Dom Robinson reviews
The French Connection
Distributed by
Encore Entertainment
Cat.no: EE 1127
Cert: 18
Running time: 99 minutes
Sides: 2 (CLV)
Year: 1971
Pressing: 1998
Chapters: 24 (23+1)
Sound: Mono
Widescreen: 1.85:1 (Spherical)
Price: £19.99
Extras : Original Theatrical Trailer
Director:
(The Exorcist, Cruising, Jade, The Birthday Party, The Boys In The Band )
Producers:
Screenplay:
Ernest Tidyman (adapted from the novel by Robin Moore )
Music:
Cast:
Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle: Gene Hackman (Absolute Power, The Birdcage, Bonnie and Clyde, The Chamber, Crimson Tide, French Connection II, Get Shorty, No Way Out, Superman 1, 2 & 4, Unforgiven, Wyatt Earp )
Alain Charnier: Fernando Rey (Companeros, French Connection II, Naked Tango )
Buddy Russo: Roy Scheider (2010, Jaws, Jaws 2, Klute, Marathon Man, Naked Lunch, Romeo Is Bleeding, The Russia House )
Sal Boca: Tony Lo Bianco (City Heat, FIST, The Honeymoon Killers )
Pierre Nicoli: Marcel Bozzuffi
Mulderig: Bill Hickman
T he French Connection is based on a true story, following Jimmy "Popeye"
Doyle, a maverick New York City narcotics detective who, along with his partner
Buddy "Cloudy" Russo and FBI nemesis Mulderig, relentlessly pursues a French
drug dealer named Alain Charnier and a multi-million dollar consignment of
heroin being shipped from Marseilles to New York.
One Christmas, Popeye and Cloudy are on an undercover assignment to bust a
two-bit drug dealer. They quickly discover that an anxiously-awaited
consignment of drugs has been delayed - and when the dealers learn of Popeye's
identity, he becomes a prime target for assassination. This sets the stage for
one of the most memorable scenes in film history, a ten-minute high-speed car
chase through the streets of New York City, which was hailed by critics
worldwide as one of the most exciting ever staged and which has been parodied
in more films than I care to remember including The Blues Brothers .
The French Connection won five Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor for
Gene Hackman, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Film Editing (Jerry
Greenbury); and was followed by a sequel, The French Connection II in
1975 and a TV movie, Popeye Doyle in 1986, the latter of which starred
Ed O'Neill as the eponymous hero.
It's easy to see why Gene Hackman won his Oscar, but a Best Supporting
Actor Oscar for Roy Scheider wouldn't have gone amiss either as he
always puts in a good performance whether it's battling against evil in Jaws,
battling against the odds in 2010 , or battling against the plain weird
things in life in Naked Lunch .
Although I haven't seen the Popeye Doyle TV Movie, I couldn't really
see the man who plays Married... with Children 's Al Bundy as a tough,
no-nonsense detective, but nothing in life is impossible.
The picture quality is mostly very good save for some scenes which have the same
soft tones as other films from the early 1970's and an occasional slight jump
in the picture which look as if they were prevalent on the master copy. These
anomolies are certainly no cause for concern though.
The widescreen ratio is very close to the 1.85:1 stated on the sleeve, looking
more like 1.78:1 (16:9), so perhaps Fox are mastering a number of 1.85:1 films
in 16:9 in case they sign up for DVD, since many such discs are cropped to 16:9
when they're put out as "16:9 enhanced" to produce a better quality picture on
widescreen televisions.
The sound is mono and comes across fairly clearly most of the time although
there is some sound break-up during the brief conversation between Doyle and
Russo after going through th toll-bridge. Other than dialogue, there's not much
to get excited about on the whole, save for the scenes featuring The Three
Degrees when come their music bursts out of the screen.
The disc contains 23 chapters which are well spread out throughout the film,
plus the original theatrical trailer as a bonus on side two.
Overall, this is a first-rate action thriller with two of Hollywood's best in
the lead roles and at a penny under twenty quid, it's a release that's hard
to ignore. Now, here's hoping The French Connection II isn't far behind.
FILM : *****
PICTURE QUALITY : ****
SOUND QUALITY : ***
EXTRAS : *
-------------------------------
OVERALL : ***
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1998.
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