The French Connection (1971)

Director:

William Friedkin

Writers:

Ernest Tidyman (screenplay)
Robin Moore (book)

Release Date:

9 October 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

The time is just right for an out and out thriller like this.

Plot:

A pair of NYC cops in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a drug smuggling job with a French connection.

Plot Keywords:

Heroin | Police | Drugs | French | New York City

Awards:

Won 5 Oscars. Another 15 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Gene Hackman	...	Jimmy Doyle
Fernando Rey	...	Alain Charnier
Roy Scheider	...	Det. Buddy Russo
Tony Lo Bianco	...	Sal Boca
Marcel Bozzuffi	...	Pierre Nicoli
Frédéric de Pasquale	...	Devereaux (as Frederic De Pasquale)
Bill Hickman	...	Mulderig
Ann Rebbot	...	Marie Charnier
Harold Gary	...	Weinstock
Arlene Farber	...	Angie Boca
Eddie Egan	...	Simonson
André Ernotte	...	La Valle (as Andre Ernotte)
Sonny Grosso	...	Klein
Benny Marino	...	Lou Boca
Patrick McDermott	...	Chemist (as Pat McDermott)

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) | 4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Brazil:14 | South Korea:18 | Canada:18A (video rating) | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:13 (re-rating) | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (special edition) | Canada:AA (Ontario) (special edition) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Ireland:18 | Norway:16 (1972) | Norway:18 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R | West Germany:16 (bw) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) (original rating)

Filming Locations:

86th Street, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Schine-Moore Productions

Trivia:

William Friedkin was able to make the movie because Fox's chairman, Darryl F. Zanuck, off-handedly said he had $2 million on hand and would OK a production start if Friedkin and his production team could make the movie for that much. Zanuck also warned Friedkin that if done badly, he'd end up with another episode of the TV series "Naked City" (1958). Friedkin said later that this inspired him to make the Popeye Doyle character a combination of good and evil, because that duality was not something one saw on "Naked City". The director also credited the film Z (1969) with introducing a near-documentary quality that he applied to own his fictional project.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Doyle and Charnier are at the Grand Central Shuttle, a subway train departs, then returns on the same track with completely different car numbers on it. On the Grand Central Shuttle, each train only runs on one track, making it impossible under normal operation for trains to switch tracks.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle: Merry Christmas. What's your name, little boy?
Little Boy: Eric.
Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle: Uh-huh, Eric. What do you want for Christmas Eric? Hmmm?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Alice: The Cuban Connection (#2.17)" (1978)

Soundtrack:

Jingle Bells

32 years and still relevant

I first saw The French Connection in the summer of '72 (after it won the Oscar), so it's reputation was fairly well sealed by then. I had seen fair number of 1971 films, including The Hospital, Nicholas and Alexandria, A Clockwork Orange, Shaft, Le Boucher, Dirty Harry. The French Connection was something different though. It seemed to leap off the screen. It gave me a feeling I no longer have when I leave a movie, which is when I stepped out into the street I felt I was still in the movie. Of course, the chase was spectacular, but what I most remember and still enjoy about the movie is the energy. Gene Hackman acted Popeye with his entire body: running, stamping his feet, fighting, pointing, running some more: the porkpie hat was not a meaningless appendage; it was part of him, whether he employed it for drug recovery or slamming it into the concrete. It's a cinematic performance that ranks with Chaplin and Keaton. Then there's the intoxicating mood of grey, dreary winter in New York 1970-71 that puts you into the show. And the editing. Note the cool shot of Doyle spinning out of the phone booth on Broome St. cutting right into the drone of the Brooklyn Bridge at daybreak; or the shots jammed together as Doyle yells at Pierre Nicoli on the departing train, cut to: the motorman's hand cut to: to the suspicious transit cop, cut to: to the closing train doors, etc. And no music to smooth it over! Whenever I see this film it looks like it's still happening.