The French Connection (1971)



R,1hr 44min
Genres: Action,Drama
Release: 1971
Director: William Friedkin
Distributor: 20th Century Fox

Starring:
Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider Synopsis

This gritty, fast-paced, and innovative police drama earned five
Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay
(written by Ernest Tidyman), and Best Actor (Gene Hackman). Jimmy
"Popeye" Doyle (Hackman) and his partner, Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider),
are New York City police detectives on narcotics detail, trying to track
down the source of heroin from Europe into the United States. Suave
Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey) is the French drug kingpin who provides
a large percentage of New York City's dope, and Pierre Nicoli (Marcel
Bozzuffi) is a hired killer and Charnier's right-hand man. Acting on a
hunch, Popeye and Buddy start tailing Sal Boca (Tony Lo Bianco)
and his wife, Angie (Arlene Faber), who live pretty high for a couple
whose corner store brings in about 7,000 dollars a year. It turns out
Popeye's suspicions are right -- Sal and Angie are the New York
agents for Charnier, who will be smuggling 32 million dollars' worth of
heroin into the city in a car shipped over from France. The French
Connection broke plenty of new ground for screen thrillers; Popeye
Doyle was a highly unusual "hero," an often violent, racist, and mean-
spirited cop whose dedication to his job fell just short of dangerous
obsession. The film's high point, a high-speed car chase with Popeye
tailing an elevated train, was one of the most viscerally exciting screen
moments of its day and set the stage for dozens of action sequences
to follow. And the film's grimy realism (and downbeat ending) was a
big change from the buff-and-shine gloss and good-guys-always-win
heroics of most police dramas that preceded it. The French Connection
was inspired by a true story, and Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso, Popeye
nd Buddy's real life counterparts, both have small roles in the film. A
sequel followed four years later. ~ Mark Deming,  All Movie Guide


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