The Chase Scene Was Basically Illegal — And That’s Why It Rules

When people talk about The French Connection, the first thing that always comes up is the chase scene.

And yeah — it deserves it.

We’re talking about one of the most iconic, chaotic, nerve-jangling car chases ever filmed. Popeye Doyle’s racing through Brooklyn in a borrowed Pontiac, trying to keep up with a guy on an elevated subway train. It’s not clean. It’s not slick. It’s absolutely not safe. And that’s why it still hits.

Here’s the wild part: they didn’t even have a permit.

Seriously. Friedkin and his team just went out and shot it — no permits, no closed streets, no extras playing civilians. They hired a few off-duty cops to help block traffic and hoped they didn’t kill anyone. Some of the cars on the road were real people just trying to get to work. And that tension? It’s baked into every frame.

No Sirens. No CGI. Just Pure Grit.

There’s no music pushing you through this chase. No siren blaring. No cutaways to a control room or someone shouting over a radio. It’s just Doyle, a big American car, and a ton of bad luck for anyone else on the road.

Stunt driver Bill Hickman was behind the wheel, and Friedkin — yes, the director — was reportedly riding shotgun with a handheld camera. They weren’t faking anything. The near-misses are real near-misses.

Some moments were planned (like the baby carriage), but a lot of it was just captured on the fly. And because of that, the scene has this unstable, electric energy that you just don’t get anymore.

It Works Because the Movie Builds to It

Part of what makes this chase so intense is the slow burn that comes before it. You’ve got scenes of surveillance, long stretches with no dialogue, handheld cameras trailing suspects through grimy streets and under train trestles.

Then boom — gunshots, panic, and Doyle hijacking a car to chase down a guy who just tried to kill him.

It’s not flashy. It’s frantic.

You Couldn’t Shoot This Today

If a studio tried to film this scene now, it’d be a multi-week shoot with permits, insurance, stunt drivers, CGI traffic, and a digital pre-vis. It’d look slick. It’d be safe. And it would never have the raw edge this one has.

That’s what makes it work — it feels like it wasn’t supposed to happen. Like something went off the rails and someone just kept the camera rolling.

Bottom Line?

This thing was filmed on the edge.
You feel it in your gut.
That’s why it still rules.