Editing The French Connection (film) (section)

==Production==
[[National General Pictures]] was originally set to produce the film but dropped it, and [[Richard Zanuck]] and [[David Brown (producer)|David Brown]] offered to make it at Fox with a $1.5&nbsp;million budget.<ref name=AFI>{{AFI film|id=53919}}</ref> The film came in $300,000 over budget, at $1.8&nbsp;million.<ref name=Bart/>

The overall atmosphere, character characterization and narrative style  are largely influenced by the French film ''[[Le Samouraï]]'' (1967) by [[Jean-Pierre Melville]]. William Friedkin was also inspired by [[Alain Delon]]'s performance, where he plays a solitary and methodical hitman, to shape the character of Popeye Doyle (Gene Hackman).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Jacqui |last2= |title=The French New Wave and the New Hollywood: Le Samourai and its American legacy |url=https://acta.sapientia.ro/content/docs/the-french-new-wave-and-the-new-hollywoo.pdf |journal=Acta Univ. Sapientiae, Film and Media Studies |volume=2010 |issue=3 |publisher=[[Sapientia University|Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania]] |pages=109–120 |access-date=March 19, 2025}}</ref>

In an [[audio commentary (DVD)|audio commentary]] Friedkin recorded for the film's Collector's Edition DVD release, he says the film's documentary-like realism was the direct result of his having seen [[Costa-Gavras]]'s ''[[Z (1969 film)|Z]]''. He describes ''Z''<nowiki/>'s influence on ''The French Connection'':

{{Blockquote|After I saw ''Z'', I realized how I could shoot ''The French Connection''. Because he shot ''Z'' like a documentary, it was a fiction film but it was made like it was actually happening—like the camera didn't know what was gonna happen next. And that is an induced technique. It looks like he happened upon the scene and captured what was going on as you do in a documentary. My first films were documentaries too, so I understood what he was doing, but I never thought you could do that in a feature at that time until I saw ''Z''.<ref>{{cite web | title=William Friedkin's Favorite Films of all Time | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-APzEjrklc | via=YouTube | work=[[Fade In (magazine)|Fade In Magazine]] | date=12 June 2013 | access-date=January 20, 2022}}</ref> }}

The film was among the earliest to show the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]]: the completed North Tower and partially completed South Tower are seen in the background of scenes at the shipyard after Devereaux arrives in New York.

===Casting===
Though the cast proved to be one of the film's greatest strengths, Friedkin had problems with casting from the start. He strongly opposed [[Gene Hackman]] as the lead, first considering [[Paul Newman]] (too expensive), then [[Jackie Gleason]], [[Peter Boyle]], and the columnist [[Jimmy Breslin]], who had never acted.<ref name=mtc>Friedkin recounts his casting opinions in ''Making the Connection: The Untold Stories'' (2001). Extra feature on 2001 Five Star Collection edition of DVD release.</ref> The studio considered Gleason box-office poison after his film ''[[Gigot (film)|Gigot]]'' had flopped several years before, Boyle declined the role out of disapproval of the film's violence, and Breslin refused to get behind the wheel of a car, as Popeye does in an integral chase scene. [[Steve McQueen]] was also considered, but did not want to do another police film after ''[[Bullitt]]''; moreover, as with Newman, his fee was too high. [[Charles Bronson]] was also considered for the role. [[Lee Marvin]], [[James Caan]], and [[Robert Mitchum]] were also considered; all turned it down.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://splicetoday.com/moving-pictures/the-making-of-the-french-connection|title = The Making of the French Connection| date=4 February 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.moviefone.com/2016/10/08/the-french-connection-facts/|title=23 Things You Never Knew About 'The French Connection'}}</ref> Friedkin almost settled for [[Rod Taylor]] (who had actively pursued the role, according to Hackman), another choice the studio approved, before going with Hackman.

