Meet Popeye the streetwise man

Ask a well-versed film lover what the greatest car chase in movie history is and they may cite Steve McQueen’s San Francisco pursuit in Bullitt (1968); the high-speed realism of Ronin (1998); the desert spectacle of Mad Max: Fury Road (2015); Jason Bourne’s Mini Cooper escape in The Bourne Identity (2002); the wrong-way freeway madness of To Live and Die in L.A. (1985); the 40-minute “Eleanor” chase in Gone in 60 Seconds (1974); the comedic destruction in The Blues Brothers (1980); Batman’s Tumbler and Batpod pursuit in The Dark Knight (2008); and the music-synced getaway of Baby Driver (2017). But we all know the real answer is The French Connection (1971), which boasts a standout high-speed chase sequence involving undercover detective Popeye Doyle (played by Gene Hackman, who was a curious choice at the time in that he wasn’t yet an established star). This tense crime thriller, directed by William Friedkin, follows two New York City narcotics detectives, Doyle and Buddy “Cloudy” Russo (Roy Scheider), as they pursue a French heroin-smuggling operation led by the suave kingpin Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey). Known for its gritty, documentary-style realism, the film also features Tony Lo Bianco as mobster Sal Boca and Marcel Bozzuffi as Charnier’s ruthless hitman, Pierre Nicoli, highlighting the dangerous, obsessive lengths Doyle is willing to go to crack the case.

To listen to a recording of our CineVerse group discussion of The French Connection, conducted last week, click here.

Beating the release of Dirty Harry to the punch by just a few weeks, Doyle stands out as an amoral anti-hero cop who’s not necessarily motivated by the quest for law, order, and justice but by obsession, anger, and selfish determination. We root for this bigoted, roguish, violent intimidator because he’s the protagonist of the story, and we’re intrigued by his mission to stop these criminals, but his actions are morally troubling.

This begs the question: Are we required to care and root for a thoroughly unlikable character? Consider that several people die unnecessarily due to Doyle’s relentlessness in pursuing the heroin-related criminals. Doyle prefigures Robert DeNiro’s turn in Raging Bull, which also featured another main character many viewers loathe.

The French Connection depicts the ugly, dirty, gritty realism of urban decay, warts-and-all New York circa 1971. The landscape is hellish, dark, gray, and cold. The film employs a realistic style via handheld cameras, location shooting in New York and France, and a you-are-there verité sensibility that makes us feel as if we’re watching a documentary.

The car chase scene tops any one previously filmed, including Bullitt, in terms of action, tension, stunts, realism, and danger. It’s a riveting centerpiece of the film, but arguably given too much significance in the grand scheme of the movie. However, as Roger Ebert said, “in a sense, the whole movie is a chase,” which makes this scene perhaps the centerpiece. The French Connection paved the way for extraordinary car chase sequences that came thereafter, including Vanishing Point (1971); Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991); The Rock (1996); The Fast and the Furious (2001); Death Proof (2007); Drive (2011); and John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023).

By contrast, much of the earlier segments of the picture are slowly paced, appropriate given that these men are on tedious stakeout detail. The car chase helps release some of that bottled up tension and accelerate the rhythm and pace.

The ending is decidedly bleak and nihilistic, much like many of the films of this era, including Midnight Cowboy (1969), Klute (1971), A Clockwork Orange (1971), The Godfather (1972), and Chinatown (1974). Note that this was the first R-rated film to garner the Best Picture Academy Award.

What helps make Doyle such an interesting, atypical law enforcement character, especially for a police procedural like this one, is that he’s not given any backstory, and we’re not shown any flashbacks or provided any explanatory exposition; we do know that his hunches once got a good copy killed, but it’s never explained. We’re also never told how he got his “Popeye” nickname, and he’s not given any love interest, means by which to relieve his tensions, reward, or recognize his hard work.

Today, even antihero characters are often allowed a shot at redemption by the end of the film. Popeye isn’t redeemed or rehabilitated, and he garners little to no sympathy from viewers. His palpable racism and recurrent use of the “N” word certainly don’t endear him to modern audiences.

This film helped usher in the era of the vigilante, streetwise cop character, made further famous by Dirty Harry, Charles Bronson, and 1970s police shows like Baretta, Starsky and Hutch, and others.

The French Connection reminds us that good doesn’t always triumph over evil, and innocent people often pay the price for the pursuit of justice. Consider that most of the criminals get away without being punished, and that innocent citizens are often put in harm’s way by Doyle and his determination to catch the bad guy.

Pay attention to doubles and doppelgangers as motifs in this movie: For example, consider how Doyle is contrasted with the villains around him, including the French criminals, who savor their seven-course meal while Popeye has to eat cold pizza outside, or how Doyle collapses next to the villain he shoots in the back.

Similar works

• The Lineup (1958)
• Bullitt (1968)
• Madigan (1968)
• Z (1969)
• Dirty Harry (1971)
• Serpico (1973)
• The Seven-Ups (1973)
• Mean Streets (1973)
• The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
• Taxi Driver (1976)

Other films directed by William Friedkin

• The Exorcist
• Sorcerer
• To Live and Die in L.A.