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The French Connection (1971)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
9 October 1971 (USA)
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Tagline:
The time is just right for an out and out thriller like this. more
Plot:
A pair of NYC cops in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a drug smuggling job with a French connection. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Won 5 Oscars.
Another 15 wins
&
8 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(41 articles)
Clip joint: the best film clips featuring bridges
(From The Guardian - Film News. 3 December 2009, 4:31 AM, PST)
Director Races To Complete Scheider's Last Film
(From WENN. 1 December 2009, 2:06 PM, PST)
(From The Guardian - Film News. 3 December 2009, 4:31 AM, PST)
Director Races To Complete Scheider's Last Film
(From WENN. 1 December 2009, 2:06 PM, PST)
User Comments:
32 years and still relevant
more (218 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| 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) |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
104 min
Country:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
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:
Company:
Fun Stuff
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.
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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.
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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?
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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?
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Alice: The Cuban Connection (#2.17)" (1978)
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Soundtrack:
Jingle Bells
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (218 total)
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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.