Jan. 14, 2026

French Connection II (1975) — Addiction, Powerlessness, and Descent in John Frankenheimer’s Crime Film

French Connection II (1975) — Addiction, Powerlessness, and Descent in John Frankenheimer’s Crime Film
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French Connection II (1975) — Addiction, Powerlessness, and Descent in John Frankenheimer’s Crime Film
French Connection II (1975) — Addiction, Powerlessness, and Descent in John Frankenheimer’s Crime Film
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Season 2

In this episode of The Cinematic Flashback Podcast, Chuck and Matt revisit French Connection II (1975), directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Gene Hackman as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle and Fernando Rey as Alain Charnier, and explore why this sequel takes the story in a darker and more psychological direction.

The discussion focuses on how the film deliberately shifts tone from the original French Connection. Instead of repeating the gritty, documentary-style realism of William Friedkin’s film, Frankenheimer creates a more controlled and structured experience, placing Popeye Doyle in an unfamiliar environment where he is stripped of his authority, language, and cultural footing.

Chuck and Matt talk about the film’s strongest narrative choice: turning Doyle into a “fish out of water” by moving the story to Marseille and removing subtitles during large portions of the French dialogue. This forces the audience to share Doyle’s confusion and isolation, mirroring his lack of control over his surroundings.

They explore the reversal of power between Doyle and Charnier, noting how Charnier appears stronger and more in control on his home turf, while Doyle becomes increasingly vulnerable — emotionally, physically, and psychologically.

A major portion of the episode is devoted to the film’s darkest storyline: Doyle’s kidnapping and forced heroin addiction. Chuck and Matt discuss how this unexpected descent becomes the emotional center of the film, showing a side of Popeye that is rarely seen — broken, powerless, and in recovery — and giving Gene Hackman one of his most challenging performances.

The conversation also covers:

  • The contrast between the gritty realism of the first film and the more traditional cinematic style of the sequel
  • The absence of Doyle’s original partner and how that changes the character dynamic
  • The new French police counterpart, Barthélémy, and his skepticism of Doyle’s methods
  • The way the chase sequences echo the original film while evolving into something different
  • The moral ambiguity of the ending and whether justice truly feels complete
Chuck and Matt reflect on the role of sequels in 1970s cinema and whether French Connection II feels like a cash-in or a meaningful continuation. They ultimately conclude that while the film is very different from its predecessor, it succeeds by leaning into character rather than repetition.

They agree that French Connection II may not be as iconic as the original, but it remains a bold, unsettling, and surprisingly effective sequel that grooves through the decades by taking real risks and deepening its central character instead of simply copying what worked before.

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WEBVTT

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Very soil.

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We can kind of lay at the office.

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Aren't you why you Popeye?

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I'm sean Ye's place.

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Sally remembered it.

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It's a hotel Colonade used to be the Hotel Tanger

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that's on a roo.

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Wrap up two, You got it? Stay where you are? Okay?

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Oh, Henry, bring some water.

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A lot of it.

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Welcome to the Cinematic Flashback Podcast. Get ready to hop

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into the wayback machine as we journey through the wild

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fold and unforgettable films of the nineteen seventies. Each episode,

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we break down a classic movie or forgotten Jim by

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exploring the who's who of each film, diving into the

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premising plot, seeing how it performed then and now, and

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wrapping things up by asking did it groove through the

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decades or did it lose its feat? Today we're going

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to Marseille to take care of some unfinished business in

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nineteen seventy five. The French Connection, by director John Frankenheimer

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and starring Gene Hackman is Jimmy, Popeye Doyle and Fernando

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Ray as Alan Charnier. And joining me again back on

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the mic is my co host Matt Sargent. Matt, It's

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great to have you back, and hey, also, welcome to

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season two. Can you believe it?

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I cannot believe we're in season two. That's amazing. And

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we're starting off season two with a sequel to the

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first film we did, the French Connection, And if you

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guys have been following along, you probably know how I

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feel about sequels.

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There's only one good sequel, and that's Aliens.

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That is correct.

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Hey, listen. I wanted to either do French Connection two

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or Magnum Force, the second Dirty Harry film, because each

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of those I thought were pretty good films to talk about.

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We're still going to get some more Harry Callahan, but yes,

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I decided to go with Yeah, I decided to go

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with French Connection two because I like Gene Hackman. I

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know you like Gene Hackman, and this is kind of

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an interesting film that comes underneath the header of did

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we really need a French Connection too? And I couldn't

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remember the details of this film, so I wasn't really

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sure if I liked it or not, and I was

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very curious to see what my reaction was going to be.

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After we watched The French Connection, which I thought was

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a wonderful movie.

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I'm exactly in agreement with you on this, Chuck. I

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vaguely remembered parts of the movie that I remembered, but

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I did not remember we're part of this movie, if

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you get what I'm saying. Like certain vignettes I knew,

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but I didn't know they were this movie. And as

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much as I had bad mouth sequels, this was actually

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I thought an entertaining movie and very interesting, and I

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love that a lot of it was in a foreign

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language without subtitles, which is kind of unusual. Usually they

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really pander to American audience, especially nowadays, they either dub

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everything or there's subtitles. And there is a good part

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of this movie when they're speaking French that they are

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not putting any subtitles in you just having to figure

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it out.

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That right there is what really sold me into liking

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the film. That when the director decided to do that

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no subtitles, we're gonna make you feel as out of

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place as we're gonna make Popeye Oil feel in Marseille.

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Yeah, yeah, a fish out of water for sure. And

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that was a cool part of this movie is that

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he is in his element, you know, at which we

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saw in the French Connection, you know the original. He

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is the master of his domain. He knows the ins

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and outs, he knows the bad people, he knows what

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to say, and even in this movie, he tries to

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trot out his patented do you pick your feet in

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Gipsie and it just falls flat, which I thought was

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a really great thing to do. Now, I would never

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have had the guts to even try that line being

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in a foreign country, but it just cemented the fact

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that he was definitely a fish out of water in

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this particular film.

