The French Connection
Directed by	William Friedkin
Produced by	Philip D'Antoni
Written by	Robin Moore (Novel) Ernest Tidyman (Screenplay)
Starring	Gene Hackman Fernando Rey Roy Scheider Tony Lo Bianco
Music by	Don Ellis
Editing by	Gerald B. Greenberg
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	October 7, 1971
Running time	104 min
Language	English French
Budget	$1,800,000 (est.)
Followed by	French Connection II
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The French Connection is a 1971 Hollywood crime film directed by William Friedkin. The film was adapted and fictionalized by Ernest Tidyman from the non-fiction book by Robin Moore. It tells the story of two New York City policemen who are trying to intercept a heroin shipment coming in from France. It is based on the actual, infamous "French Connection" trafficking scheme. It stars Gene Hackman (as porkpie hat-wearing New York City police detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle), Roy Scheider (as his partner Buddy "Cloudy" Russo), and Fernando Rey. It also features Eddie Egan and Sonny "Cloudy" Grosso, the real-life police detectives on whom Hackman's and Scheider's characters were based. Image File history File links TheFrenchConnection. ... William Friedkin (born August 29, 1935 in Chicago, Illinois) is an Academy Award-winning American movie and television director, producer and screenwriter best known for directing The Exorcist and The French Connection in the early 1970s. ... Philip D’Antoni Born: February 19, 1929 in New York, NY Academy Award Winner (1971) Best Picture of the Year for The French Connection Golden Globe Winner (1972), Best Motion Picture Drama, for The French Connection Producer: The French Connection (1971) and Bullit (1968) Director/Producer: The Seven-Ups (1973... Robin Moore (b. ... Ernest Tidyman (January 1, 1928 - July 14, 1984) was a Cleveland-born American author and screenwriter, best known for his novels featuring the African-American detective John Shaft. ... Eugene Allen Gene Hackman[1] (born January 30, 1930) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actor. ... Fernando Rey Fernando Casado DArambillet, known as Fernando Rey, (September 20, 1917 - March 9, 1994) was born in A Coruña, Spain, then known as La Coruña, the son of Colonel Casado Veiga. ... Roy Richard Scheider (born November 10, 1932 in Orange, New Jersey) is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-nominated American actor. ... Tony Lo Bianco,(b. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Gerald B. Greenberg (sometimes credited as Jerry Greenberg or Gerry Greenberg) is an Academy Award-winning film editor. ... Twentieth (20th) Century Fox Film Corporation (known from 1935 to 1985 as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation) is one of the six major American film studios. ... is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar, known as the year of cyclohexanol. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... French Connection II DVD cover French Connection II is a 1975 movie sequel to The French Connection, starring Gene Hackman directed by John Frankenheimer. ... See also: 1970 in film 1971 1972 in film 1970s in film years in film film // Events February 8 - Bob Dylans hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New Yorks Academy of Music. ... ... A crime film, in its most general sense, is a film that deals with crime, criminal justice and the darker side of human nature. ... William Friedkin (born August 29, 1935 in Chicago, Illinois) is an Academy Award-winning American movie and television director, producer and screenwriter best known for directing The Exorcist and The French Connection in the early 1970s. ... Ernest Tidyman (January 1, 1928 - July 14, 1984) was a Cleveland-born American author and screenwriter, best known for his novels featuring the African-American detective John Shaft. ... The French Connection: A True Account of Cops, Narcotics, and International Conspiracy is a non-fiction book by Robin Moore about the notorious French Connection drug trafficking scheme. ... Robin Moore (b. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... For other uses, see Heroin (disambiguation). ... The French Connection was an infamous scheme through which the drug heroin was smuggled from Turkey to France and then to the United States, culminating in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when it provided the vast majority of the heroin consumed in the United States. ... Eugene Allen Gene Hackman[1] (born January 30, 1930) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actor. ... A pork pie hat is a felt hat, similer to a Trilby, dating from the middle 19th century, much the same as a fedora, but with a flattened top. ... Popeye Doyle is a fictional New York City police detective portrayed by actor Gene Hackman in the movie The French Connection. ... Roy Richard Scheider (born November 10, 1932 in Orange, New Jersey) is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-nominated American actor. ... Fernando Rey Fernando Casado DArambillet, known as Fernando Rey, (September 20, 1917 - March 9, 1994) was born in A Coruña, Spain, then known as La Coruña, the son of Colonel Casado Veiga. ... This man was noted for commitment to Fast food chains ... Sonny Grosso is a movie and television producer and former New York City Police Department detective, noted for his role in the case immortalized in the book and movie versions of The French Connection. ...

