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The French Connection (film)

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The French Connection
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWilliam Friedkin
Screenplay byErnest Tidyman
Produced byPhilip D'Antoni
Starring
CinematographyOwen Roizman
Edited byGerald B. Greenberg
Music byDon Ellis
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • October 9, 1971 (1971-10-09) (USA)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
Languages
Budget$1.8 million
Box office$51,700,000[1]
$75,000,000 (rentals)[2]

The French Connection is a 1971 American dramatic thriller film directed by William Friedkin, produced by Philip D'Antoni with music by Don Ellis. It starred Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey and Roy Scheider. The film was adapted and fictionalized by Ernest Tidyman from the non-fiction book by Robin Moore. It tells the story of New York Police Department detectives named "Popeye" Doyle and Buddy "Cloudy" 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.

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 (Gene Hackman), Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Adapted Screenplay (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 has since been labeled as one of the greatest American films by the American Film Institute.[3]

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."

Plot

In Marseilles, an undercover detective is following Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey), a wealthy French criminal who runs the largest heroin-smuggling syndicate in the world. The policeman is assassinated by Charnier's henchman, Pierre Nicoli (Marcel Bozzuffi). Charnier plans to smuggle $32 million worth of heroin into the United States by hiding it in the car of his unsuspecting friend, French television personality Henri Devereaux (Frédéric de Pasquale).

In New York City, detectives Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) and Buddy "Cloudy" Russo (Roy Scheider) are conducting an undercover stakeout in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. After seeing a drug transaction take place in a bar, Cloudy goes in to make an arrest, but the suspect makes a break for it, cutting Cloudy on the arm with a knife. After catching up with their suspect and severely beating him, the detectives interrogate the man who reveals his drug connection.

Later, Popeye and Cloudy go out for drinks at the Copacabana, where Popeye notices Salvatore "Sal" Boca (Tony Lo Bianco) and his young wife Angie (Arlene Farber) entertaining mob members involved in narcotics. They decide to tail the couple, and soon learn that the Bocas, who run a modest newsstand luncheonette, have criminal records: Sal for armed robbery and murder, and Angie for shoplifting. The detectives suspect that the Bocas, who frequent several nightclubs and drive expensive cars, are involved in some criminal operation. They soon establish a link between the Bocas and lawyer Joel Weinstock (Harold Gary), who has connections in the narcotics underworld.

Soon after, Popeye learns from an informant that a major shipment of heroin will arrive in the New York area. The detectives convince their supervisor, Walt Simonson (Eddie Egan), to wiretap the Bocas' phones, and they use several ruses to obtain additional information. Popeye and Cloudy are joined in the investigation by a federal agent named Mulderig (Bill Hickman). Popeye and Mulderig dislike each other based on having worked together in the past, with Mulderig holding Popeye responsible for the death of a policeman.

After Devereaux's Lincoln Continental Mark III arrives in New York City, Weinstock's chemist (Pat McDermott) tests a sample of the heroin and declares it the purest he has ever seen, establishing that the shipment could make as much as $32 million on a half-million dollar investment. Boca is impatient to make the purchase—reflecting Charnier's desire to return to France as soon as possible—while Weinstock, with more experience in smuggling, urges patience, knowing Boca's phone is tapped and that they are being investigated.

Charnier soon "makes" Popeye and realizes he has been observed since his arrival in New York. Nicoli offers to kill Popeye, but Charnier objects, knowing that Popeye would be replaced by another policeman. Nicoli insists, however, saying they will be back in France before a replacement is assigned.

Soon after, Nicoli attempts to assassinate Popeye from the roof of Doyle's apartment complex but botches the job. Popeye chases after the fleeing killer, who boards an elevated train at the Bay 50th Street Station in Bensonhurst. Doyle commandeers a car and gives chase along Stillwell Avenue. On the train, Nicoli hijacks the train, holds the driver at gunpoint, and kills a policeman who tries to intervene. When the motorman passes out, the train reaches the end of the line and slams into another train, hurling the assassin against the glass window. Popeye arrives and sees the killer descending from the platform. When he sees Popeye, he turns to run but is shot dead by the weary detective.