The casting of [[Fernando Rey]] as Alain Charnier (irreverently called "Frog One" throughout the film) resulted from mistaken identity. Friedkin had seen [[Luis Buñuel]]'s 1967 film ''[[Belle de Jour (film)|Belle de Jour]]'' and been impressed by the performance of [[Francisco Rabal]], who had a small role in it. But Friedkin did not know Rabal's name, remembering only that he was a Spanish actor. He asked his casting director to find the actor, and the casting director contacted Rey, a Spanish actor who had appeared in several other Buñuel films. Rabal was finally reached, but because he spoke neither French nor English, Rey was kept in the film.<ref name=mtc/>

===Comparison to actual people and events===
The plot centers on drug smuggling in the 1960s and early 1970s, when most of the heroin illegally imported into the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] came to the U.S. via France (''see'' [[French Connection]]).<ref name="NYT1972">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/02/06/archives/the-french-connection-in-real-life-super-sleuths.html|last1=Collins|first1=Larry|last2=Lapierre|first2=Dominique|title=The French Connection—In Real Life|work=The New York Times|date=February 6, 1972|access-date=October 18, 2020|archive-date=October 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020230745/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/02/06/archives/the-french-connection-in-real-life-super-sleuths.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

On April 26, 1968, a record-setting {{convert|246|lb|kg|1|abbr=on}} of heroin was seized, concealed in a [[Citroën DS]] and smuggled to New York on the {{SS|France|1960|6}} ocean liner.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/406671233/ | title=Agents Seize Heroin Worth Record 22M | work=[[New York Daily News|Daily News]] | location=New York | date=June 27, 1968 | access-date=October 18, 2020 | archive-date=October 24, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024140051/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/406671233/ | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/06/27/archives/224million-in-heroin-found-in-car-at-city-pier-narcotics-secreted.html |last=Bigart |first=Homer |title=$22.4-Million in Heroin Found in Car at City Pier; Narcotics, Secreted in Auto Sent From France, Called Largest Seizure in U.S. $22.4-Million in Heroin Is Found Hidden in a Car at Pier in City |work=The New York Times |date=June 27, 1968 |access-date=October 18, 2020 |archive-date=October 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021094307/https://www.nytimes.com/1968/06/27/archives/224million-in-heroin-found-in-car-at-city-pier-narcotics-secreted.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DS19680626.2.5&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 | title=Biggest Heroin Haul Told | work=[[The Desert Sun]] | location=[[Palm Springs, California]] | date=June 26, 1968 | access-date=October 18, 2020 | archive-date=October 22, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022063353/https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DS19680626.2.5&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 | url-status=live}}</ref> The total amount smuggled during the DS's many transatlantic voyages was {{convert|1606|lb|kg|1|abbr=on}}, according to arrested smuggler Jacques Bousquet.<ref name="Quarterly">{{cite journal |last=Cox |first=Michael |title=Smuggler |journal=The Citroën Quarterly |page=11 |volume=9 |date=Spring 1991}}</ref>

Like its two protagonists, several of the film's other characters have real-life counterparts. Alain Charnier is based on Jean Jehan, who was later arrested in Paris for drug trafficking but not extradited, because France does not extradite its citizens.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/97174 |title=Turner Classic Movies spotlight |publisher=TCM |access-date=August 2, 2014 |archive-date=December 24, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224052655/http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=97174 |url-status=live }}</ref> Sal Boca is based on [[Pasquale Fuca|Pasquale "Patsy" Fuca]], and his 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 New York crime families.<ref>{{cite book| title= [[The French Connection (book)|The French Connection: A True Account of Cops, Narcotics, and International Conspiracy]]|year= 1969| isbn= 1592280447 |first= Robin |last=Moore|publisher= Globe Pequot Press| author-link= Robin Moore}}{{Page needed|date=August 2014}}</ref>

Characters not prominently depicted in the film include the special agents and undercover operatives of the [[Federal Bureau of Narcotics]] (FBN), the federal agency primarily responsible for investigating the French Connection, who worked alongside NYPD detectives throughout most of these events until the FBN dissolved later in 1968.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=November 6, 2014 |title=Targeting The Mafia: FBN, Organized Crime, And Drugs |url=https://museum.dea.gov/video-archive/targeting-the-mafia-fbn |website=DEA Museum}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=TRANSCRIPT: "Targeting The Mafia: FBN, Organized Crime, And Drugs" |url=https://museum.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2021-09/Targeting%20the%20Mafia%2011062014--Accessible.pdf}}</ref>

Henri Devereaux, who takes the fall for importing the film's drug-laden Lincoln into New York, is based on {{ill|Jacques Angelvin|fr|Jacques Angelvin}}, a television actor arrested and sentenced to three to six years in a federal penitentiary for his role, serving about four before returning to France and turning to real estate.<ref>{{cite book| first1=Alain |last1=Bauer| first2=Christophe|last2= Soullez | title= La criminologie pour les nuls| edition =Générales First| year= 2012|publisher=First éd. | isbn=978-2754031622}}</ref> According to the director's commentary, Joel Weinstock is a composite of several similar drug-dealing financiers.<ref>Film commentary{{Time needed|date=August 2014}}</ref>