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. ©A.M.P.A.S.® The Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to artists working in the motion picture industry. ... The MPAA film rating system is a system used in the United States and territories and instituted by the Motion Picture Association of America to rate a movie based on its content. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. ... The Academy Award for Directing is one of the awards given to directors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. ... The Academy Award for Film Editing was first given for films issued in 1934. ... The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. ... Ernest Tidyman (January 1, 1928 - July 14, 1984) was a Cleveland-born American author and screenwriter, best known for his novels featuring the African-American detective John Shaft. ... The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the awards given to male actors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... Charles Rosher the first recipient in 1928 The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is awarded each year to a cinematographer for his work in one particular motion picture. ... The Academy Award for Sound Mixing is an Academy Award that recognizes the finest or most aesthetic sound mixing or recording, and is generally awarded to the production sound mixers and re-recording mixers of the winning film. ... The Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and television programs, given out each year during a formal dinner. ... The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the collective bargaining representative, or labor union, for writers in the motion picture and television industries in the United States. ... The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (popularly called the Edgars), named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America. ...

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". The National Film Registry is the registry of films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress. ... Construction of the Thomas Jefferson Building, from July 8, 1888 to May 15, 1894. ...

Casting challenges

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 and a New York columnist, Jimmy Breslin, who had never acted before.^[1] However, Gleason, at that time, was considered box-office poison by the studio after Gigot had flopped, 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. This article is about the American actor and race team owner. ... Herbert John Jackie Gleason (February 26, 1916 – June 24, 1987) was an American comedian, actor, and musician. ... Jimmy Breslin (born October 17, 1930) is an American columnist and author who has written numerous novels and appeared regularly in various newspapers in New York City, where he lives. ... Gigot was an American motion picture released in 1962 by 20th Century Fox. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For other uses, see Steve McQueen (disambiguation). ... Bullitt is a 1968 action crime mystery thriller film starring Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn and Jacqueline Bisset, with Don Gordon, Robert Duvall, Carl Reindel, Felice Orlandi, Vic Tayback, Pat Renella, Paul Genge, Bill Hickman, Norman Fell and Brandy Carroll. ... For other persons named Charles Bronson, see Charles Bronson (disambiguation). ...

The 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 the French film, Belle de Jour, who was actually Francisco Rabal, but Friedkin did not know his name. Rey was instead contacted but did not speak a word of English, and his French was not the sharpest. However, after Rabal was finally reached, they discovered he spoke neither French nor English, and Rey was kept in the film.^[2] Belle de jour is a 1967 French film starring Catherine Deneuve. ... Francisco Rabal ( March 8, 1926 - August 29, 2001) was born in Águilas, a small town in Murcia ( Spain). ...

Plot

The film revolves around the smuggling of narcotics between Marseilles, France and New York City. The film opens in Marseilles with a policeman staking out Alain Charnier, a French criminal who ostensibly works as a former stevedore-turned-shipping executive but is in fact involved in smuggling heroin from France to the United States (at one point, Charnier remarks that he hasn't done an honest day's work "since [he] stepped off the crane"). The French policeman is eventually assassinated by Charnier's henchman, Pierre Nicoli. In New York City, detectives James "Popeye" Doyle and "Cloudy" Russo are also performing an undercover stakeout, with Doyle dressed as Santa Claus and Russo pretending to be a hot dog stand vendor. Eventually the suspect they are waiting for makes a break for it, and the detectives pursue him on foot. After catching up with their suspect (and delivering a severe beating after the suspect cuts Russo on the arm with a knife), the detectives aggressively interrogate the man and eventually force him to reveal where his "connection" is based (during this scene, a long-running joke is established, as Doyle bewilders the suspect by demanding to know if he "picks [his] feet in Poughkeepsie"). This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The term narcotic, derived from the Greek word for stupor, originally referred to a variety of substances that induced sleep (such state is narcosis). ... Marseilles redirects here. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Stevedores on a New York dock loading barrels of corn syrup onto a barge on the Hudson River. ... For other uses, see Heroin (disambiguation). ... This is an incomplete list of persons that were assassinated for political and other reasons, and who have individual entries. ... A detective is an officer of the police who performs criminal or administrative investigations, in some police departments, the lowest rank among such investigators (above the lowest rank of officers and below sergeants), a civilian licensed to investigate information not readily available in public records (a private investigator, also called... Look up Undercover in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The 1987 movie Stakeout stars Richard Dreyfuss, Emilio Estevez and Madeleine Stowe. ... Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie, New York (City) Poughkeepsie, New York (Town) Poughkeepsie, Arkansas This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