After a lengthy stakeout, Popeye impounds Devereaux's Lincoln town car and takes it apart piece by piece, searching for the drugs. When Cloudy notes that the vehicle's shipping weight is 120 pounds over its listed manufacturer's weight, they realize the drugs must still be in the car. They remove the rocker panels and discover the drugs concealed in the body of the vehicle. The police restore the car to its old condition and return it to Devereaux, who delivers the car to Charnier.

Charnier drives to an old factory on Wards Island to meet Weinstock and make the transaction. After Charnier has the rocker panels removed, Weinstock's chemist tests one of the bags and confirms its quality. Charnier replaces the bags of drugs with the money, concealing it beneath the rocker panels of the Lincoln, which he will take back to France. With their transaction complete, Charnier and Sal drive off in the Lincoln, but soon they hit a roadblock with a large force of police led by Popeye, who playfully waves to Charnier. The police chase the Lincoln back to the old factory, where Sal is killed during a shootout with the police and most of the others surrender.

Charnier escapes into the old warehouse and Popeye follows after him, with Cloudy joining in the hunt. When Popeye sees a shadowy figure in the distance, he empties his revolver a split-second after shouting a warning. The man whom Popeye kills, however, is not Charnier but Mulderig. Undaunted, Popeye tells Cloudy that he will get Charnier. After reloading his gun, Popeye runs into another room, and a few seconds later, a single gunshot is heard.[Note 1]

Cast

Production

In an audio commentary track recorded by Friedkin for the Collector's Edition DVD release of the film, Friedkin notes that the film's documentary-like realism was the direct result of the influence of having seen Z, a French film. Additionally, this was the first film to show the World Trade Center: the completed North Tower and the partial completion of the South Tower are seen in the background of one scene.

Friedkin credits his decision to direct the movie to a discussion with film director Howard Hawks, whose daughter was living with Friedkin at the time. Friedkin asked Hawks what he thought of his movies, to which Hawks bluntly replied that they were "lousy." Instead Hawks recommended that he "Make a good chase. Make one better than anyone's done."[4]

Casting

Though the cast ultimately proved to be one of the film's greatest strengths, Friedkin had problems with casting choices from the start. He was strongly opposed to the choice of Hackman for the lead, and actually first considered Paul Newman (out of the budget range), then Jackie Gleason, Peter Boyle and a New York columnist, Jimmy Breslin, who had never acted before.[5] However, Gleason, at that time, was considered box-office poison by the studio after his film Gigot had flopped several years before, Boyle declined the role after disapproving of the violent theme of the film, and Breslin refused to get behind the wheel of a car, which was required of Popeye's character for an integral car chase scene. Steve McQueen was also considered, but he did not want to do another police film after Bullitt and, as with Newman, his fee would have exceeded the movie's budget. Tough guy Charles Bronson was also considered for the role. Friedkin almost settled for Rod Taylor (who had actively pursued the role, according to Hackman), another choice the studio approved, before he went with Hackman.

The eventually successful casting of Rey as the main French heroin smuggler, Alain Charnier (irreverently referred to throughout the film as "Frog One"), resulted from mistaken identity. Friedkin had asked his casting director to get a Spanish actor he had seen in Luis Buñuel's French film, Belle de Jour, who was actually Francisco Rabal, but Friedkin did not know his name, and Rey, who had played in several other films directed by Buñuel, was instead contacted. After Rabal was finally reached, they discovered he spoke neither French nor English and Rey was kept in the film.[6] In a further irony, after screening the film's final cut, Rey's French was deemed unacceptable by the filmmakers. They decided to dub his French while preserving his English dialogue.

