--- name: "Alan J. Pakula" canonical: "https://film.one/person/alan-j-pakula" fi1m_id: "alan-j-pakula" imdb_id: "nm0001587" tmdb_id: 6349 wikidata_id: "Q51519" roles: ["Director","Producer","Writer"] born: "7 April 1928" died: "19 November 1998" reviewed_on_fi1m: 5 average_fi1m_score: 79 average_as: "director" average_over: 4 updated: "2026-10-04T23:06:12.606601+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Alan J. Pakula ## Identity Alan J. Pakula - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/alan-j-pakula - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** alan-j-pakula - **IMDb ID:** nm0001587 - **TMDB ID:** 6349 - **Wikidata ID:** Q51519 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_J._Pakula, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q51519, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001587/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/6349 Director and producer. Born 7 April 1928 in New York City, New York, USA. Died 19 November 1998. ## Details - **Work:** Director, Producer, Writer - **Born:** 7 April 1928, New York City, New York, USA - **Died:** 19 November 1998 - **Active:** 1962–1993 - **Also known as:** アラン・J・パクラ, Aran J pakura, Алан Дж. Пакула, Alan Dzh. Pakula, 艾伦·杰伊·帕库拉, Ài lún·jié yī·pà kù lā, آلان جي باكولا, alan ji bakula, 앨런 J. 퍼쿨러, aelleon J. peokulleo, アラン ジェイ パクラ, Aran Jei pakura - **Titles on Fi1m:** 5: 4 directing, 1 producing - **Academy Awards:** 3 Oscar nominations - **Average Fi1m score:** 79, as director, over 4 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1960s 84 (1), 1970s 86 (2), 1990s 72 (2) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 79 to 74 across 4 titles - **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Genres:** Thriller 4, Crime 3, Drama 3, Mystery 2 - **Screen time:** 9 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $500m across 4 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_J._Pakula, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q51519, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001587/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/6349 ## Streaming the US now - **Tubi:** [*Presumed Innocent*](https://film.one/film/presumed-innocent.md) (82), [*Klute*](https://film.one/film/klute.md) (82) - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Pelican Brief*](https://film.one/film/the-pelican-brief.md) (63) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Alan J. Pakula > Alan J. Pakula makes absorbing thrillers by letting us study people we cannot quite trust. We value his patience with actors, even if that patience occasionally slows the drama. In *Presumed Innocent* (1990), Harrison Ford’s Rusty Sabich is a man we keep watching for a reason to trust him. Pakula gives us time to look and no assurance that looking will settle anything. We felt uneasy watching Ford because being allowed to study him brought us no closer to trusting him. Pakula is at his most absorbing here, allowing an actor to hold our attention without insisting that we like or understand the man he plays. His directing career began with *The Sterile Cuckoo* (1969), before the thrillers that established his reputation. In *Klute* (1971), *The Parallax View* (1974) and *All the President’s Men* (1976), suspicion spreads beyond individuals to the institutions around them. With cinematographer Gordon Willis, he found an effective way to make people seem isolated: deep shadows, selective lighting and buildings that dwarf them. The framing makes us notice how little control these people have over their surroundings. The literary adaptation *Sophie’s Choice* (1982), with Meryl Streep, belongs to the other enduring part of his reputation: the care he took with performances. His use of rehearsal and improvisation helped actors build characters who were difficult to sum up. In *Presumed Innocent*, that care extends well beyond Ford. Brian Dennehy gives Raymond Horgan enough presence to hold his own, while Raúl Juliá’s Sandy Stern makes the legal talk worth listening to. Bonnie Bedelia’s Barbara Sabich rewards the same scrutiny as her husband. Pakula’s screenplay with Frank Pierson, adapted from Scott Turow’s novel, gives those performances space, though the solemnity sometimes makes quiet scenes drag. There are also stretches when the supporting actors have to supply information, however carefully they have been cast. What keeps us interested is the question of how much blame Sabich might carry even if he has not committed the crime under discussion. Start with *Presumed Innocent* when a doubtful face and a patient conversation sound like enough for an evening. ## Biography Alan J. Pakula (1928–1998) was an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He studied drama at Yale University and began his career in Hollywood as a producer, notably on *To Kill a Mockingbird* (1962). Pakula directed his first feature, *The Sterile Cuckoo*, in 1969. He became known for the "paranoia trilogy" of thrillers: *Klute* (1971), *The Parallax View* (1974) and *All the President's Men* (1976). Other notable films he directed and often wrote include *Sophie's Choice* (1982), *Presumed Innocent* (1990) and *The Pelican Brief* (1993). He received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture (*To Kill a Mockingbird*), Best Director (*All the President's Men*) and Best Adapted Screenplay (*Sophie's Choice*). *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, britannica.com.* ## On Fi1m (5) ### Directed (4) — the average rests on these - *The Pelican Brief* (1993), Fi1m 63, Director, Screenplay, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-pelican-brief.md) - *Presumed Innocent* (1990), Fi1m 82, Screenplay, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/presumed-innocent.md) - *All the President's Men* (1976), Fi1m 90, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/all-the-presidents-men.md) - *Klute* (1971), Fi1m 82, Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/klute.md) ### Produced (1) - *To Kill a Mockingbird* (1962), Fi1m 84, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/to-kill-a-mockingbird.md) ## Complete filmography (24) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Citizen Jane Fonda* (2020), Actor - *The Devil's Own* (1997), Director - *The Pelican Brief* (1993), Producer, Screenplay, Director — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/the-pelican-brief.md) - *Consenting Adults* (1992), Producer, Director - *Presumed Innocent* (1990), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/presumed-innocent.md) - *See You in the Morning* (1989), Director, Writer, Producer - *Orphans* (1987), Producer, Director - *Dream Lover* (1986), Director, Producer - *Sophie's Choice* (1982), Screenplay, Director, Producer - *Rollover* (1981), Director - *Starting Over* (1979), Director, Producer - *Comes a Horseman* (1978), Director - *All the President's Men* (1976), Director — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/film/all-the-presidents-men.md) - *The Parallax View* (1974), Director, Producer - *Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing* (1973), Director, Producer - *Klute* (1971), Producer, Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/klute.md) - *The Sterile Cuckoo* (1969), Director, Producer - *The Stalking Moon* (1968), Producer - *Up the Down Staircase* (1967), Producer - *Inside Daisy Clover* (1966), Producer - *Baby the Rain Must Fall* (1965), Producer - *Love with the Proper Stranger* (1963), Producer - *To Kill a Mockingbird* (1962), Producer — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/to-kill-a-mockingbird.md) - *Fear Strikes Out* (1957), Producer ## Gallery - ![Alan J. Pakula](https://film.one/media/person/78247/gallery-86ed97a3f5af.jpg) Alan J. Pakula — Image via TMDB - ![Alan J. Pakula](https://film.one/media/person/78247/gallery-b6a6618edb44.jpg) Alan J. Pakula — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 0 won, 3 nominated - 1983: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *Sophie's Choice* - 1977: Best Director (nominated), for *All the President's Men* - 1963: Best Picture (nominated), for *To Kill a Mockingbird* *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/alan-j-pakula