The French Connection (1971)

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

Director:

William Friedkin

Writers:

Ernest Tidyman (screenplay), Robin Moore (based on the book by),

Stars:

Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider

Won 5 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 8 nominations.

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)

Storyline

William Friedkin's gritty police drama portrays two tough New York City cops trying to intercept a huge heroin shipment coming from France. An interesting contrast is established between 'Popeye' Doyle, a short-tempered alcoholic bigot who is nevertheless a hard-working and dedicated police officer, and his nemesis Alain Charnier, a suave and urbane gentleman who is nevertheless a criminal and one of the largest drug suppliers of pure heroin to North America. During the surveillance and eventual bust, Friedkin provides one of the most gripping and memorable car chase sequences ever filmed.

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Plot Keywords:

heroin | police | drugs | french | france | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

9 October 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

Contacto en Francia

Filming Locations:

Le Copain 891 1st Ave, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Gross:

SEK 1,836,397 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

D'Antoni Productions, Schine-Moore Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

An article quoted some of the performers as admitting that they pretty much ignored the dialog in the script and used terms and phrases the police advisers gave to them during rehearsals. Ironically, the screenplay won an Oscar. (Note: Owen Roizman, the film's cinematographer, maintains that the dialog in the finished film is almost exactly the same as that in the screenplay he read during production).

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Goofs

Doyle's hat comes and goes while tearing apart the car.

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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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Connections

Referenced in House Calls: The Kensington Connection (1981)

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Soundtracks

"Jingle Bells"
(1857) (uncredited)
Written by James Pierpont
Sung by Gene Hackman and the kids

User Reviews

A masterpiece of NYC hard-edged realism

This is an intense, unremitting, intelligent and incredibly fast-paced film which blends action, cinematic realism, art and humor into a masterwork of hard-edged crime drama. But to categorize this film as drama, suspense or action really does violence to it. This is just a great film, and it doesn't fit comfortably into any category with which I am aware.

Don't look here for any sense of fantasy-justice or n'er-do-wrong comic book heroism. Look here instead for gut wrenching nihilism, frustration with the unfairness of criminal justice in the hands of bureaucracy, and a solid, plot-driven story about a couple of cops who are just trying to do their jobs as best they can.

And by all means, don't watch this film if you aren't fully awake and willing to be taken down the electric, ambiguous, and compelling roads it leads to. If you watch this film with any part of your brain turned off you'll end up asking questions like "plot, what plot?" The fact that some people can't find it reflects more on them as film-watchers than it does on this film. This film does not offer passive entertainment like most of the contemporary action market does. It makes you pay attention, though, at times you might not want to.

Hackman and Scheider are incredible, with some of the greatest chemistry I have ever seen between two young actors. They play two hard-ass NYC detectives looking to end the war on drugs more-or-less permanently by taking down an international conspiracy which they have just barely sniffed out. And make no mistake, they, particularly Hackman's "Popeye Doyle" are at war, and treat their jobs as a battlefield. Doyle pursues his quarry with utterly wreckless abandon, endangering the lives of dozens of people along the way. While both men are absolutely terrific, this stands out as one of Hackman's greatest performances, and his Oscar is well-deserved (not something you will see me say often). Backed by a strong supporting cast, and some of the best live-action cinematography of the late 20th century, this film does not allow you to turn away, get popcorn, or even deal with bodily functions for its entire duration.

Considered in the early 70s to be 'shockingly violent', this film does not even reach a tenth the degree of passive violent repulsion of the average Tarantino film, and it relies, instead, on amazing performances, flawless direction, a phenomenal post-modern soundtrack and edgy, tense camera-work. Unlike contemporary action film garbage, it also gives you complex characters who you can care about, but never fully understand. I will cut this review short because I am running out of superlatives. Anybody remotely interested in expanding or just appreciating the artistic breadth and depth of mainstream film needs to see this.