New York Detective ``Popeye'' Doyle (Gene Hackman) and his partner (Roy Scheider) chase a French heroin... (Learn more)
Starring: Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider (View All)
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Starring: Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider
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, All Movie Guide
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US Release Date
10/7/71
MPAA Rating
Rated R
Running Time
104 mins.
Locations
- New York City, NY
Language
- English
Awards
- Winner of the Best Actor award at the 1971 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Screenplay award at the 1971 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Supporting Actor award at the 1971 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Director award at the 1971 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Editing award at the 1971 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Picture award at the 1971 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Director award at the 1971 Directors Guild of America [Festival/A Awards.
- Winner of the Best Director award at the 1971 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Winner of the Best Actor award at the 1972 British Academy of Film and Television Awards.
- Winner of the Best Picture - Drama award at the 1971 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Sound award at the 1971 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Editing award at the 1972 British Academy of Film and Television Awards.
- Winner of the Best Adapted Screenplay award at the 1971 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Actor award at the 1971 New York Film Critics Circle [Festival Awards.
- Winner of the Best Actor award at the 1971 National Board of Review [Festival/Awa Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 1972 British Academy of Film and Television Awards.
- Winner of the Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama award at the 1971 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Winner of the 100 Greatest American Movies award at the 1998 American Film Institute [Festival/Awar Awards.
- Winner of the Best Screenplay award at the 1971 Edgar Allan Poe Awards [Festival/Award Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 1971 National Board of Review [Festival/Awa Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Cinematography award at the 1971 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
Distributor
- 20th Century Fox
- 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
