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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 and Buddy's real life counterparts, both have small roles in the film. A sequel followed four years later. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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Spoken: English 5.1 Surround
English Stereo Surround
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Subtitles: English
Subtitles: Spanish
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Chapters
Side #1 --
1. Main Titles [:02]
2. A Death in Marseilles [:14]
3. A Bust in Brooklyn [:40]
4. The Frenchman [:34]
5. A Table Full of Suspects [2:02]
6. The Tall [3:50]
7. Alain's New Partner [:50]
8. Sal & Angie [1:28]
9. Popeye's Here [4:57]
10. The Shipment [1:38]
11. Devereaux in New York [4:17]
12. A Good Cop [2:27]
13. The Car Auction [1:02]
14. The Wiretap [1:44]
15. Following Boca [3:39]
16. Tailing the Frenchmen [3:22]
17. 89% Pure Junk [1:38]
18. Following Frog One [4:51]
19. A Meeting in Washington [1:37]
20. Off the Case [:58]
21. Sniper [3:27]
22. The Chase [2:03]
23. Face-to-Face [4:26]
24. The Brown Lincoln [3:04]
25. Tear it Apart [3:34]
26. 120 Pounds [:36]
27. No More Favors [3:01]
28. The Transaction [:52]
29. Surrounded [1:58]
30. Closing In [1:15]
31. The Last Shot [3:43]
32. Epilogue/End Titles [6:39]
Art Director - Ben Kasazkow
Associate Producer - Kenneth Utt
Book Author - Robin Moore
Cinematographer - Owen Roizman
Composer (Music Score) - Don Ellis
Conductor - Don Ellis
Costume Designer - Joseph Fretwell
Executive Producer - G. David Schine
First Assistant Director - Phil D'Antoni
First Assistant Director - William C. Gerrity
First Assistant Director - Terry Donnelly
Makeup - Irving Buchman
Musical Direction/Supervision - Don Ellis
Production Secretary - Sue Dwiggins
Sound/Sound Designer - Chris Newman
Sound/Sound Designer - Theodore Soderberg
Special Effects - Sonny Grosso
Special Effects - Sass Bedig
Stunts - Bill Hickman
The French Connection became the blueprint for many action films that followed and, as such, is regarded among the most influential films of its era. Oscar winner Gene Hackman plays the prototype psycho cop, overly dedicated to results even when it means disregarding public safety and common sense. His partner (Roy Scheider) is the good cop counterpart, and they are constantly at war with each other, with the bad guys, or, more commonly, both. Unlike Lethal Weapon and other films it influenced, The French Connection has more street realism and a generally unhappy ending. The dialogue is intelligent, and the film features one of the most riveting automobile chase scenes of its era, rivaled only by the legendary stunt work in Vanishing Point. Overall, the film captured five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director (William Friedkin). ~ Richard Gilliam, Rovi
Gene Hackman : Best Actor - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 1972
Jerry Greenberg : Best Editing - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 1972
William Friedkin : Best Picture - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 1972
William Friedkin : Best Director - Directors Guild of America, 1971
William Friedkin : Best Director - Hollywood Foreign Press Association, 1971
Gene Hackman : Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama - Hollywood Foreign Press Association, 1971
Ernest Tidyman : Best Screenplay - Hollywood Foreign Press Association, 1971
Gene Hackman : Best Actor - National Board of Review, 1971
Gene Hackman : Best Actor - New York Film Critics Circle, 1971
Gene Hackman : Best Actor - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1971
Ernest Tidyman : Best Adapted Screenplay - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1971
Owen Roizman : Best Cinematography - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1971
William Friedkin : Best Director - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1971
Jerry Greenberg : Best Editing - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1971
Phil D'antoni : Best Picture - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1971
Chris Newman : Best Sound - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1971
Theodore Soderberg : Best Sound - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1971
Roy Scheider : Best Supporting Actor - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1971
Ernest Tidyman : Best Screenplay - Edgar Allan Poe Awards, 1971
