Product: French Connection [VHS] (1971)
Rating: 3.0
A Shocking Action Film for its Day
In Marseilles France a man watches other men. Somebody has seen him and follows him home to take care of this problem. In Brooklyn two cops chase a man to ask him about drugs. Back in France a wealthy man gives a present to his petite amie. Back in New York Popeye Doyle visits a bar and sees a known gangster. He decides to follow their car. We see how professionals tail a suspect through the streets of New York city. Back in France there is a meeting at the historic Chateau D'If. In New York two policemen arrive at a bar to search everyone [no warrant?]. One man is selected for questioning. Doyle believes a big shipment of heroin will arrive in New York soon. We see a French TV star arrive in New York with his Continental.The police are able to wiretap that store and a home in the hope of finding drugs. Doyle's private life is shown - a mess. Abandoned and confiscated automobiles are sold at auction. The film shows the classic 3-man tail following the luncheon owner. Two others come into the picture. All are followed. There is big money in this shipment; big money is behind this deal (he knows about the wiretaps!). The film shows many scenes of New York city in the early 1970s. Doyle's cover is blown by subway tag. An auto accident upsets some plans. Then there is a sniper on a building! Unbelievable, but it leads to a classic car chase that is used to fill screen time.Now they follow the brown Continental to where it is parked downtown in a deserted area. Who will pick it up? The car is impounded and taken in for a search. Nothing is found hidden inside. But why is it 120 pounds overweight? They discover the reason. Frog One drives it to the rendezvous. The heroin is transferred to a new hiding place and money changes hands. But a glitch develops in their best laid plan. An isolated area can act like a closed trap. There is a shoot out to provide added drama. [Believable?]There is irony when they show the sentences handed out, and the reward for Doyle and Russo. The language in this film stretched the conventions. Was it due to the producer G. David Schine? The action in this film overshadows the weak plot. [Sixty kilograms weight 132 pounds. A quart of water weighs about 2 lbs. Was there enough space for all that powder?]