===Car chase===
The film is often cited as featuring one of the greatest [[car chase]] sequences in movie history.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6091432/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041022044246/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6091432 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 22, 2004 |title=Top 10 car chase movies - MOVIES - MSNBC.com |publisher=MSNBC |access-date=August 2, 2014}}</ref> The chase involves Popeye commandeering a civilian's car (a 1971 [[Pontiac LeMans]]) and frantically chasing an [[elevated train]] on which a hitman is trying to escape. The scene, coordinated by [[Bill Hickman]], was filmed in [[Bensonhurst, Brooklyn]], roughly running under the [[BMT West End Line]] (now the {{NYCS trains|West End}}, then the [[B (New York City Subway service)|B]] train), which runs on an elevated track above Stillwell Avenue, 86th Street, and New Utrecht Avenue in Brooklyn, with the chase ending just north of the [[62nd Street (BMT West End Line)|62nd Street]] station. At that point, the train hits a [[train stop]] but is going too fast to stop in time and collides with the train ahead of it, which has just left the station.{{efn|[[R42 (New York City Subway car)|R42 cars]] 4572 and 4573 were chosen for the film and had no [[B (New York City Subway service)|B subway]] [[rollsign]]s because they were normally assigned to the [[N (New York City Subway service)|N subway train]]. Consequently, they operated during the movie with an N displayed. As of July 2009, these cars were withdrawn from service, but are preserved as part of the [[New York Transit Museum]] fleet.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}}}

The scene's most famous shot is from a front bumper mount and shows the streets from a low angle. Director of photography [[Owen Roizman]] wrote in ''[[American Cinematographer]]'' magazine in 1972 that the camera was undercranked to 18 frames per second to enhance the sense of speed; this effect can be seen on a car at a red light whose exhaust pipe is pumping smoke at an accelerated rate. Other shots involved stunt drivers who were supposed to barely miss Doyle's car, but due to errors in timing, accidental collisions occurred that were left in the film.<ref>This account of the shooting is described in ''Making the Connection'', supra.</ref> Friedkin said he used [[Carlos Santana|Santana]]'s cover of [[Peter Green (musician)|Peter Green]]'s song "[[Black Magic Woman]]" during editing to help shape the chase sequence. The song does not appear in the film, but the chase scene "did have a sort of pre-ordained rhythm to it that came from the music".<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6070626 | title=From 'Popeye' Doyle to Puccini: William Friedkin with Robert Siegel (interview) | date=September 14, 2006 | work=NPR.org | access-date=August 2, 2014 | archive-date=August 12, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812151550/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6070626 | url-status=live}}</ref>

The scene concludes with Doyle confronting Nicoli at the stairs leading to the elevated train track and shooting him as he tries to run back up them, as captured in a still shot used in a theatrical release poster for the film. Many of the police officers who were advisers for the film objected to the scene on the grounds that shooting a suspect in the back is murder, not self-defense, but Friedkin stood by it, saying he was "secure in my conviction that that's exactly what [[Eddie Egan]] [the model for Doyle] would have done, and Eddie was on the set while all of this was being shot".<ref>Director's commentary on DVD</ref><ref>"Making the Connection" and "The Poughkeepsie Shuffle", documentaries on ''The French Connection'' available on the deluxe DVD.</ref>

===Filming locations===
''The French Connection'' was filmed at the following locations:

