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Harry Caul
Harry Caul
Played By: Gene Hackman
"You know, I was rereading 'Dear Abby' the other night, and there was this article and a letter from a fellow called 'lonely and anonymous.' I think it was Harry."
— Bernie Moran
A freelance audio specialist living in San Francisco, Harry Caul is obsessed with keeping his life a secret, never letting anyone too close to know much about his life.
- The Atoner: In the past, Harry did a job that involved digging up some dirt by intercepting phone calls. When the subject found out, he naturally assumed that his accountant leaked the information, leading him to murder the accountant and their family. Harry's key motivator throughout the movie seems to be guilt not to let anyone die on his account again.
- Berserk Button: People prying for his personal information. One early scene has him angrily calling his apartment's landlord to tell her that he will change his mailbox's lock after noticing that she placed a "happy birthday" card in his mail (meaning she checked said mail to find out). He ditches his girlfriend late that same day when she tries to ask him for information. And when he opens up about the conversation to Meredith, the discovery that Moran recorded it with a bug (on top of telling everybody about the case back East that ended with everybody dead, explained up on The Atoner) makes him snap and order everybody to get the hell out of his studio.
- He also doesn't like anyone taking the Lord's name in vain, given he's a devout Catholic.
- Big Brother Is Watching: Harry's job as an audio expert for hire frequently turns him into Big Brother with the cost of never truly believing himself to be safe either.
- Broken Ace: He's clearly one of the best at what he does, but he's a wreck emotionally. He constantly struggles with guilt with the unintended consequences of his work, this worsens by the end as he's completely failed in stopping another murder and now he's being surveilled.
- Hypocrite: Has no issue prying into other people's lives and privacy, but he's obsessive about keeping his private life private.
- Kavorka Man: Gene Hackman wasn't generally cast for his good looks. Despite this, Harry's impressive reputation seems to attract some pretty beautiful women, though Meredith specifically turned out to have alternate intentions.
- Loser Protagonist: Despite his expertise in the field and the reputation that comes with it, Harry has created a very lonely life for himself. His "friends" have limited loyalties and aren't above dishing out a few jabs.
- Meaningful Name: Harry is one of the most prestigious audio technicians in the world, and his last name is pronounced "call," as in a phone call.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Harry vocalizes this to Meredith when he's falling asleep and concludes that he should destroy the tapes. Unfortunately, she steals them before he can follow through with it.
- My Greatest Failure: One of Harry's past jobs resulted in the death of an entire family.
- Noodle Incident: Once bugged a live parakeet with a mic. The context is never revealed.
- The Perfectionist: Harry is extremely thorough and exacting in what he does, even when he's not obsessing over a particular conversation. Even his lone hobby - playing the saxophone - has a perfectionist element, in that he only plays along to a recording so he can match it.
- Properly Paranoid: Harry doesn't let anyone know any personal details about him, strictly makes calls on pay-phones, and ended a genuinely loving relationship because the woman he was with simply wanted to know more about him. Unfortunately, any time Harry does seem to let his guard down, somebody has either recorded or deceived him, making his demeanor that much more understandable. He also discovers the hard way that the company that employed him to record the conversation created
a worryingly thorough dossier on him. - The Rival: Bernie sees him as this, but it's most likely one-sided.
- Sanity Slippage: He has a full on emotional breakdown once he's learned that not only has he failed to prevent another murder, but also he's under surveillance himself. He futilely tears through his home looking for any sign of surveillance, yet he finds none.
- Throwing Off the Disability: Was born with the entire left half of his body paralyzed, making him something of a Death Seeker as a child. At some point in his life, he gained full body mobility.
Stan Ross
Stanley "Stan" Ross
Played By: John Cazale
"There isn't all that much you ever let me in on, Harry. You won't show me anything. You keep it all to yourself."
A colleague of Harry's who assists him on audio jobs, Stan is a more sociable audio technician who doesn't take the job as seriously as Harry.
- Foil: Whilst Harry is withdrawn, paranoid and conscientious of his work. Stan is relaxed, affable and isn't too bothered by the work.
- No-Respect Guy: Despite working with Harry for years, Stan only ever seems to be chastised by his partner for not doing a good enough job. It's not until Stan decides to work for Bernie that Harry begins to show him a little more humanity.
