleep disorder research center, but in doing so she encounters some unexpected results.

Dream Lover

1986

Baby the Rain Must Fall poster
6.1

Henry Thomas tries to overcome the horrors of his childhood and start a new life with his wife and kid. However, his abusive step-mother and his dependence on alcohol threaten to ruin his future.

Baby the Rain Must Fall

1965

The Sterile Cuckoo poster
5.6

Uptight college freshman Jerry Payne finds a carefree friend in zany Pookie. After an awkward meeting on the bus, Pookie quickly works her way into Jerry's life. She makes an unannounced visit to Jerry's campus, and before long annoyance turns to affection, and friendship turns to romance. But with Pookie's increasingly neurotic behavior, how long can this love affair last?

The Sterile Cuckoo

1969

The Sterile Cuckoo poster
5.6

Uptight college freshman Jerry Payne finds a carefree friend in zany Pookie. After an awkward meeting on the bus, Pookie quickly works her way into Jerry's life. She makes an unannounced visit to Jerry's campus, and before long annoyance turns to affection, and friendship turns to romance. But with Pookie's increasingly neurotic behavior, how long can this love affair last?

The Sterile Cuckoo

1969

Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing poster
6.1

While bicycling through the Spanish countryside, Walter, the aimless young son of a doctor, makes the acquaintance of proper, middle-aged, clumsy and secretive Lila. He falls in love with her, but she is resistant.

Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing

1973

Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing poster
6.1

While bicycling through the Spanish countryside, Walter, the aimless young son of a doctor, makes the acquaintance of proper, middle-aged, clumsy and secretive Lila. He falls in love with her, but she is resistant.

Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing

1973