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Gene Hackman is considered a legend not only because of his staggering versatility as an actor. He also appeared in nearly 80 feature films throughout his decorated career.
Collider went through all of his films to determine a curated list of the 30 best Gene Hackman movies of all time. It's also a ranked list, which, unsurprisingly, has his 1971 classic The French Connection as No. 1. Unforgiven (1992) and The Conversation (1974) round out the top 3.
However, there is one particular Hackman film that has remained under the radar through the decades. Collider decided to leave it off their top 30 list.
Then again, the 1972 crime drama Cisco Pike is far from Hackman's most popular film.
Set in the early 1970s in Southern California, the film centers on Cisco Pike (played by Kris Kristofferson), a washed-up 60s rock musician looking to revive his career in Los Angeles. He is blackmailed by Detective Leo Holland (Hackman), a corrupt cop who forces him to sell 100 kilos of seized marijuana over a single weekend.
Gene Hackman's Cisco Pike Has a Perfect Score on Rotten Tomatoes
Cisco Pike was not well received by the masses when it was released in 1972. In fact, it is considered a "mammoth flop" after tanking at the box office and initially receiving a myriad of bad reviews.
However, the movie eventually evolved into a cult classic. While this does little to unburden the massive financial losses absorbed by Acrobat Productions and Columbia Pictures, the fact remains that it is now considered one of Hackman's most beloved, albeit obscure, films.
A testament to this fact is Cisco Pike's score on the renowned review platform Rotten Tomatoes. It is just one of two films that received a 100% rating on the site — with five perfect reviews — along with the 1970 drama I Never Sang for My Father.
"The filming is faultless, the images redolent with the flesh of our lives, a slice of our real life made into reel life," a review on Rotten Tomatoes read.
Although it never found a wide audience, Cisco Pike has become one of the hidden gems in Hackman's filmography.
