Just in case you haven’t already busted out your copy of The French Connection to go on the ultimate ride-along.
This week marked its 50th anniversary and Gene Hackman joined William Friedkin to discuss the celebrated classic.
Friedkin would get the surprise of his career as The French Connection was nominated for 7 Oscars and took home 5, including Best Picture (Philip D’Antoni), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Hackman), Best Director (Friedkin), Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Ernest Tidyman) and Best Film Editing (Gerald B. Greenberg).
Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, The French Connection premiered in theaters on October 7, 1971, starring Gene Hackman as Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle and Roy Scheider as Buddy Russo, two NYC cops in the Narcotics Bureau who stumble onto a drug smuggling job with a French connection.