After Russo's arm injury is treated, Doyle convinces him to go out for a drink. At the nightclub they go to, Doyle becomes interested in two people: Salvatore "Sal" Boca and his beautiful young wife, Angie, who are lavishly entertaining several known Mob members involved in narcotics. Doyle persuades his partner to come along as they tail the couple; several scenes are shown establishing the fact that although the Bocas run a modest newsstand/diner, their extravagant lifestyle (which includes nearly nightly trips to several nightclubs, as well as driving several different new cars) indicates they may be involved in some sort of criminal activity. Eventually there is a link established between the Bocas and a well-to-do lawyer Joel Weinstock, who is rumored to have extensive connections in the narcotics underworld. Doyle and Russo then roust an African American bar in Bedford Stuyvesant where the majority of the patrons are in possession of low quality marijuana and other minor drugs. The rousting is a stunt for Doyle to find an informant (who he physically assaults to keep his cover) whom he then questions about an apparent shortage of hard drugs on the street; Doyle is told that there is word a major shipment of heroin is on its way. The detectives convince their supervisor, Walt Simonson, to pursue wiretapping the Bocas' phones and use several ruses (including Russo playfully flirting with Angie while her husband is out of earshot) to try to obtain more information on their subjects. An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Bedford Stuyvesant (aka Bed-Stuy) is a neighborhood in central Brooklyn, New York City. ... Hard drugs are drugs that lead to physical addiction, opposed to soft drugs, such as marijuana and hashish, that are only psychologically addictive. ... For other uses, see Heroin (disambiguation). ...

The film then centers on three main points: the criminals' efforts to smuggle drugs into the U.S. (which is made easier when Charnier dupes his friend Henri Devereaux into importing an automobile into the U.S.; unbeknownst to Devereaux, the drugs are carefully concealed within the vehicle) and the eventual sale of the drugs to Weinstock and Sal Boca; the efforts of Doyle and Russo to shadow Boca and Charnier; and the conflicts the two detectives have with both Simonson (their superior) and a federal agent named Mulderig. Both Doyle and Mulderig openly dislike each other; Russo and Doyle feel that they can handle the bust without the government's help; and Mulderig never hesitates to criticize Doyle on items ranging from trivialities like Doyle's appearance ("You look like shit") to an incident in the past where a policeman was killed and Mulderig clearly holds Doyle responsible for it; when Mulderig caustically states, "the last time you were dead certain, we had a dead cop," Doyle comes to blows with Mulderig and the two must be separated by Simonson and Russo. International trade is defined as trade between two or more partners from different countries (an exporter and an importer). ...

Charnier soon "makes" Doyle and decides he has to be eliminated. Charnier's henchman Nicoli (the one who assassinated the French detective) offers to do the job and tries to kill Doyle from a rooftop with a rifle. However, he botches the job and a cat-and-mouse pursuit underneath the BMT West End Line begins, which eventually leads up to the car chase scene described below. The chase ends when the elevated train Nicoli has hijacked crashes into another train; when Doyle catches up with Nicoli, he shoots Nicoli in the back (Nicoli was attempting to escape yet again by running back up the stairs leading to the train platform). The car containing the drugs that Devereaux imported into the U.S. is eventually staked out by the police and impounded when some young thieves try to strip the car of its valuables (the police initially thought the car's owners were returning to retrieve the drugs). Doyle and Russo then rip the car apart in an hours-long search, before eventually finding the narcotics after the mechanic states that he has stripped everything on the car except the rocker panels. Route designation on BMT Triplex equipment The West End Line, now a subway line in Brooklyn, New York City, is a branch line from the Broadway (Manhattan)-Fourth Avenue (Brooklyn) subway, serving the communities of Borough Park, New Utrecht, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Coney Island. ... This page refers to urban rail mass transit systems. ... Categories: Wikipedia cleanup | Stub | Crimes | Terrorism | IT ...

