“[I] haven’t seen the film since the first screening in a dark, tiny viewing room in a post-production company’s facility 50 years ago,” Hackman said, adding, “If the film has a legacy, I am not sure what that would be. At the time, it seemed to me to be a reverent story of a cop who was simply able to solve and put a stop to a major crime family’s attempt to infiltrate the New York drug scene.”
“The French Connection” stars Hackman as a brash New York City Police Detective named Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, who is on hot pursuit of a wealthy French heroin smuggler (Fernando Rey). In addition to Hackman’s Best Actor win, the film won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. The film is known for its on-location filming in New York City and its gritty violence, which made it a hallmark of the New Hollywood wave in the 1970s. “Filmmaking has always been risky — both physically and emotionally — but I do choose to consider that film a moment in a checkered career of hits and misses,” Hackman said of the film. “As for the car chase, there was a better one filmed a few years earlier with Steve McQueen.” Hackman is referencing McQueen’s 1968 car classic “Bullitt,” of course, although many would argue “The French Connection” car chase ranks just as high. The actor said “the film certainly helped me in my career, and I am grateful for that.” Head over to the New York Post’s website to read more from Hackman and Friedkin as they reflect on the 50th anniversary of “The French Connection.” Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