- The Peeping Tom: Immediately stops what he was working on when in the surveillance van to take photos of two girls adjusting their lipstick. He hopes they stick out more tongue.
- Sidekick: He works for Harry and has some somewhat funny comments but their relationship is strained and he quits to work for Bernie. He does seem to show concern and reconsider when Harry pleads that he needs help (given how he's being followed) and promises to treat him more fairly, but never actually assists Harry in anything else (merely going to the party at the warehouse with him and seeming on somewhat good terms with him for most of it), leaving it ambiguous whether he did come back to work for Harry or not.
Martin Stett
Martin Stett
Played By: Harrison Ford
"We know that you know, Mr. Caul. For your own sake, don't get involved any further. We'll be listening to you."
An assistant to the Director who hired Harry to record the titular conversation, Martin Stett begins appearing more and more in Harry's life as Harry grows apprehensive about handing in his tapes.
- Ambiguously Evil: Martin's true loyalties are never revealed. His phone call to Harry at the end implies that he was working for Mark and Ann, but it could also be in reference to the death of the Director. Either way, he's not on Harry's side, that's for sure.
- Big Brother Is Watching: Ultimately fills this role towards Harry at the end with the above quote.
- The Dragon: Comes across as this for the Director, but the end implies he was actually serving this role for Mark and Ann.
- I Know You Know I Know: Delivers one final phone call to Harry advising him not to dig any deeper into the company's murder coverup.
- The Mole: It's implied that Martin serves this role for Mark and Ann, which would explain why the Director wanted Harry to deliver him the tapes personally without Martin present.
Bernie Moran
William P. "Bernie" Moran
Played By: Allen Garfield
"You know I tapped my first telephone when I was twelve years old, Harry?"
Another audio specialist who runs his own independent company, Bernie is quite enamored with the status of technicians within the world of surveillance.
- It's All About Me: As mentioned below, Bernie doesn't really talk about anything other than his own accomplishments. Any praise he gives Harry is an attempt to partner with him to no avail.
- Jerkass: Every word out of his mouth seems to be a putdown towards Harry or some seemingly great fact about himself.
- The Rival: Bernie certainly sees Harry as this and probably would like to believe that Harry reciprocates. Harry seems unconcerned.
Meredith
Meredith
Played By: Elizabeth MacRae
"How would I know that he loved me?"
A woman who joins the group of audio specialists after their conference, Meredith shows increasing personal interest in Harry Caul.
- Honey Trap: She spends the night with Harry and leaves before he wakes, making off with the tapes he concluded he should destroy the night before.
- The Mole: Is implied to be one for Martin, but with his own loyalties questionable by the movie's end, it's unclear if she even knows who she stole the tapes for.
Amy
Amy
Played By: Teri Garr
"Harry, I was so happy when you came over tonight. When I heard you open the door, my toes were dancing under the covers. But I don’t think I’m gonna wait for you anymore."
Harry's lover, who grows impatient about his reservations at sharing personal details about his life.
- Establishing Character Moment: Her short role in the movie serves one of these for Harry, demonstrating his choice to remain reserved over letting somebody genuinely good any closer to him.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Essentially fills the role of any romantic relationship Harry is capable of having. In her limited screen time, she never fails to be sweet, reasonable and pure. She also has radiant gold hair.
Mark and Ann
Mark and Ann
Played By: Frederic Forrest (Mark) and Cindy Williams (Ann)
Two people who work for the Director who Harry has been hired to record, Mark and Ann appear to have mysterious undertones in their panicked conversation.
- Affably Evil: They seem very innocent in Harry's recording, with Ann musing her sympathies for a homeless man on a bench. Of course, this doesn't stop them from murdering the Director.
- Karma Houdini: They succeed with their plan to murder the Director, covering it up with a car crash. The only one to know their secret (besides possibly Martin) is Harry, who's been intimidated into silence.
The Director
The Director
Played By: Robert Duvall
Harry's client who has hired him to record a conversation between two employees.
- The Cameo: Duvall only has one real scene as the Director, in which he frustratedly listens to Harry's tape of the titular conversation. His demeanor is enough for Harry to conclude that he's capable of murder.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: The main driving point of Harry's guilt hinges on him believing the Director to be this. The trope is ultimately averted when it's revealed that Mark and Ann were planning his murder and not vice versa.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Is never referred to by an actual name and is credited simply as "The Director."