At the film's climax, it seems like the drug deal (which took place at an abandoned factory on Ward's Island) has been a major success; Boca and Weinstock's resident heroin expert tests the substance and declares it to be of top quality. In return, using an old car that Sal Boca's brother Lou picked out, the criminals stash the money in almost the same hiding place that was used on the car Devereaux brought in (the car is to be imported into France, where Charnier will then retrieve the money). Charnier and Sal Boca drive off and only moments later run into a roadblock consisting of a large force of police officers, led by Doyle. The police chase Charnier and Sal Boca back to the factory grounds, where Sal is killed during a shootout with the police and almost all of the others surrender after tear gas is used by the police. Aerial view of the Triborough Bridge (left) and the Hell Gate Bridge (right) to Wards Island (top) This article is about Wards Island in New York State. ... For other uses, see Roadblock (disambiguation). ... A riot control agent is a type of lachrymatory agent (or lacrimatory agent). ...

Charnier escapes into the warehouse and a tense sequence ensues as Doyle hunts Charnier down. Russo joins him in the search, which takes a sudden shocking turn as Doyle, trigger-happy and high on adrenaline, sees a shadowy figure in the distance and empties his pistol at it only a split-second after shouting a warning. To Russo's horror, the man Doyle kills is not Charnier, but Mulderig. Doyle seems unfazed by this and vows to capture Charnier, reloading his pistol and running off into another room in the distance. The last sound heard in the film is a single gunshot.

Title cards before the closing credits note that of the people arrested and tried, only Joel Weinstock and Angie Boca got away without any prison time (the case against Weinstock was dismissed, and Angie received a suspended sentence). Alain Charnier was never found or tried in the U.S. It also states that both Doyle and Russo were transferred out of the narcotics division.

Car Chase

The film is often cited as containing one of the greatest car chase sequences in movie history. [1] The chase involves Popeye securing a citizen's car (a 1971 Pontiac LeMans) and then obsessively chasing an elevated train, on which a hitman is trying to escape. The scene was filmed in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn roughly running down the B subway line (currently the D subway line) which runs on an elevated track above 86th Street in Brooklyn.^[3] The conductor and train operator aboard the hijacked train were both actual NYC Transit Authority employees.[2] Intercut with the car scenes underneath the el is additional footage (shots facing the car, not from the driver's perspective) that was shot in Bushwick, Brooklyn, particularly when Doyle narrowly misses hitting a woman and her baby carriage. Many of the shots in the scene were "real", in that legendary stunt driver Bill Hickman, who also had a small role in the film as FBI agent Mulderig, actually drove the car at high speeds through uncontrolled traffic and red lights, with Friedkin running a camera from the backseat while wrapped in a mattress for protection. The production team received no prior permission from the city for such a dangerous stunt, but they had the creative consulting and clout provided to them by Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso, (which allowed normal protocol for location shooting like permits and scheduling to be circumvented) and the only precaution taken was to place a "gumdrop" police siren on the car's roof and blare the horn. 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.^[4] 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."^[5] Image File history File links French22. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar, known as the year of cyclohexanol. ... 1965 Pontiac Le Mans The Pontiac LeMans was an intermediate-sized automobile offered by the Pontiac division of General Motors from 1962 to 1981, replaced by the downsized Pontiac Bonneville for the 1982 model year after the fuel crises of the 1970s. ... This page refers to urban rail mass transit systems. ... Bensonhurst Embankment is a common walkway in Bensonhurst Bensonhurst is a neighborhood located in the south-central part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. ... The B Sixth Avenue Express is a service of the New York City Subway. ... The D Sixth Avenue Express is a service of the New York City Subway. ... It has been suggested that New York City transit fares be merged into this article or section. ... Bushwick is a neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn, New York, USA. Founded in 1661 by Governor Peter Stuyvesant as Boswijck, it is the site of some of the earliest settlements in Brooklyn that date to the middle of the 17th century. ... William “Bill” Hickman, 25th January 1921 – 24th February 1986. ... This man was noted for commitment to Fast food chains ... Sonny Grosso is a movie and television producer and former New York City Police Department detective, noted for his role in the case immortalized in the book and movie versions of The French Connection. ... Carlos Augusto Alves Santana (born July 20, 1947), is a Grammy Award-winning Mexican-born American Latin rock musician and guitarist. ... Black Magic Woman is a song written by Peter Green that first appeared as a Fleetwood Mac single in various countries in 1968, subsequently appearing on the 1969 Fleetwood Mac compilation albums English Rose (US) and The Pious Bird Of Good Omen (UK). ...