Comparison to actual people

The plot centers on drug smuggling in the 1960s and early '70s, when most of the heroin illegally imported into the East Coast came to the United States through France (see French Connection). In addition to the two main protagonists, several of the fictional characters depicted in the film also have real-life counterparts. The Alain Charnier character is based upon Jean Jehan who was arrested later in Paris for drug trafficking, though he was not extradited since France does not extradite its citizens;[7] the director credits a general lack of punishment to Jehan's military service with Charles de Gaulle[citation needed]. Sal Boca is based on Pasquale "Patsy" Fuca, and his brother Anthony. Angie Boca is based on Patsy's wife Barbara, who later wrote a book with Robin Moore detailing her life with Patsy. The Fucas and their uncle were part of a heroin dealing crew that worked with some of the New York crime families.[8] Henri Devereaux, who takes the fall for importing the Lincoln to New York, is based on Jacques Angelvin, a television actor arrested and sentenced to three to six years in a federal penitentiary for his role, serving about four before repatriating to France and turning to real estate.[9] The Joel Weinstock character is, according to the director's commentary, a composite of several similar drug dealers.[10]

Car chase

The film is often cited as containing one of the greatest car chase sequences in movie history.[11] The chase involves Popeye commandeering a civilian's car (a 1971 Pontiac LeMans) and then frantically chasing an elevated train, on which a hitman is trying to escape. The scene was filmed in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn roughly running under the BMT West End Line (currently; the D train, then the B train) which runs on an elevated track above Stillwell Avenue, 86th Street and New Utrecht Avenue in Brooklyn, with the chase ending just north of the 62nd Street station after the train crashed into another train up ahead.[12] The conductor played by Bob Morrone and train operator played by William Coke, aboard the hijacked train were both actual NYC Transit Authority employees.[13][unreliable source] Friedkin's plan included fast driving coupled with five specific stunts:

  1. Doyle is sideswiped by a car in an intersection
  2. Doyle's car is clipped by a truck with a Drive Carefully bumper sticker.
  3. Doyle narrowly misses a woman with a baby stroller and crashes into a pile of garbage.
  4. Doyle's vision is blocked by a tractor trailer which forces him into a steel fence.
  5. Doyle must go against traffic to get back on a parallel path with the train. Intercut with these car scenes underneath the elevated train is additional footage (shots facing the car, not from the driver's perspective) that was shot in Bushwick, Brooklyn, particularly when Doyle misses a moving truck and slams into a steel fence.

The most famous shot of the chase is made from a front bumper mount and shows a low-angle point of view shot of the streets racing by. This was the last shot made in the film and was, according to Friedkin, needed to increase the speed of the chase after a rough cut of the scene proved less impressive than he hoped. While Friedkin contends the front-bumper shot is made at speeds of "up to 90mph," director of photography Owen Roizman, wrote in American Cinematographer magazine in 1972 that the camera was undercranked to 18 frames per second to enhance the sense of speed. Roizman's contention is borne out when you see a car at a red light whose muffler is pumping smoke at an accelerated rate. Other shots involved stunt drivers who were supposed to barely miss hitting the speeding car, but due to errors in timing accidental collisions occurred and were left in the final film.[14] Friedkin said that he used Santana's song "Black Magic Woman" during editing to help shape the chase sequence; though the song does not appear in the film, "it [the chase scene] did have a sort of pre-ordained rhythm to it that came from the music."[15]

The scene concludes with Doyle confronting Nicoli the hitman at the stairs leading to the subway and shooting him as he tries to run back up them. Many of the police officers acting as advisers for the film objected to the scene on the grounds that shooting a suspect in the back was simply murder, not self-defense, but director Friedkin stood by it, stating that he was "secure in my conviction that that's exactly what Eddie Egan (the model for Doyle) would have done and Eddie was on the set while all of this was being shot."[16][17]

Filming locations

The French Connection was filmed in the following locations:[18][19][20]

