French Connection II (1975)

"Popeye" Doyle travels to Marseille to find Alain Charnier, the drug smuggler who eluded him in New York.

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writers:

Alexander Jacobs (screenplay), Robert Dillon (screenplay)

Stars:

Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Bernard Fresson

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gene Hackman	...	Doyle
Fernando Rey	...	Alain Charnier
Bernard Fresson	...	Barthélémy
Philippe Léotard	...	Jacques (as Philippe Leotard)
Ed Lauter	...	General Brian
Charles Millot	...	Miletto
Jean-Pierre Castaldi	...	Raoul (as Jean - Pierre Castaldi)
Cathleen Nesbitt	...	'The Old Lady' / The Old Lady
Samantha Llorens	...	Denise
André Penvern	...	Bartender
Reine Prat	...	Young Girl on the Beach
Raoul Delfosse	...	Dutch Captain
Luang Ham Chau	...	Japanese Captain (as Ham Chau Luong)
Jacques Dynam	...	Inspector Genevoix
Malek Kateb	...	Algerian Chief (as Malek Eddine)

Storyline

New York narcotics detective Popeye Doyle follows the trail of the French connection smuggling ring to France where he teams up with the gendarmes to hunt down the ringleader.

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Plot Keywords:

organized crime | drug traffic | detective | sequel to best picture winner | american abroad | 

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Taglines:

What happens when you're a N.Y. cop sent to France to bust a dope ring and... You can't speak French. The French cops hate you. Your own people have set you up... YOU EXPLODE!

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

21 May 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Contacto en Francia II

Filming Locations:

France

Box Office

Budget:

$4,340,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$12,484,444

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gene Hackman almost passed on this film. He felt that the length of time between the original and the sequel would hurt the film's chances for success.

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Goofs

During the first bar scene, Popeye Doyle's drink goes from a small shot to a nearly full glass and back again during his attempted conversation with the French bartender.

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Quotes

Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle: Hey, Miletto! Come on, get up here! I want you to ask this fuck somethin'. Ask him if he ever picked his feet in Poughkeepsie.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: MARSEILLES

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Alternate Versions

For the first few showings of the film, it was approximately 8 minutes longer. 20th Century Fox took out a couple of scenes without director John Frankenheimer's consent. One scene involved Doyle and the girl who played beach volleyball. This footage has yet to be found, and was not included on the 2001 DVD release.

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Connections

Referenced in Scene of the Crime: A Tooth for a Tooth (1985)

User Reviews

Good sequel with excellent acting by Gene Hackman and splendid support cast

The movie concerns on Popeye Doyle (Gene Hackman), an unorthodox New York narcotics cop investigating the flow of drug that follows the trail of the French connection . He travels to Marsaille following the foreign connection and tries to track down the eluded evil Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey) , the smuggling ring chief , who escaped from N.Y.C. There , he joins forces to the French gendarmes (Bernard Fresson and Jean Pierre Castaldi , among others) to hunt down the ringleader . Then , Popeye getaways his French escorts and goes himself into action .

The picture is the follow-up to ¨French Connection¨(by William Friedkin) but didn't achieved the same success and was a flop at box office . However , being , nowadays , considered a very good film and highly rated . In the movie there is action , suspense , violence , intrigue and a little bit of humor in charge of Popeye Doyle , as he begins to find himself as a fish out of water in France and particularly on his relationships with the French people . The film develops a certain social critical to the French habits and there's specially a banter to the Police called Gendarmerie . The motion picture has action-packed but in the intervening period when the starring ends up being abducted by Alain Charnier's henchmen , it results to be a little bit boring , with overlong scenes ; besides , quite disagreeable as Popeye is injected heroin . Gene Hackman's interpretation as the rebel and nonconformist Popeye Doyle is top-notch as well as the previous film that's why he gained deservedly an Academy Award . Fernando Rey repeats perfectly his role as the elegant and cunning nasty and the secondary casting formed by French actors are very fine . The picture was stunningly directed by John Frankenheimer. Rating : Very good and well worth watching.