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So you know how the original French Connection came from

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an actual real case. French Connection two is a totally

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made up story about Heroin going missing. Well after the

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real French Connection bust, the New York PD did lose

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large amounts of that Heroin quietly checked out of the

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property room and it was replaced with flour millions of

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dollars in drugs just gone. So to borrow a little

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bit from Charner, let's just say there were plenty of

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people who preferred taking the money instead.

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Well, who knows what happens today, but we would think

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nowadays it would be a little more difficult to slip

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into the evidence room and switch things out. But it

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was the wild and wooly seventies for sure.

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For sure. Well, this episode comes with a spoiler warning.

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If you want to watch the film, go ahead and

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do so. It's not currently available to stream for free,

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but it is readily available to rent at all the

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usual locations. So let's go ahead and check out the

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trailer for The French Connection two.

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French Connection two the only film that could follow The

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French Connection. When Gene Hackman created the character of Detective

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Popeye Doyle in The French Connection, his performance won the

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Academy Award for Best Actor. Now twentieth Century Fox presents

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Gene Hackman in a new look at the legend of

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Popeye Doyle in the pursuit of the French Connection, an

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incredible chase that leads to.

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Marsee, France, the crossroads of Europe and Africa, the beginning

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of the Raguera, the world's busiest sport for the trading

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of heroine, and the headquarters are for out one the

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French Connection, But Marseille is in Manhattan.

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Book.

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I'm going to be a lamp post in New York

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and the president of France.

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But I came over for one thing, and one thing

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on that gets shown, and that's what I'm gonna do.

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A trap is set for a land Chaangnier, the French Connection,

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and Popeye is the bait in an extraordinary game of

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cat and mouse, a game where there are no rules

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and there are no winners until the bait gets hooked.

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I must say, mister Doyle, that to work the one

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person I did not want to see him.

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A car honest, quite stupid, quite honest. Not what you

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or set up one night? Whose idea wasn't.

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This is Popeye's revenge.

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The final chapter and the pursuit of the French Connection.

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Why don't you go back to New York and kill

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for lists? Is that's what you do best?

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In nineteen seventy one, The French Connection won the Academy

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Award for Best Picture of the Year. Only one film

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could follow it, Gene Hackman in French Connection two.

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French Connection two was released on May twenty first, nineteen

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seventy five, and was distributed by twentieth Century Fox. With

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a budget of four point three million, A grossed twelve

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point five million worldwide, which was a good return back then.

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Critics received French Connection to positively, praising Gene Hackman's performance

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and the film's grim intensity, even if it could not

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quite escape the shadow of the original. The movie was

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directed by John Frankenheimer, who also directed The Manchurian Candidate,

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Seven Days in May Ronan and Black Sunday. Alexander Jacobs

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wrote the screenplay. He was also known for The Seven

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Ups with Roy Scheider, and this was one of his

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last screenplays. The story was by Robert and Laurie Hamil.

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Robert went on to write the story for Flight of

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the Intruder, which also starred Gene Hackman back in the eighties,

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and Don Ellis was back to compose the soundtrack and

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Claude Renoir was behind the camera, and he was also

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a director on movies like The Spy Who Loved Me.

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It's amazing when you start to tie the people together

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with the various films and how they weave in and out.

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It's super interesting to see how their careers progressed and

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is great with us sort of focusing on the seventies

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because there was that whole new class of people in

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some of the old school in that mixing. Very very cool.

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This is one of the best parts of looking at

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these nineteen seventies movies. Is that kind of collision of worlds.

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I find it neat when we come across another director

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or someone who made the film and we've already covered

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one of their films before. So whether you liked it

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or not, you know it was it's good.

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You know, it's neat.

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Okay. Actors returning is of course, Gene Hackman is Jimmy

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Popeye Doyle, and Fernando Ray as Alan Chernier. We got

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a lot more of him in this movie as he

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was in his element in Marseille. I thought that Gene

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Hackman he seemed more confident in this film, and I

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don't know if that's how we was playing Popeye or

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if that was just him having more experience since the

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first outing.

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He's great actor. Let's just hands down, Gene Ackman is

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you know, Oh yeah, he's He's amazing, and in some

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of the parts to the movie where he's really encumbered

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by what he's portraying, it's amazing that he portrays it

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like so well. It seems to me you talked about

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is it Fernando Ray was that? Yeah, Fernando Ray is

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he was really good in this. He was just just

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swarmy enough, you know, kidbetzing with the American NATO general

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and having lunch and fine wines and beautiful women. He

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was a little like Goldfinger in that realm, you know

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what I mean, you know, a little a bad person

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but kind of a nice guy. It seemed like.

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I think last time we described him as a bit

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of a dandy, yes, but like in this one, he

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just seemed I don't know, he just seemed like like

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someone's grandpa, you know, just very rich grandpa.

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Yeah. The actor who portrayed him, I mean, he did

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a great job. I thought it was funny because you know,

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at a certain point he has to kind of walk

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fast to get away, and at no point does he

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lose his cool.

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Yeah.

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I actually really really liked the guy who played the

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police counterpart to Gene Hackman.

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Yeah, that was Bernard Fressan as Barta.

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Lea May, Barta le May.

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That was It was so funny because ja Hackman shows up,

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He's like, well, bartle me, bartle me.

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This is what was funny about Popeye is is he

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comes over there. He is the typical loud, rude American

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who really thinks that if you if you speak slowly

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and loudly in English, people will eventually understand what you

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mean and nope.

