French Connection

( 8 )

Overview

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 ...
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Overview

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.
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Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide - Richard Gilliam
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).
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 9/25/2001
  • UPC: 024543022534
  • Original Release: 1971

    • Rating:

  • Source: 20TH CENTURY FOX
  • Format: VHS

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Gene Hackman Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle
Fernando Rey Alain Charnier
Roy Scheider Buddy Russo
Tony Lo Bianco Sal Boca
Marcel Bozzuffi Pierre Nicoli
Frederic de Pasquale Devereaux
Irving Abrahams Police Mechanic
William Coke Motorman
Eddie Egan Walter Simonson
Andre Emotte La Valle
Arlene Faber Angie Boca
Al Fann Informant
Harold Gary Weinstock
Sonny Grosso Klein
Bill Hickman Mulderig
Randy Jurgensen Police Sergeant
Ben Marino Lou Boca
Patrick McDermott Chemist
Maureen Mooney Bicycle Girl
Ann Rebbot Marie Charnier
The Three Degrees Themselves
Alan Weeks Drug Pusher
Robert Weil Auctioneer
Don Ellis Conductor
Technical Credits
William Friedkin Director
Sass Bedig Special Effects
Irving Buchman Makeup
Phil D'Antoni Asst. Director, Producer
Terry Donnelly Asst. Director
Don Ellis Score Composer, Musical Direction/Supervision
Joseph Fretwell Costumes/Costume Designer
Ed Garzero Set Decoration/Design
William C. Gerrity Asst. Director
Jerry Greenberg Editor
Sonny Grosso Special Effects
Bill Hickman Stunts
Ben Kasazkow Art Director
Chris Newman Sound/Sound Designer
Owen Roizman Cinematographer
G. David Schine Executive Producer
Theodore Soderberg Sound/Sound Designer
Ernest Tidyman Screenwriter
Kenneth Utt Associate Producer
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 8 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(3)

4 Star

(2)

3 Star

(2)

2 Star

(1)

1 Star

(0)

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Sort by: Showing all of 8 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Great cop movie.

    The paranoid, and electric tale of one cop who wont let up. Gene Hackman's acting of Popeye Doyle was outstanding, and not to mention probably the best car chase I have ever seen in a move, a must have and see.

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    Posted April 20, 2010

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    Posted July 8, 2010

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