The French Connection - videos, teasers and stills from filming
All videos, teasers and footage from the filming of the film "The French Connection"
The French Connection (1971)
Timing:
1:44 (104 min)
7.531/10
1760
1760
7.548/10
14748
14748
7.7/10
150000
150000
What's left behind the scenes
- It was the first R-rated film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture after the implementation of the film rating system.
- In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
- The American Film Institute has recognized Friedkin's film as one of the greatest films in history.
- Filming began in November 1970 and was completed in March 1971.
- Peter Boyle was initially chosen for the role of "Popeye" Doyle, but he turned it down because his agent believed the film would be a failure.
- Friedkin was opposed to Hackman being cast in the lead role and envisioned Paul Newman for it, but his candidacy was rejected due to budget limitations. Jackie Gleason and New York columnist Jimmy Breslin, who had never acted before, were then considered for the role. However, by that time, Gleason had become "box office poison" after the failure of the film "Zigzag" with his participation, and Breslin refused to get behind the wheel in the chase scene. Steve McQueen was also considered for the lead, but he didn't want to star in another police film after "Bullitt." Furthermore, his fee, like Newman's, exceeded the film's budget. Charles Bronson also auditioned for the part. Friedkin almost agreed to give the role to Rod Taylor (who, according to Hackman, actively pursued it), also approved by the studio, until he finally settled on Hackman.
- The choice of Fernando Rey for the role of smuggler Alain Charnier turned out to be a happy accident. Friedkin asked his assistant to find a Spanish actor he had seen in Luis Buñuel's French film "Belle de Jour." Francisco Rabal played the role, but Friedkin didn't know his name, and instead contacted Rey, who had appeared in several other Buñuel films. After Rabal was finally located, it turned out he didn't speak French or English, and Rey was cast in the film. However, in an even greater irony, after editing, the crew found Rey's French unacceptable for the film. The sound engineers decided to dub his French, while preserving the English lines.
- The film's plot is based on real events, as well as their fictionalization by Robin Moore.
- According to William Friedkin, his decision to make the film arose during a conversation with Howard Hawks, whose daughter was living with Friedkin at the time. Friedkin asked Hawks what he thought of his films, to which Hawks bluntly replied that they were all "terrible." In his opinion, people didn't need stories about other people's problems or psychological pretension: "All they need is action," he said, and advised Friedkin to "make a good chase. Make it better than anyone ever has."
- The car chase scene with Popeye pursuing the hitman Nicolai has been included in film schools worldwide and is considered iconic for the further development of the "thriller" genre.
- It was the first film with an “R” rating to win an Academy Award for Best Picture since the introduction of the film association’s rating system.
- In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry of the United States as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
- Initially, Peter Boyle was chosen for the role of “Popeye” Doyle, but he turned it down because his agent believed the film would be a failure.
- Friedkin was against casting Hackman in the lead role and envisioned Paul Newman for it, but his candidacy was rejected due to budget limitations. Jackie Gleason and New York columnist Jimmy Breslin, who had never acted before, were then considered for the role. However, by that time, Gleason had become “poison” for box office receipts after the failure of the film “Gigot” with his participation, and Breslin refused to get behind the wheel of a car in the chase scene. Steve McQueen was also considered for the lead role, but he didn’t want to star in another police film after “Bullitt.” Furthermore, his fee, like Newman’s, exceeded the film’s budget. Charles Bronson also auditioned for the role. Friedkin almost agreed to give the role to Rod Taylor (who, according to Hackman, actively sought it), also approved by the studio, before finally settling on Hackman.
- The casting of Fernando Rey, who played the smuggler Alain Charnier, turned out to be a successful mistake. Friedkin asked his assistant to find a Spanish actor he had seen in Luis Buñuel’s French film “Belle de Jour.” Francisco Rabal played the role, but Friedkin didn’t know his name, and instead contacted Rey, who had appeared in several other Buñuel films. After Rabal was finally found, it turned out that he didn’t speak either French or English, and Rey was cast in the film. However, in an even greater irony, after the film was edited, the crew found Rey’s French unacceptable for the film. The sound engineers decided to dub his French, but retain the lines in English.
- According to William Friedkin, his decision to make the film arose during a conversation with Howard Hawks, whose daughter was living with Friedkin at the time. Friedkin asked Hawks what he thought of his films, to which Hawks bluntly replied that they were all “terrible.” In his opinion, people didn’t need stories about other people’s problems or psychological pretension: “All they need is action,” he said, and advised Friedkin to “make a good chase. Make it better than anyone else has.”
- The car chase scene with Popeye pursuing the hitman Nicolai has been included in film schools worldwide and is considered iconic for the further development of the “thriller” genre.
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