Legacy

The film's car chase scenes were parodied in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers, the video game Driver 2, and in an ad by British Rail [3]. In contemporary usage, a parody (or lampoon) is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. ... The year 1980 in film involved some significant events. ... The Blues Brothers is a 1980 musical comedy directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as Joliet Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from a Saturday Night Live musical sketch. ... Driver 2 screenshot (PlayStation) Driver 2: The Wheelman Is Back (in the UK, Driver 2: Back on the Streets) is the second installment of the Driver video game series. ...

Director Christopher Nolan used the car chase sequence as inspiration for the Batmobile chase in his 2005 film Batman Begins. Christopher Nolan (born July 30, 1970) is an Academy Award nominated film director, writer and producer. ... The Batmobile as seen in the 2005 movie Batman Begins. The Batmobile is the fictional personal automobile of comic book superhero Batman. ... For the video game based on the film, see Batman Begins (video game). ...

The motorman who "collapses" at the controls (presumably from a heart attack) while Nicoli shoots and kills the conductor would actually die on the job from a real heart attack in Queens (though he was not operating a train at that time). [4]

Friedkin later attempted to outdo the "Connection" chase scene with the infamous backwards car chase on a freeway in To Live and Die in L.A. To Live and Die in L.A. is a neo-noir American film released in 1985 and directed by William Friedkin. ...

The Pontiac Le Mans used in the chase was auctioned for an estimated $350,000 at the AFI Ceremonial ball and purchased by rapper David Banner. 1965 Pontiac Le Mans The Pontiac LeMans was an intermediate-sized automobile offered by the Pontiac division of General Motors from 1962 to 1981, replaced by the downsized Pontiac Bonneville for the 1982 model year after the fuel crises of the 1970s. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about a musician. ...

Additional details

Production of the film started in November 1970 and was completed in March 1971. Peter Boyle was originally cast to play the role of "Popeye" Doyle but later turned down the role because his agent thought the movie was going to be a failure. Peter Lawrence Boyle (October 18, 1935 – December 12, 2006)[1][2] was an Emmy Award-winning American actor who is perhaps best known for his role as Frank Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. ... A talent agent is a person who finds jobs for actors, musicians, models, and other people in various entertainment businesses. ...

The movie established the careers of both Friedkin and Hackman, and was instrumental in ushering in an era of neo-realist directors in Hollywood during the early 1970s. 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. In cinema and in literature, neorealism is a cultural movement that brings elements of true life in the stories it describes, rather than a world mainly existing in imagination only. ... A major selling point of DVD video is that its storage capacity allows for a wide variety of extra features in addition to the feature film itself. ... Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... Z is a 1969 French language political thriller directed by Costa Gavras, with a screenplay by Gavras and Jorge Semprún, based on the novel of the same name by Vassilis Vassilikos. ... For other uses, see World Trade Center (disambiguation). ...

The sequence on the Times Square-Grand Central shuttle took two days to shoot. Car 6609 has been preserved and is in the New York Transit Museum. It is occasionally operated on fantrips along with other preserved cars.

Comparison to actual people

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;^[6] the director credits a general lack of punishment to Jehan's military service with Charles de Gaulle. Sal Boca is based on Patsy Fuca, and his brother on Fuca's 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.^[7] 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 penetentiary for his role, serving about four before repatriating to France and turning to real estate.^[8] The Joel Weinstock character is, according to the director's commentary, a composite of several similar drug dealers.^[9] For other uses, see Charles de Gaulle (disambiguation). ... Robin Moore (b. ... The Five Families are the major crime families of the Italian-American Mafia based in New York City which have dominated traditional organized crime in New York. ...

Cast

• Gene Hackman - Det. Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle
• Fernando Rey - Alain Charnier
• Roy Scheider - Det. Buddy 'Cloudy' Russo
• Tony Lo Bianco - Salvatore 'Sal' Boca
• Marcel Bozzuffi - Pierre Nicoli, Hit Man
• Frédéric de Pasquale - Henri Devereaux
• Bill Hickman - Bill Mulderig
• Ann Rebbot - Mrs. Marie Charnier
• Harold Gary - Joel Weinstock
• Arlene Farber - Angie Boca
• Eddie Egan - Walt Simonson
• André Ernotte - La Valle
• Sonny Grosso - Bill Klein
• Benny Marino - Lou Boca (as Benny Marino)
• Patrick McDermott - Howard, Chemist (as Pat McDermott)
• Alan Weeks - Willie Craven, drug pusher
• Sheila Ferguson - The Three Degrees (as The Three Degrees)
• Eric Jones - Little Boy (uncredited)
• Darby Lloyd Rains - Stripper (uncredited)