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The bar cafe scene is hilarious. It's one of the

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best scenes ever where brilliant. He can't make any time

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with these young ladies, so he forces the bartender to

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drink with him and gets the bartender hammered.

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It's it was funny because he's asking him for well,

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he starts with bourbon and then he says jack Daniels

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and Jackie. The bartender can't understand him, and so he

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says jack and then he says key for what and

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he goes, yeah, yeah, yeah, jack Key, Jackie, Jackie Daniels.

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It was funny.

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It was just so that was just a great showing

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him out of place, and yeah, it was good.

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It was good.

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I definitely enjoyed those scenes and it was well done.

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So and then that guy you said.

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That Bernard pres song, Yeah, he.

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Was really good. I really liked him. And then the

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last guy was the heavy was Leotard as Josh.

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He was good too.

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Of course, Sharnier's original henchman. He didn't make it off

220
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the elevated train in the first film, and Cloudy couldn't

221
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make the trip over because Roy Scheider was out in

222
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Martha's vineyard making jaws, so he wasn't available, so they

223
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had to come up with some new French counterparts. And

224
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just like the Orige Henchman, he doesn't really have much

225
00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:05.840
to say. He's either making drops net or you know,

226
00:13:05.879 --> 00:13:09.559
he's shooting this submachine gun and basically being the muscle.

227
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Yeah.

228
00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:13.720
Yeah, but still it was an unusual actor choice for

229
00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:16.639
him because he's kind of tall with curlyish hair. It

230
00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:20.120
didn't really look like a bad person, which I thought

231
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added to the foreignness of the scenario.

232
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Right.

233
00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:29.600
He wasn't your typical American heavy, you know henchman. He

234
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was kind of a suave, tall, good looking Frenchman.

235
00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:33.799
You know.

236
00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:36.200
It was a good choice in my opinion. I think

237
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the other point that you made about, you know, like

238
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Roy Scheider wasn't going to be there as his partner.

239
00:13:40.360 --> 00:13:42.320
First of all, I think that's why they said it

240
00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:45.000
in Marseille, because obviously they're not going to send two

241
00:13:45.240 --> 00:13:49.200
you know, American policemen overseas. Yes, and as we find

242
00:13:49.240 --> 00:13:51.720
out later, they're really sending him over there to sort

243
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of be how you say, bait. He is one of

244
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the lines that the French policeman says.

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We'll take a quick intermission here, just time to grab

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some popcorn or top off your drink. You're listening to

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the Cinematic Flashback podcast. Stay tuned. The show continues right

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after this, and we're back. Hope you enjoyed that brief intermission.

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Now let's roll the next reel and get back into

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the conversations. I wanted to talk about sequels in the

251
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seventies because this is nineteen seventy five, and I think

252
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that some of the things that we've talked about before

253
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about sequels, they honestly were kind of rare, yes, but

254
00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:36.080
they were often seen as a cheap cash in, right,

255
00:14:36.679 --> 00:14:38.639
and we see that all the time.

256
00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:42.120
It's not just a sequel, yeah, much more nowadays than

257
00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:45.559
yeah back then, and even nowadays, they go into they

258
00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:46.919
assume there's going to.

259
00:14:46.919 --> 00:14:48.159
Be three or more.

260
00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:51.759
Back in the seventies, sequels weren't strategic. Maybe they were

261
00:14:51.799 --> 00:14:54.279
a little reactive, you know, so like, hey, we could

262
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make some money here doing.

263
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This, right, right, They really hadn't glombed on to the

264
00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:00.960
fact that this was a definite way to cash in.

265
00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:04.200
You've built the characters, you've put in the time to

266
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develop the rapport with the audience and give them their backstory.

267
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Now it's time you just throw a story together that's

268
00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:13.679
pretty sparse and it'll still come out pretty good. And

269
00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:16.559
I think that's where my attitude about sequels really comes from,

270
00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:19.200
is later than this timeframe, is that when they were

271
00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:22.840
clearly just cashing in for a second one. And it's

272
00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:25.600
great for actors. You get in one of these franchises,

273
00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:28.759
you know, basically you're set for life because you're going

274
00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:31.120
to be in three Star Wars films. You're never going

275
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to have to work again. You might never be able

276
00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:36.559
to work again, but that's fine because you're you're now

277
00:15:36.600 --> 00:15:40.559
taken care of. You get so associated with a particular role. Yeah,

278
00:15:40.600 --> 00:15:42.840
I mean, look at Mark Hamill and Star Wars. We

279
00:15:42.919 --> 00:15:45.039
had all of those movies, But you know, do you

280
00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:47.480
remember them from virtually anything else?

281
00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:49.159
Yeah?

282
00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:49.600
I do not.

283
00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:51.559
The only thing I remember him from is that he

284
00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:53.759
went to Annandale High School and was in the school

285
00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:56.000
play there, and my wife went to Annandale High School.

286
00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:58.080
So did you see Corvette Summer? Now you didn't see

287
00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:01.159
Corvette Summer? All, Okay, good gosh, I'm going to send

288
00:16:01.159 --> 00:16:04.600
it to you. It's a fun film. It's not deep

289
00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:07.960
but it's fun. It's like a early Mark Hamill film.

290
00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:12.960
One last statement, mark Hamill really made his career playing

291
00:16:13.080 --> 00:16:16.399
a villain in a superhero series.

292
00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:19.320
Really? Oh? Was this where he was a voice actor? Yes?

293
00:16:19.480 --> 00:16:20.440
What villain was he?

294
00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:24.039
He was the Joker for many years in the animated

295
00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:28.440
Batman series. That's right, and he is amazing. There is

296
00:16:28.519 --> 00:16:34.720
a video of him doing Heath Ledgers lines from The

297
00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:39.919
Dark Night, but in his Joker's voice, and it's amazing.

298
00:16:40.120 --> 00:16:41.200
Oh, I'll have to look that up.

