Film Focus: The French Connection (1971)...

Notable Film Fact(s):
The French Connection is a 1971 American crime film. The film was adapted and fictionalized by Ernest Tidyman from the non-fiction book by Robin Moore.

It was the first R-rated movie to win the Academy Award for Best Picture since the introduction of the MPAA film rating system.

It also won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Gene Hackman), Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Ernest Tidyman).

It was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Roy Scheider), Best Cinematography and Best Sound. Tidyman also received a Golden Globe Award, a Writers Guild of America Award and an Edgar Award for his screenplay.

It tells the story of New York Police Department detectives named "Popeye" Doyle and Buddy Russo, whose real-life counterparts were Narcotics Detectives Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso. Egan and Grosso also appear in the film, as characters other than themselves.

In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Film Synopsis:
This gritty police drama portrays two tough New York City cops, Detective Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle (Gene Hackman) and Detective Salvatore "Buddy" Russo (Roy Scheider) trying to intercept a huge heroin shipment coming from France. Police partners Doyle and Russo put a candy store under surveillance based on a hunch that something fishy was going on. Eventually it turns out that the proprietors [Salvatore "Sal" Boca (Tony Lo Bianco) and his wife Angie (Arlene Farber], are involved in one of the biggest narcotics smuggling rings on either side of the Atlantic, and the cops go to work.

In the film, an interesting contrast is established between Doyle, a short-tempered alcoholic who is nevertheless a hard-working and dedicated police officer, and his French nemesis Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey), a suave and urbane gentleman who is also one of the largest drug suppliers of heroin to North America.

During the candy store surveillance and eventual drugs bust, the film provides one of the most gripping and memorable car chase sequences ever filmed.

The film epilogue informs us that Chanier escapes without capture and is believed to be living in France, and that Doyle and Russo were suspended from narcotics duty.

Director:
William Friedkin

Producer:
Philip D'Antoni

Screenplay:
Ernest Tidyman

Cast:
Gene Hackman
Fernando Rey
Roy Scheider
Tony Lo Bianco
Pierre Nicoli
Arlene Farber
Eddie Egan
Sonny Grosso

Distributor:
Twentieth Century Fox

Release Date(s): October 9, 1971

Running time: 104 minutes

My View Rating: ***
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