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 | Smuggling

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:

Fernando Rey was cast by mistake; William Friedkin wanted an actor he remembered seeing in Belle de jour (1967), and the casting director thought it was Fernando Rey - who was hired. Only upon arriving at the airport to meet Rey did Friedkin see that it was not the actor he had been thinking of; he also learned that Rey spoke no French. Once at Rey's hotel (the same one he stays at in the film), Friedkin called the casting director, who realized he had confused Rey's name with that of the correct actor, Francisco Rabal. Friedkin considered firing Rey, but changed his mind once it was learned that Rabal wasn't available and didn't speak any English, either.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the cars turn a corner during one of the car chases, we see a tape in the background closing off the street, and a policeman who is watching the shoot.

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 "Psych: Disco Didn't Die. It Was Murdered! (#3.5)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Everybody Gets to Go to the Moon

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.