299
00:16:41.559 --> 00:16:44.399
I'm not discounting Mark Hamill's talent by any stretch of

300
00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:47.200
the imagination. I think he's a really talented dude. Now

301
00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:50.639
I'm playing with you. Back to seventy sequels. Sure, So

302
00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:53.159
here's some examples. Let me know if you've seen any

303
00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:57.519
of these. Beneath the Planet of the Apes nineteen seventy, when.

304
00:16:57.399 --> 00:17:01.759
Arthur Jacobs approached them to do the sequel, Charlton Heston,

305
00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:04.759
who was so proud of the first one, absolutely refused,

306
00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:08.160
but they kept throwing money at him and he said no, no.

307
00:17:08.759 --> 00:17:12.720
Finally he agreed to do five days work at huge money,

308
00:17:13.240 --> 00:17:15.720
with the caveat that. At the end of this picture,

309
00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:18.680
he destroyed the planet so that they could not make

310
00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:21.240
any more sequels. What can I tell you how many

311
00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:24.680
actors get to destroy the planet. That's what Chuck wanted

312
00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:27.200
to do, and that's what he did. This is a

313
00:17:27.319 --> 00:17:29.480
very entertaining sequel. This is trash.

314
00:17:29.559 --> 00:17:31.839
The first one's actually a good movie.

315
00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:34.839
That is a sequel to the Best Picture nominated science

316
00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:38.119
fiction film from nineteen sixty eight. Okay, how about The

317
00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:39.240
Godfather Part two?

318
00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:42.240
Francis has said that this film was the first major

319
00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:46.079
motion picture to use Part two in its title. Paramount

320
00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:49.279
was against using Part two in the actual title. According

321
00:17:49.319 --> 00:17:52.440
to Francis, the studio's objection stem from the belief that

322
00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:55.920
audiences would be reluctant to see a film with such

323
00:17:55.960 --> 00:17:59.640
a title, as the audience would supposedly believe that, having

324
00:17:59.680 --> 00:18:02.480
already seen The Godfather, there was little reason to see

325
00:18:02.519 --> 00:18:04.960
more of the same story. The success of The Godfather

326
00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:08.519
Part two began the Hollywood tradition of numbered sequels.

327
00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:13.119
Obviously, yes, and I've already mentioned this one, Magnum Force.

328
00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:17.119
Magnum Force begins with what would become part of the formula,

329
00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:21.000
Harry going about his day, wreaking havoc in Vignette's appetizers

330
00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:24.119
for the main course of mayhem. Every Dirty Harry movie

331
00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:26.759
has a catchphrase. The first one was do you feel lucky?

332
00:18:26.759 --> 00:18:28.759
And in this one it's a man's got to know

333
00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:33.119
his limitations. Harry Callahan had no limitations. This movie made

334
00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:35.720
a fortune, and he'd be back for more, and so

335
00:18:35.799 --> 00:18:38.119
would all of us. And I was in the front row.

336
00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:40.359
Clearly a good sequel.

337
00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:44.079
I think this is an early example of franchise building, right.

338
00:18:44.119 --> 00:18:46.000
And to my point that I was saying before, you

339
00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:50.119
know who Harry Callahan is, you don't have to rebake that, yes,

340
00:18:50.200 --> 00:18:52.400
and you get to take it from there, which can

341
00:18:52.440 --> 00:18:53.240
be very powerful.

342
00:18:53.319 --> 00:18:55.400
And I think they did other things with that character.

343
00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:57.319
We've got to get this one in. Yeah, Yeah, we'll

344
00:18:57.319 --> 00:18:59.680
definitely do that one. Airport nineteen seventy five.

345
00:19:00.119 --> 00:19:03.359
New motion picture inspired by the film Airport.

346
00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:06.559
With a cast of the screen's greatest names, Charlton Heston,

347
00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:10.799
Karen Black, George Kennedy, Gloria Swanson, an award winning singer

348
00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:13.759
Helen Ready as sister Ruth. Would you be.

349
00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:19.559
Forgiving of your human imperfections?

350
00:19:20.119 --> 00:19:21.079
No, never seen it.

351
00:19:22.599 --> 00:19:24.799
If you said yes, I was gonna laugh because both

352
00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:29.720
of us bailed on Airport are and then kind of

353
00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:33.160
a little bit later, and this is an example of

354
00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:37.359
everything that could go wrong Exorcist two, nineteen seventy seven.

355
00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:38.599
I mean, what do you think about this?

356
00:19:38.599 --> 00:19:41.720
Is he of a filmmaker who you can't always.

357
00:19:41.400 --> 00:19:42.559
Control what your legacy is.

358
00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:44.720
Well, I mean, you know, I don't know if that

359
00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:46.759
quite applies to him, because he was, you know, when

360
00:19:46.839 --> 00:19:48.200
he did his wild movies.

361
00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:50.960
They are so wild and so out there.

362
00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:55.519
You know, I don't know how you conceive without at

363
00:19:55.599 --> 00:19:57.480
least thinking that some.

364
00:19:57.359 --> 00:19:59.160
People might laugh at.

365
00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:03.880
I think it was taken completely by surprise by Exorcist

366
00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:04.559
to the Heretic.

367
00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:06.440
Well, yeah, that's that whole.

368
00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:11.440
There's that line that Paulin Kal said that if you

369
00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:14.160
watch Exorcist to the Heretic with the sound off, you

370
00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:16.039
might think it's a masterpiece.

371
00:20:15.960 --> 00:20:21.000
Giant budget, major director, total disaster, and also just a

372
00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:24.799
terrible name. All right, right, we're doing it again back

373
00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:30.799
in the breach. Yeah, So with that set up, I

374
00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:33.880
have to ask what about French Connection too.