Eugene Allen Gene Hackman[1] (born January 30, 1930) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actor. ... Popeye Doyle is a fictional New York City police detective portrayed by actor Gene Hackman in the movie The French Connection. ... Fernando Rey Fernando Casado DArambillet, known as Fernando Rey, (September 20, 1917 - March 9, 1994) was born in A Coruña, Spain, then known as La Coruña, the son of Colonel Casado Veiga. ... Roy Richard Scheider (born November 10, 1932 in Orange, New Jersey) is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-nominated American actor. ... Tony Lo Bianco,(b. ... Marcel Bozzuffi (28 October 1929 - 2 February 1988) was a French film actor. ... William “Bill” Hickman, 25th January 1921 – 24th February 1986. ... This man was noted for commitment to Fast food chains ... Sonny Grosso is a movie and television producer and former New York City Police Department detective, noted for his role in the case immortalized in the book and movie versions of The French Connection. ... Patrick Kim McDermott is a cameraman who was a long time boyfriend of Olivia Newton-John until he disappeared from a fishing charter boat off San Pedro, California, on June 30, 2005. ... Alan Weeks (September 8, 1923 - June 11, 1996) was a British television sports reporter and commentator. ... Sheila Ferguson (born October 8, 1947 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was the lead singer of 1970s American all woman soul music group The Three Degrees. ... The Three Degrees The Three Degrees are a female Philly soul and disco vocal musical group formed in 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ... Sir Eric Malcolm Jones, British intelligence officer Eric Jones (NASCAR driver) Eric Jones (Road Rules) Eric Jones (cartoonist and writer) Category: ... Darby Lloyd Rains on the Dvd cover of Every Inch A Lady Darby Lloyd Rains is a former adult film actress and one of the most prolific pornstars of the 1970s. ...

Related projects

A less-acclaimed sequel, French Connection II appeared in 1975. French Connection II DVD cover French Connection II is a 1975 movie sequel to The French Connection, starring Gene Hackman directed by John Frankenheimer. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

1973's The Seven-Ups 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. For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ... // Overview The Seven-Ups is a 1973 film released by 20th Century Fox. ...

In 1986, an NBC television movie, Popeye Doyle, starring Ed O'Neill in the title role, was also produced. Popeye Doyle is a fictional New York City police detective portrayed by actor Gene Hackman in the movie The French Connection. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

In popular culture

• The scene where Popeye is targeted by an assassin on the roof is referred to in the 1988 film Big when the main character Josh Baskin (Tom Hanks) is watching television.
• Detectives on an undercover assignment or stake-out would place a hat in the rear window display of their car while conducting surveillance, just as Popeye and Cloudy do when tailing Sal.
• The plot of the film was parodied in a sixth season episode of The Simpsons, The Springfield Connection
• In the summer of 2004, a television show named NY-70 filmed a pilot episode that was based directly on The French Connection. The pilot stared Bobby Cannavale and Donnie Wahlberg, and was filmed entirely in Harlem.^[10]
• In the Seinfeld episode "The Good Samaritan," Elaine refers to Jerry's chasing down a hit-and-run driver as "a real Popeye Doyle kind of [chase]," mocking the lack of effort he put into finding the driver.

Thomas Jeffrey Tom Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is a two-time Academy Award-, two-time Emmy-, four-time Golden Globe- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning American film actor, director, voice-over artist, writer and film producer. ... Simpsons redirects here. ... The Springfield Connection is the 23rd episode of the sixth season of The Simpsons. ... For other uses, see Harlem (disambiguation). ... Seinfeld is an Emmy Award-winning American sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989 to May 14, 1998, running a total of 9 seasons. ...

References and footnotes

The B Sixth Avenue Express is a service of the New York City Subway. ... The N Broadway Express is a service of the New York City Subway. ... The French Connection: A True Account of Cops, Narcotics, and International Conspiracy is a non-fiction book by Robin Moore about the notorious French Connection drug trafficking scheme. ... TV.com is a website belonging to the CNET Games and Entertainment family of websites. ...

External links

• Under the Influence: William Friedkin and The French Connection, DGA Magazine.
• Anatomy of a Chase, DGA Magazine.
• The French Connection, IMDB.