The French Connection
William Friedkin directed the 1971 American crime action thriller The French Connection. Ernest Tidyman developed Robin Moore's 1969 novel of the same name for the cinema. It describes the pursuit of wealthy French heroin importer Alain Charnier by NYPD detectives Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle and Buddy "Cloudy" Russo, whose real-life counterparts were Narcotics Detectives Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso. Gene Hackman plays Popeye in the movie, Roy Scheider plays Cloudy, and Fernando Rey plays Charnier. Also included are Tony Lo Bianco and Marcel Bozzuffi.
In addition to being nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Hackman), Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Adapted Screenplay at the 44th Academy Awards, the movie also received nods for Best Supporting Actor (Scheider), Best Cinematography, and Best Sound Mixing. It also received eight nominations. For his script, Tidyman was also nominated for a Golden Globe, a Writers Guild of America Award, and an Edgar Award. In 1975, French Connection II was released, with Hackman and Rey returning to their original roles. The French Connection, regarded as one of the greatest movies ever filmed, was included in the American Film Institute's list of the top American movies in 1998 and again in 2007. The movie was chosen by the Library of Congress in 2005 for inclusion in the United States National Film Registry because it was "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important".
Duration: 104 mins
Year: 1971
Director: William Friedkin
Cast: Roy Scheider, Gene Hackman, Frédéric de Pasquale, Fernando Rey, Marcel Bozzuffi, Tony Lo Bianco