{{div col}}
* 50th Street and First Avenue, New York City (where Doyle waits outside the restaurant)<ref name="reel-streets"/>
* 82nd Street and Fifth Avenue (near the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]), New York City (Weinstock's apartment)<ref name="reel-streets"/>
* 86th Street, Brooklyn, New York City (the chase scene)<ref name="worldwide"/>
* 91 Wyckoff Avenue, [[Bushwick, Brooklyn]] (Sal and Angie's Cafe)<ref name="reel-streets"/>
* 940 2nd Avenue, Manhattan (where Charnier and Nicoli buy fruit and Popeye is watching)<ref name="reel-streets"/>
* 177 Mulberry Street, [[Little Italy, Manhattan|Little Italy]], New York City (where Sal makes a drop)<ref name="reel-streets"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.scoutingny.com/french-connection-filming-locations/2/|title=The Filming Locations of The French Connection, Then and Now|date=May 21, 2014|website=Scouting NY|language=en-US|access-date=June 15, 2016|archive-date=August 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810170101/http://www.scoutingny.com/french-connection-filming-locations/2/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Avenue De L'Amiral Ganteaume, [[Cassis]], [[Bouches-du-Rhône]], France (Charnier's house)<ref name="reel-streets"/>
* [[Château d'If]], [[Marseille]], Bouches-du-Rhône, France (where Charnier and Nicoli meet Devereaux){{citation needed|date=March 2025}} 
* Chez Fon Fon, Rue Du Vallon Des Auffes, Marseille (where Charnier dines)<ref name="reel-streets">{{cite web |title=The French Connection |work=Reel Streets |url=http://www.reelstreets.com/index.php?option=com_films_online&task=view&id=1249 |access-date=May 11, 2013 |archive-date=February 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222135509/http://www.reelstreets.com/index.php?option=com_films_online&task=view&id=1249 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Columbia Heights, Squibb Hill, Brooklyn, New York City (where Sal parks the Lincoln)<ref name="reel-streets"/>
* Le Copain, 891 First Avenue, New York City (where Charnier dines){{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
* Doral Park Avenue Hotel (now 70 Park Avenue Hotel), 38th Street and Park Avenue, New York City (Devereaux's hotel)<ref name="worldwide"/>
* Dover Street, near the Brooklyn Bridge, New York City (where Sal leaves the Lincoln)<ref name="reel-streets"/>
* Forest Avenue and Putnam Avenue, [[Ridgewood, Queens]], New York City{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
* [[42nd Street Shuttle]] platform at [[Grand Central Terminal]], New York City<ref name="worldwide"/>
* [[Henry Hudson Parkway]] [[New York State Route 9A|Route 9A]] at Junction 24 (car accident)<ref name="reel-streets"/>
* Marlboro Housing Project, Avenues V, W, and X off Stillwell Avenue, Brooklyn, New York City (where Popeye lives)<ref name="worldwide"/>
* Montee Des Accoules, Marseille<ref name="reel-streets"/>
* Onderdonk Avenue, [[Ridgewood, Queens]], New York City{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
* Plage du bestouan, Cassis{{citation needed|date=March 2025}} 
* Putnam Avenue between Fresh Pond Road and Forest Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens, New York City{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
* [[Randalls Island]], East River, New York City<ref name="worldwide"/>
* [[Ratner's]] Restaurant, 138 Delancey Street, New York City (where Sal and Angie emerge)<ref name="worldwide"/>
* Remsen Street, Brooklyn, New York City (where Charnier and Nicoli watch the car being unloaded)<ref name="reel-streets"/>
* Rio Piedras (now demolished), 912 Broadway, Brooklyn, New York City (where the Santa Claus chase starts)<ref name="reel-streets"/> 
* Rapid Park Garage, East 38th Street near Park Avenue, New York City (where Cloudy follows Sal)<ref name="reel-streets"/>
* Ronaldo Maia Flowers, 27 East 67th Street, New York City (where Charnier gives Popeye the slip)<ref name="worldwide"/>
* [[The Roosevelt Hotel (New York)|The Roosevelt Hotel]], 45th Street and Madison Avenue, New York City<ref name="worldwide"/>
* Rue des Moulins off Rue Du Panier, Old Town of Marseille (where the French policeman with the bread walks)<ref name="reel-streets"/>
* La Samaritaine at 2 Quai Du Port, Marseille<ref name="reel-streets"/>
* South Street at Market Street at the foot of Manhattan Bridge, New York City (where Doyle emerges from a bar)<ref name="worldwide">{{cite web |title=The French Connection film locations |work=The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations |url=http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/f/frenchconn.html |access-date=May 11, 2013 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230349/http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/f/frenchconn.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Triborough Bridge]] to Randall's Island toll bridge at the east end of 125th Street, New York City<ref name="worldwide"/>
* [[Wards Island]], New York City (the final shootout)<ref name="worldwide"/>
* The [[National Mall]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], near [[United States Capitol|The Capitol]] (where Charnier and Sal meet)<ref name="worldwide"/>
* Westbury Hotel, 15 East 69th Street, New York City (Charnier's hotel)<ref name="worldwide"/>
{{div col end}}