  • 50th Street and First Avenue, New York City, New York, USA (where Doyle waits outside the restaurant)
  • 82nd Street and Fifth Avenue (near the Metropolitan Museum of Art), New York City, New York, USA (Weinstock's hotel)
  • 86th Street, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA (the chase scene)
  • 91 Wyckoff Avenue, Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA (Sal & Angie's Cafe)
  • 177 Mulberry Street near Broome street, Little Italy, New York City, New York, USA (where Sal makes a drop)
  • Avenue De L'Amiral Ganteaume, Cassis, Bouches-du-Rhône, France (Charnier's house)
  • Château d'If, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France (where Charnier and Nicoli meet Devereaux)
  • Chez Fon Fon, Rue Du Vallon Des Auffes, Marseilles, Bouches-du-Rhône, France (where Charnier dines)
  • Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA (where Sal parks the Lincoln)
  • Le Copain, 891 First Ave, New York City, New York, USA (where Charnier dines)
  • Doral Park Avenue Hotel (now 70 Park Avenue Hotel), 38th Street and Park Avenue, New York City, New York, USA (Devereaux's hotel)
  • Dover street near by the Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, New York, USA (where Sal leaves the Lincoln)
  • Forest Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens, New York City, New York, USA
  • Grand Central Station Shuttle, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
  • Henry Hudson Parkway Route 9A at Junction 24, New York City, New York, USA (car accident)
  • Marlboro Housing Project, Avenues V, W, and X off Stillwell Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, USA (where Popeye lives)
  • Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France
  • Montee Des Accoules, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France
  • Onderdonk Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens, New York City, New York, USA
  • Plage du bestouan, Cassis, Bouches-du-Rhône, France
  • Putnam Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens, New York City, New York, USA
  • Randall's Island, East River, New York City, New York, USA
  • Ratner's Restaurant, 138 Delancey Street, New York City, New York, USA (where Sal and Angie emerge)
  • Remsen Street, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA (where Charnier and Nicoli watch the car being unloaded)
  • Rio Piedras (now demolished), 912 Broadway, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA (where the Santa Claus chase starts)
  • Rapid Park Garage, East 38th Street near Park Avenue, New York City, New York, USA (where Cloudy follows Sal)
  • Ronaldo Maia Flowers, 27 East 67th Street at Madison, New York City, New York, USA (where Charnier gives Popeye the slip)
  • The Roosevelt Hotel, 45th Street & Madison Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
  • Rue des Moulins off Rue Du Panier, Old Town of Marseilles, Bouches-du-Rhône, France (where the French policeman with the bread walks)
  • La Samaritaine at 2 Quai Du Port, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France
  • South Street at Market Street at the foot of Manhattan Bridge, New York, New York, USA (where Doyle emerges from a bar)
  • Triborough Bridge to Randall's Island toll bridge at the east end of 125th Street, New York, New York, USA
  • Wards Island, New York City, New York, USA (the final shootout)
  • Washington, District of Columbia, USA (where Charnier and Sal meet)
  • Westbury Hotel, 15 East 69th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA (Charnier's hotel)

Awards and nominations

Award Category Nominee Result
Academy Awards, 1972[21][22] Best Picture Phillip D'Antoni Won
Best Director William Friedkin Won
Best Actor Gene Hackman Won
Best Adapted Screenplay Ernest Tidyman Won
Film Editing Gerald B. Greenberg Won
Best Supporting Actor Roy Scheider Nominated
Best Cinematography Owen Roizman Nominated
Best Sound Theodore Soderberg
Christopher Newman 		Nominated
American Cinema Editors, 1972[22] Best Edited Feature Film Gerald B. Greenberg Nominated
BAFTA, 1972[22] Best Actor Gene Hackman Won
Best Film Editing Gerald B. Greenberg Won
Best Direction William Friedkin Nominated
Best Film Philip D'Antoni Nominated
Best Sound Track Christopher Newman
Theodore Soderberg 		Nominated
David di Donatello Award, 1972[22] Best Foreign Film Philip D'Antoni Won
Directors Guild of America, 1972[22] Outstanding Directorial Achievement William Friedkin Won
Edgar Allan Poe Awards, 1972[22] Best Motion Picture Ernest Tidyman Won
Golden Globe Awards, 1972[23] Best Motion Picture Phillip D'Antoni Won
Best Director William Friedkin Won
Best Actor Gene Hackman Won
Best Screenplay Ernest Tidyman Nominated
Kansas City Film Critics Circle, 1972[22] Best Actor Gene Hackman Won
Best Film Ernest Tidyman Won
National Society of Film Critics, 1972[22] Best Actor Gene Hackman Nominated
New York Film Critics Circle, 1971[22] Best Actor Gene Hackman Won
Best Film Ernest Tidyman Nominated
Writers Guild of America, 1972[22] Best Drama Adaptation Ernest Tidyman Nominated

In Addition, the American Film Institute recognizes The French Connecection on several of its lists.