375
00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:36.400
We chatted a little bit before we started, and I

376
00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:40.400
will say this to me, this French Connection too seems

377
00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:43.240
like the end of the first movie. It is definitely

378
00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:46.039
different than the first movie. What do you mean by that, Well,

379
00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:48.240
I mean it's like just the end of the first movie.

380
00:20:48.279 --> 00:20:51.200
It's like the first movie ends and this one picks up.

381
00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:52.200
Gotcha, gotcha.

382
00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:55.079
So here's my beef with it is the whole point

383
00:20:55.079 --> 00:20:58.079
of the French Connection is that you get to the

384
00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:02.039
end of the movie and there's no there's no night

385
00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:06.000
in Shining Armor, there's no bad guy gets taken down,

386
00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:10.960
there's no everything's happy and all that's right with the world, right,

387
00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:15.359
all of this moral dilemma has resolved itself into the

388
00:21:15.400 --> 00:21:18.720
greater good. None of that happens in French Connection, which

389
00:21:18.759 --> 00:21:24.160
is beautiful, it's great. It's how life is. You get

390
00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:27.599
the French Connection too, and you still sort of are

391
00:21:27.640 --> 00:21:31.599
being led down that same path of things not really

392
00:21:31.640 --> 00:21:35.519
resolving and people getting away with stuff until the very end,

393
00:21:35.880 --> 00:21:40.000
and then somebody gets murdered and then the movie ends,

394
00:21:40.039 --> 00:21:42.400
and it's like, for me, it's wrong now. I think

395
00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:45.119
what the question you're asking is, this isn't like a

396
00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:48.119
cash in of the same kind of chase movie. I mean,

397
00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:51.480
it's character driven, but it's not that gritty showing the

398
00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:54.559
underbelly of police work type thing that's going on. It's

399
00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:59.079
definitely more a darker and more psychological and reflects that

400
00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:01.160
Frankenheimer directing style.

401
00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:03.400
I think you bring up some good points the ending

402
00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:06.319
of French connection. If they didn't show that little what

403
00:22:06.519 --> 00:22:09.119
happened to them afterwards, if it ended right there, you

404
00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:12.079
wouldn't know if Papa got shot or Sharnier got shot

405
00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:15.119
and what happened from there, because it didn't answer that question.

406
00:22:15.640 --> 00:22:18.400
But we do see that in the Where are They Now?

407
00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:22.680
That Sharnier escapes, he goes back to Marseille. And what

408
00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:25.720
I was afraid of in this film was that it

409
00:22:25.880 --> 00:22:29.519
was just going to be a retread of the first story.

410
00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:30.119
And it is not.

411
00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:34.480
It isn't, and I think it's because Frankenheimer was wise

412
00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:39.400
to not try and be William Friedkin right, you know,

413
00:22:39.799 --> 00:22:41.799
so he's not trying to make it gritty. It's not

414
00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:44.799
all this handheld all the cameras that are all locked down,

415
00:22:44.839 --> 00:22:48.480
it's very traditional. They're on sets a lot, whereas the

416
00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:51.839
previous film was filmed at the bus station, filmed in

417
00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:54.480
the train station, filmed at the police station, at the

418
00:22:54.640 --> 00:22:57.599
l at the l everything was there. The other thing

419
00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:00.519
is I wasn't sure what they were going to do

420
00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:04.000
with Popeye, because if he goes to Marseille, does he

421
00:23:04.119 --> 00:23:07.240
do the same thing that he did before? Because in

422
00:23:07.319 --> 00:23:10.279
French Connection he's a force to be reckoned with. He

423
00:23:10.359 --> 00:23:13.480
walks into a bar and there's like thirty people in

424
00:23:13.480 --> 00:23:15.599
that bar, and it's just him and Cloudy and they're

425
00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:18.400
all afraid of gets over here. They take all of

426
00:23:18.440 --> 00:23:21.640
that away. You can't carry your gun, you're here as

427
00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:24.680
a guest. You don't know the language. They grow his

428
00:23:24.920 --> 00:23:28.680
character by pushing him into some darker territory than the

429
00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:31.240
way that you make a sequel to a film like

430
00:23:31.319 --> 00:23:35.720
French Connection two is you have to lean into your star,

431
00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:40.279
Gene Hackman. He elevated what could have been a cash

432
00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:42.079
grab into something different.

433
00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:45.079
They were smart to lean into Gene Ackman, such an

434
00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:46.200
amazing actor.

435
00:23:46.680 --> 00:23:50.920
French Connection two takes a different tonal shift. Did that

436
00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:52.119
throw you off at all?

437
00:23:52.279 --> 00:23:56.720
Yeah, it definitely seemed like a very disjoint from the

438
00:23:56.759 --> 00:23:59.359
first movie to the second movie. But I think that's

439
00:23:59.400 --> 00:24:01.759
not a bad thing. As they go, it's just not

440
00:24:01.880 --> 00:24:04.440
more of the same. I certainly think part of that

441
00:24:04.480 --> 00:24:07.240
shift is borne out by the fish out of water

442
00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:11.039
dynamic of Doyle. Right, he's a man about town, in

443
00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:14.319
New York, he comes to Marseille. He can't even pay

444
00:24:14.359 --> 00:24:18.960
the cabby the right amount of money, right, And it's

445
00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:22.599
clearly a different thing, which is how the movie opens,

446
00:24:22.599 --> 00:24:24.880
So you know, instead of pussy footing around with it,

447
00:24:24.920 --> 00:24:29.240
they clearly make it. This is different, something's different happening here,

448
00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:32.319
which I think is refreshing in a sequel, because sometimes

449
00:24:32.319 --> 00:24:35.319
a sequel, and I think we've seen that in you know,

450
00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:39.480
in other sequels, it's just a rehashing of the same dynamic,

451
00:24:39.799 --> 00:24:43.200
the same heroes and villains, And this is not that.

