The French Connection (1971)

★ 7.5 1h 44m 2,105 votes IMDb
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Tough narcotics detective 'Popeye' Doyle is in hot pursuit of a suave French drug dealer who may be the key to a huge heroin-smuggling operation.

The French Connection

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Cast

Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman as Jimmy Doyle Died 2025 · San Bernardino, California, USA Eugene Allen Hackman (January 30, 1930 – c. February 18, 2025) was an American actor. Hackman made his credited film debut in the drama Lilith (1964). He later won two Academy Awards, his first for Be...
Roy Scheider
Roy Scheider as Buddy Russo Died 2008 · Orange, New Jersey, USA Roy Richard Scheider (/ˈʃaɪdər/; November 10, 1932 – February 10, 2008) was an American actor and amateur boxer who achieved fame with his leading and supporting roles in celebrated films from the 197...
Fernando Rey
Fernando Rey as Alain Charnier Died 1994 · A Coruña, Galicia, Spain Fernando Rey  (September 20, 1917 – March 9, 1994) — best known as Fernando Rey — was a Spanish film, theatre, and TV actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States. A suave, international act...
Tony Lo Bianco
Tony Lo Bianco as Sal Boca Died 2024 · Brooklyn, New York, USA Tony Lo Bianco (October 19, 1936 - June 11, 2024) was an American actor in films and television. Lo Bianco was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a taxi driver. He is known for his roles in the cu...
Marcel Bozzuffi
Marcel Bozzuffi as Pierre Nicoli Died 1988 · Rennes, France Marcel Bozzuffi (28 October 1929 – 1 February 1988) was a French film actor. He appeared as a hitman in the Oscar-winning American film The French Connection. In 1963, he married French actress Franço...
Frédéric de Pasquale
Frédéric de Pasquale as Devereaux Died 2001 · Paris, France Frédéric de Pasquale (28 March 1931 – 17 December 2001) was a French actor. He appeared in 50 films and television shows between 1960 and 2001. Source: Article "Frédéric de Pasquale" from Wikipedia i...

Audience Reviews

CinemaSerf 7/10 Sep 01, 2024
Though he's not top-billed here, I found it's Fernando Rey who delivers best in this brutal and authentic-looking story of trans-Atlantic drug smuggling. Popeye (Gene Hackman) and his pal Russo (Roy Scheider) are detectives in New York determined to bring down a network of cocaine importers who are bringing the lucrative white powder in from Marseille. They suspect that it's Charnier (Rey) who is masterminding the whole enterprise, but they can't pin anything down on him. He hides in plain sight, clad in cashmere with a distinctive hat and dining in fine establishments - but always beyond their grasp. He almost teases the increasingly frustrated policemen who stray ever closer to the line as they try to apprehend him. Will either of them ever crack? Hackman is on great form as the exasperated cop and the drip-roast effect of the plot development from director William Friedkin makes that even more potent, especially when coupled with the flagrant nonchalance of his quarry, with a powerful score from Don Ellis and one of the best city car chases you'll ever see on a big screen. Scheider does enough, and there are also quite a few effective supporting contributions from the likes of Ann Rebbot as Mme. Charnier and from the odious henchman "Nicoli" (Marcel Bozzuffi). Gradually we are exposed to the ruthlessness of both sides as the stakes become higher, life becomes cheap, and the denouement again offers us a degree of palpable realism as no simple or convenient solutions are provided. It's a quickly paced and gritty representation of life amidst a culture of addiction, dependency and quite a fair degree of innovation that's still as strong today as it was in 1971.

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