1971 Iconic Crime Classic Ranked Among ‘Best Movies of All Time’

In April 1972, The French Connection took home five Academy Awards, including Best Director for William Friedkin, Actor for Gene Hackman, and Picture for Philip D’Antoni.

The film about a relentless New York cop tearing through the city pursuing a French heroin ring was a massive success. With Friedkin’s guerilla-style filmmaking, a cast of acting powerhouses, and one of the most white-knuckle car chase sequences ever put on film, the iconic crime classic is now officially one of Rotten Tomatoes’ Best Movies of All Time.

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Adapted from the same-name true-story book by Robin Moore, the film recruited real-life detectives to tell its gritty story. Friedkin and his cast worked with the NYPD’s Sonny Grosso, Eddie Egan, and Randy Jurgensen, who all advised on set and had parts in the movie.

Hackman’s character, Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, was based on Egan, while Grosso was the basis for Buddy “Cloudy” Russo. In the film, Egan plays Walt Simonson, captain of the NYPD Narcotics Bureau, while Grosso plays Clyde Klein, one of the feds on the case. Jurgensen has a speaking role as an NYPD sergeant and is actually in the front seat during the infamous high-speed chase. 

Shot in real traffic, among real pedestrians, Jurgensen said the stunt driver reached speeds of 65 miles per hour in a commandeered 1971 Pontiac Le Mans, as he pursued a hitman fleeing on the BMT West Line in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. 

“I’m saying to myself, I’m going to die today,” Jurgensen told Katy Trail Weekly in 2023. “Even though the car’s doing 65 miles an hour, my mind was doing 90 miles an hour, and it was like, just let us get through this thing without hurting somebody.”

Side note: The real-life drug bust took several months to develop and never involved a high-speed chase or shootout. But, hey, Hollywood, amiright?

In 1995, Egan passed away, followed by Grosso in 2020, and Hackman in February 2025, per The New York Post. Jurgensen, 92, is now the last living French Connection detective.

Hackman’s legacy continues to be remembered in retrospectives and screenings across the globe, one of which is happening this Sunday, April 19, at London’s Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square. Can’t make the jump across the pond? There are easier ways to see the film.

The French Connection is available to buy or rent on Prime Video.

Related: Box Office Smash Ranked No. 2 ‘Greatest Film of the Century’ Took 36 Years to Launch