452
00:24:43.319 --> 00:24:46.039
I mean it, certainly it has the same villains and

453
00:24:46.160 --> 00:24:48.680
some of the same dynamic, but the way the story

454
00:24:48.759 --> 00:24:51.440
goes and is not the same the.

455
00:24:51.480 --> 00:24:56.759
Way Frankenheimer films the show. It's not gritty, it's not handheld.

456
00:24:56.920 --> 00:25:00.200
Everything is more locked down, and it feels maybe what

457
00:25:00.279 --> 00:25:02.680
you might expect from a typical movie.

458
00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:06.559
Yeah, yeah, definitely, definitely it's a little more I don't

459
00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:08.039
want to say this in a bad way, it's a

460
00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:10.599
little more corporate, a little more of what you're expecting.

461
00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:12.839
Well, yeah, there was there was nothing like. You didn't

462
00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:16.880
walk away from this saying, oh wow, they did something different.

463
00:25:17.240 --> 00:25:19.720
I think with the first one, we were kind of

464
00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:23.359
describing how the way that freaking moved the camera was

465
00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:26.880
everything was. It felt more like a documentary in some areas,

466
00:25:27.160 --> 00:25:29.839
riding along with Popeye and Buddy as they were going

467
00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:32.720
into these bars and making these bust Yeah, you brought

468
00:25:32.799 --> 00:25:35.160
up the fish out of water. I thought that that

469
00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:39.839
was a great way to level the playing field. It

470
00:25:39.960 --> 00:25:43.519
was interesting that there are no French subtitles. Did that

471
00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:44.119
throw you are?

472
00:25:44.279 --> 00:25:44.359
No?

473
00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:47.960
I liked it because I'm a big fan of foreign

474
00:25:48.039 --> 00:25:51.759
language movies and I don't mind subtitles, but I think

475
00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:54.720
it's interesting when you get to a point in a

476
00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:57.799
movie where they're speaking a foreign language, you really don't

477
00:25:57.880 --> 00:26:00.640
need the subtitles. And I think that was done well

478
00:26:00.680 --> 00:26:03.759
in this movie because you got the gist of what

479
00:26:03.799 --> 00:26:06.079
they were talking about, even if you didn't get all

480
00:26:06.119 --> 00:26:08.240
the words. And you know, I think we all know

481
00:26:08.440 --> 00:26:10.960
enough a few French words to be able to understand

482
00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:13.359
some of what they were saying. You know, there was

483
00:26:13.400 --> 00:26:15.799
a few curse words that got thrown around that you know,

484
00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:20.160
if you're any teenager growing up, you probably learn them, Oh, definitely,

485
00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:22.880
But you know, I thought it was great. I applauded

486
00:26:22.920 --> 00:26:26.519
that decision because it again it put you in that

487
00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:30.839
same position of not really knowing what's going on. You're

488
00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:33.319
a little bit taken by the tide of what's happening

489
00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:37.000
around you. Anytime you're the audience, you get to see

490
00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:40.759
more than the protagonist gets to see. But in this

491
00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:42.839
particular case, it puts you in a little bit of

492
00:26:42.839 --> 00:26:45.119
that same position of being, you know, a little bit

493
00:26:45.160 --> 00:26:46.559
of a fish out of water if you don't know

494
00:26:46.559 --> 00:26:47.319
how to speak French.

495
00:26:47.400 --> 00:26:49.960
It also kind of had some fun scenes in there.

496
00:26:50.079 --> 00:26:52.079
He goes into that one bar and he's trying to

497
00:26:52.200 --> 00:26:54.200
order yes, or he's trying to hit on the girls,

498
00:26:54.839 --> 00:26:57.720
or he's going about the town and he can't communicate

499
00:26:57.759 --> 00:27:00.599
what he wants because outside of Bartilo May many people

500
00:27:00.599 --> 00:27:01.319
speak English.

501
00:27:01.640 --> 00:27:03.519
I will tell you that when I was in France

502
00:27:03.559 --> 00:27:07.319
in nineteen eighty, a lot of people spoke English, but

503
00:27:07.640 --> 00:27:11.039
he generally didn't want to speak it with you. My

504
00:27:11.119 --> 00:27:14.000
sister in law and my niece have been to France

505
00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:17.440
quite a bit, and you know their attitude is if

506
00:27:17.480 --> 00:27:20.000
you just give it a try to speak French. The

507
00:27:20.039 --> 00:27:22.799
French people are very forthcoming and trying to help you out,

508
00:27:22.839 --> 00:27:26.880
and they're just very happy that you're trying to speak

509
00:27:26.920 --> 00:27:30.400
the language, even if you're hacking it. It is a

510
00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:33.079
beautiful language. That was the other part of listening to

511
00:27:33.160 --> 00:27:35.119
this movie is you get to hear people speaking of

512
00:27:35.200 --> 00:27:37.559
French and it really is one of the most beautiful

513
00:27:37.640 --> 00:27:39.039
languages to hear spoken.

514
00:27:39.160 --> 00:27:41.680
Oh yeah. One of the other things in the film

515
00:27:41.880 --> 00:27:46.720
that was different from French Connection is that now you're

516
00:27:46.759 --> 00:27:50.640
in Charnier's backyard, you're in his playground. The dynamic has

517
00:27:50.680 --> 00:27:53.640
switched a little bit. He now knows all the ins

518
00:27:53.640 --> 00:27:56.519
and outs of Marseille in the same way that Popeye

519
00:27:56.599 --> 00:27:58.640
knew all the ins and outs of New York. And

520
00:27:58.680 --> 00:28:01.680
I felt that Sharnier came off much stronger in this

521
00:28:01.759 --> 00:28:03.359
film because he had that control.