Home video

The film has been issued in a number of home video formats. For a 2009 reissue on Blu-ray Disc, William Friedkin controversially altered the film's color timing to give it a "colder" look.[24] Cinematographer Owen Roizman, who was not consulted about the changes, dismissed the new transfer as "atrocious".[25] The film was recently reissued on Blu-ray with a revamped transfer supervised by both Friedkin and Roizman and is more faithful to its original look.

Sequels and adaptations

A sequel, French Connection II appeared in 1975, and in Template:Ytv, the NBC television network aired a made-for-TV movie, Popeye Doyle, starring Ed O'Neill in the title role.

While not a sequel, The Seven-Ups (1973) is closely related as it stars Roy Scheider and Tony Lo Bianco, was directed by Philip D'Antoni, written by Sonny Grosso and features another famous car chase choreographed by Bill Hickman. The score for this film was also by Don Ellis.

The scene where the Lincoln Continental is dismantled by Popeye and a team of mechanics in search of the narcotics was famously lampooned in an episode of Police Squad, the differences being that not only are the drugs in the glove compartment all along, also the reassembled vehicle bears no resemblance to the original.

References

Notes
  1. ^ Title cards before the closing credits note that Joel Weinstock and Angie Boca received no prison time, Lou Boca received a reduced sentence, Devereaux served four years in prison, and Charnier was never caught. Popeye and Cloudy were transferred out of the narcotics division and reassigned.
Citations
  1. ^ "The French Connection, Box Office Information". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  2. ^ Solomon, Aubrey (1989). Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, p. 167, ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1.
  3. ^ http://www.afi.com/100years/movies.aspx
  4. ^ McCarthy, Todd. Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood Pg. 625. Grove Press, 2000 ISBN 0-8021-3740-7, ISBN 978-0-8021-3740-1
  5. ^ Friedkin recounts his casting opinions in Making the Connection: The Untold Stories (2001). Extra feature on 2001 Five Star Collection edition of DVD release.
  6. ^ This story is recounted in Making the Connection, supra.
  7. ^ Turner Classic Movies spotlight
  8. ^ The French Connection (book)
  9. ^ Alain Bauer, Christophe Soullez: La criminologie pour les nuls; Editions Générales First, 2012 ISBN 2754031626
  10. ^ Film commentary
  11. ^ Top 10 car chase movies - MOVIES - MSNBC.com
  12. ^ R42 cars 4572 and 4573 were chosen for the film and had no B subway rollsigns because they were normally assigned to the N subway train. Consequently, they operated during the movie with an N displayed. As of July 2009, these cars were withdrawn from service, but are preserved as part of the Transit Museum fleet.
  13. ^ IMDb trivia
  14. ^ This account of the shooting is described in Making the Connection, supra.
  15. ^ "From 'Popeye' Doyle to Puccini: William Friedkin" with Robert Siegel (interview), NPR, 14 Sep 2006
  16. ^ Director's commentary on DVD
  17. ^ "Making the Connection" and "The Poughkeepsie Shuffle", documentaries on The French Connection available on the deluxe DVD.
  18. ^ "The French Connection film locations". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  19. ^ "The French Connection". Reel Streets. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  20. ^ "Locations for The French Connection". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  21. ^ "The 44th Academy Awards (1972) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h i j The French Connection at IMDb
  23. ^ "The 20th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1972) Nominees and Winners". goldenglobes.org.
  24. ^ Dave Kehr (February 20, 2009). "Filmmaking at 90 Miles Per Hour". The New York Times. Retrieved August 8, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  25. ^ Jeffrey Wells (February 25, 2009). "Atrocious...Horrifying". Hollywood Elsewhere. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
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