DVD follows actor's brief, brilliant career

John Cazale.

Drawing a blank?

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

Oh, you say. That guy.

John Cazale made only five movies before dying of lung cancer in 1978 at 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 evocative documentary "I Knew It Was You" -- now out on DVD (Oscilloscope, $20) -- suggests that had Cazale lived, he might have been one of the greatest screen actors of all time.

Says 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.

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 (he and Streep were engaged when he died) recall a brilliant if eccentric intellect.

Although 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 film buffs.