- The Anderson Tapes (1971)
In the opening credits Walken is listed under the tag 'introducing', although he had already appeared on television, in an experimental film Me and My Brother (1969) and extensively in the theatre. Here he plays a small role opposite Sean Connery in what is essentially a heist movie with a nod towards seventies preoccupations with social surveillance. The film was directed by Sidney Lumet.
- The Mind Snatchers (1972)
Aka The Happiness Cage or The Demon Within. This is the first film in which Walken played the starring role. He plays a borderline sociopathic American soldier, Private James Reese, stationed in Germany, in a science fiction film which deals with mind control (through cerebral stimulus implants) and normalisation - themes very much in the air at the time the film was made. Walken puts in a solid and watcheable performance, producing some of his characteristic trademarks of menace and stillness. His youthful appearance is quite striking for those used to seeing him as an older actor.
This Oscar winning film directed by Woody Allen is often cited by Walken and others as the first film that brought the actor and his unusual qualities to the attention of the mainstream viewing public. In a lightning appearance, he plays the strange and suicidally fixated brother of Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) providing the opportunity for a couple of fine comic reactions from Woody Allen.
Walken won an Oscar for best supporting actor with his performance in this controversial film. He plays Nick Chevotarevich, a young Pittsburgh steelworker with a poetic bent who is emotionally and spiritually destroyed by his combat experience of war in Vietnam. Walken's performance is notable for his transformation from a sensitive, gentle character to a self-destructive, zoned out automaton, high on heroin and gambling with his life at Russian roulette. To get the hollowed-out look for his character, Walken ate nothing but bananas and rice.
This film is worth mentioning for the immense scandal it caused both during its production and after its release. It led to the financial ruin of United Artists, hastened the end of directorial control of films in Hollywood and offended many in a climate marked by a return to political conservatism with the election of Ronald Reagan. The film received extremely negative reviews in the USA, but was seen in a more favourable light by European critics and a 2004 re-release in selected cinemas in the USA and Australia has attracted a more positive reevaluation of the artistic merits of the film. Although Walken's role does not provide him with the opportunities offered by Michael Cimino's previous film The Deer Hunter, his cold and alien menace as a highly efficient hired gun is unexpectedly offset by a romantic vulnerability and a subtly amusing take on his character, Nat Champion's aspirations to social betterment.
Walken gives a restrained performance as a mercenary hired by a mining company to help destabilize a tottering African strongman's government. The plot is more about the mechanics of being a mercenary, not action.The film is very minimalist and Walken's straightforward take on the character, including his complicated real-estate ambitions, declining health and visits to an ex-girlfriend prevent this story from being about a superman soldier.
Walken plays schoolteacher Johnny Smith who, after lying in a coma for five years, awakes to find he has psychic powers. The role is currently being reprised by Anthony Michael Hall in a TV series of the same name. Walken later spoofed his role in a sketch in Saturday Night Live titled "Ed Glosser: Trivial Psychic". Walken's otherworldly looks and his ability to play vulnerable damaged characters are put to good effect here.[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Christopher Walken ]
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