522
00:28:03.559 --> 00:28:08.119
Yeah, he was more suave and smooth, and even when

523
00:28:08.200 --> 00:28:12.240
he was being hurried, he was only walking fast, you know,

524
00:28:12.359 --> 00:28:16.680
he was not running. I know the scene you're talking about. Yeah,

525
00:28:16.880 --> 00:28:19.160
And it was great. I mean, I think this was

526
00:28:19.240 --> 00:28:22.119
the whole point of the movie. It's the point of

527
00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:25.119
how they filmed it. And this dovetailed into having a

528
00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:28.680
different director. It wasn't this director trying to make himself

529
00:28:28.720 --> 00:28:31.720
look like Friedkin. It was, Hey, this is a whole

530
00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:34.759
new movie in a different country. That's sort of a

531
00:28:34.759 --> 00:28:37.640
different dynamic, but with some characters we know. So there's

532
00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:41.839
some touch back to the first movie. To me, if

533
00:28:41.880 --> 00:28:44.480
you had tried to do anything else, it wouldn't have

534
00:28:44.599 --> 00:28:45.400
worked as well.

535
00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:48.119
Will Paul's here for just a moment. Think of it

536
00:28:48.119 --> 00:28:51.920
as a real change stick around. There's more cinematic flashback

537
00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:56.160
coming up right after this, and we're back. The lights

538
00:28:56.160 --> 00:28:59.079
are down, the film's rolling, and the final act begins.

539
00:28:59.319 --> 00:29:03.079
Let's jump back into the cinematic flashback podcast. You know,

540
00:29:03.160 --> 00:29:05.440
one of the things that I found missing in the

541
00:29:05.480 --> 00:29:09.079
first film the way in which Popeye and Cloudy worked together.

542
00:29:09.319 --> 00:29:11.920
You could tell they had been working together a long time.

543
00:29:12.279 --> 00:29:15.559
They even socialized after work, and I kind of missed

544
00:29:15.599 --> 00:29:17.519
that relationship and that dynamic.

545
00:29:17.720 --> 00:29:20.319
I said, God, I was requested to help you.

546
00:29:20.920 --> 00:29:24.200
I didn't request that you came here, but naturally I

547
00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:25.799
wanted to know who you were.

548
00:29:26.440 --> 00:29:31.880
I found out after this big arrest it disappeared.

549
00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:35.680
I read in the papers that somebody stole you a

550
00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:38.720
heroin right out of the police headquarters.

551
00:29:39.839 --> 00:29:41.960
Was it your friends and my friends are still on

552
00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:49.279
the force. How many men have you killed? Being interrogated here? Five?

553
00:29:51.480 --> 00:29:55.640
Five people killed it seems quite a lot.

554
00:29:56.480 --> 00:30:00.880
Bartolo May is the French policeman who is is not

555
00:30:01.119 --> 00:30:05.119
really agreeing that they should be using Doyle as bait

556
00:30:05.359 --> 00:30:07.039
to pull Charnier out.

557
00:30:07.160 --> 00:30:10.319
Yeah, it's sort of thrust upon him as well. Yeah,

558
00:30:10.440 --> 00:30:12.960
I think your point is well made, but I also

559
00:30:13.000 --> 00:30:16.200
think it goes yet more into the fish out of water.

560
00:30:16.680 --> 00:30:19.319
If he had had his buddy cop with him, they

561
00:30:19.359 --> 00:30:22.960
would have been working together and having that foil and

562
00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:26.160
the part of having Popeye have to deal with this

563
00:30:26.200 --> 00:30:29.440
guy who really has kind of a low opinion of him,

564
00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:31.960
thinks he's some kind of cowboy that gets other policemen

565
00:30:32.039 --> 00:30:35.880
shot and killed, sort of puts Popeye Doyle on his

566
00:30:35.960 --> 00:30:38.359
back foot, which I mean, I think that pretty much

567
00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:43.920
goes for most of the movie until Doyle's innate capabilities

568
00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:47.319
as a detective really shine through. And that's sort of

569
00:30:47.319 --> 00:30:49.759
in the last yeah what do you call it? Act

570
00:30:49.880 --> 00:30:51.839
three of this movie, when he.

571
00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:55.839
Pulls up Popeye's record, he says, oh, you've killed five

572
00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:59.480
people and two of them were policemen. You know, you

573
00:30:59.519 --> 00:31:02.480
knew we're you stood with Bartolo May right from that moment.

574
00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:05.640
I think that was actually probably written that way on

575
00:31:05.720 --> 00:31:08.519
purpose to kind of give you a little bit of

576
00:31:08.720 --> 00:31:10.880
we're on Popeye side and this guy shouldn't be such

577
00:31:10.880 --> 00:31:12.759
a jerk, and you have to know all the details.

578
00:31:12.759 --> 00:31:14.359
But then when you really boil it down, it's like,

579
00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:16.680
maybe he makes some bad decisions.

580
00:31:16.920 --> 00:31:17.319
Question.

581
00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:19.880
Yeah, was there any old tech that stood out to you?

582
00:31:20.279 --> 00:31:24.119
And eld radios were gigantic. They were like as big

583
00:31:24.160 --> 00:31:27.200
as the guy's head. It was hilarious with a six

584
00:31:27.240 --> 00:31:30.160
foot antenna, I think on the thing it was it

585
00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:33.359
was so funny to see that. And I do have

586
00:31:33.400 --> 00:31:36.160
to say for our younger listeners, if they watched this movie,

587
00:31:36.200 --> 00:31:40.319
they'll be like, yes, what the heck is that When

588
00:31:40.359 --> 00:31:43.319
you pull out your little tiny phone and you have

589
00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:45.880
your watch that has a bluetooth on it that you

590
00:31:45.920 --> 00:31:47.160
can talk on it.

591
00:31:47.240 --> 00:31:49.799
This was high tech of the day. You know.

592
00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:53.759
It was probably World War two surplus radios that the

593
00:31:53.759 --> 00:31:55.279
police were using or something like that.

594
00:31:55.319 --> 00:31:57.079
But it's just it was hilarious.

595
00:31:57.400 --> 00:31:59.559
I will say there's a few shots that were.

596
00:31:59.400 --> 00:32:03.160
Taken from above in the opening scenes when they're shooting

597
00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:06.160
the yacht. Yeah, clearly those scenes were shot out of

598
00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:09.079
a helicopter. You know, you can tell for the last

599
00:32:09.119 --> 00:32:12.440
ten years most of what used to be. Helicopter shots

600
00:32:12.839 --> 00:32:15.720
are almost one hundred percent drone shots now. So when

601
00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:18.319
we look at movies nowadays, we're like looking at these,

602
00:32:18.480 --> 00:32:20.160
they're like, oh wow, how do they get that? It

603
00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:22.319
was like, well, it has a drone that's literally flying

604
00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:25.200
twelve feet above the guy as he runs through the streets.

605
00:32:25.519 --> 00:32:27.319
You could never do that with a helicopter. You'd have

606
00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:29.599
to do it with a truck and a camera on

607
00:32:29.680 --> 00:32:31.839
a gimbal. Now they just do it with a drone.

608
00:32:31.880 --> 00:32:34.319
So it's funny to see some of those old scenes.

609
00:32:34.359 --> 00:32:36.119
I see it in old movies all the time. He's

610
00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:38.559
clearly a shot from a helicopter.

611
00:32:39.039 --> 00:32:41.920
Well, let's talk about some of this story here, because

612
00:32:42.200 --> 00:32:45.039
the first thing we have to talk about is Doyle's

613
00:32:45.160 --> 00:32:47.640
kidnapping and his forced addiction.

614
00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:51.680
Yeah, that is probably, for me, one of the most

615
00:32:51.720 --> 00:32:55.599
horrific sense that really has been done in a film.

616
00:32:55.640 --> 00:33:00.319
It's really, really, very disturbing to me. It got arc

617
00:33:00.759 --> 00:33:03.920
really fast. Yeah, it's really dark.

618
00:33:04.039 --> 00:33:05.240
I was not expecting that.

619
00:33:05.559 --> 00:33:08.799
No, I didn't remember it was from this movie, Okay,

620
00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:10.599
but when it started to come on this movie, I

621
00:33:10.640 --> 00:33:12.720
was like, oh man, I know exactly what was going

622
00:33:12.759 --> 00:33:15.720
to happen because I remembered it was so sort of

623
00:33:15.799 --> 00:33:18.759
disturbing to me as a young person when I saw it.

624
00:33:18.839 --> 00:33:22.000
Doyle is kidnapped by Sharnier and he knows it. Doyle

625
00:33:22.119 --> 00:33:25.160
is too hard boiled to give up any information, so

626
00:33:25.200 --> 00:33:29.440
he's going to addict Doyle to heroin and then withhold

627
00:33:29.559 --> 00:33:32.799
that heroin to get the answers, and so over a

628
00:33:32.839 --> 00:33:36.000
period of weeks they basically hooked him up. And in

629
00:33:36.079 --> 00:33:38.400
the most horrific part of the whole thing for me

630
00:33:38.839 --> 00:33:41.960
is at first Doyle's fighting it, and then after a

631
00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:44.680
few scenes, you see the guy walks in and Doyle's

632
00:33:44.680 --> 00:33:47.319
pulling his sleeve up and putting his tie around his

633
00:33:47.440 --> 00:33:49.279
arm so the guy can give him the shot.

634
00:33:49.599 --> 00:33:53.000
Yeah, and it's just sad. It's so sad. He's absolutely

635
00:33:53.000 --> 00:33:53.880
addicted to it.

636
00:33:54.119 --> 00:33:56.640
Okay, So here's how naive I was. Part of me

637
00:33:56.759 --> 00:33:58.720
was hoping, oh, no, Papa is going to be able

638
00:33:58.720 --> 00:34:00.319
to resist this, or he's going to be able to

639
00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:03.799
get out, and no. You can see in his eyes

640
00:34:03.839 --> 00:34:05.519
as the drug is starting to take its.

641
00:34:05.400 --> 00:34:07.960
Effect, you pretty much see he's not even tied to

642
00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:10.880
the bed anymore. He's just laying in there and the

643
00:34:10.920 --> 00:34:12.679
old lady's taking him to the bathroom.

644
00:34:12.760 --> 00:34:14.400
They questioned him at the end and they realize he

645
00:34:14.400 --> 00:34:16.159
doesn't have any information for him.

646
00:34:16.400 --> 00:34:19.280
Yeah, they're really upset because the whole city's being turned

647
00:34:19.360 --> 00:34:22.079
upside down looking for him, right, and it's cutting into

648
00:34:22.119 --> 00:34:25.400
their action, So they need to let him be found. Sure,

649
00:34:25.519 --> 00:34:28.159
it's pretty clear their intention is they wanted him to

650
00:34:28.199 --> 00:34:31.880
be found dead, and they dump him off in front

651
00:34:31.920 --> 00:34:36.119
of the cops, barely alive. And then a whole harrowing

652
00:34:36.239 --> 00:34:39.599
scene of him being detoxed, which just is brutal.

653
00:34:39.920 --> 00:34:44.239
The forced addiction and then the recovery. Again, I didn't

654
00:34:44.239 --> 00:34:46.159
know that this was in the film, and I didn't

655
00:34:46.199 --> 00:34:49.440
expect it to take up such a major part of

656
00:34:49.480 --> 00:34:49.800
the film.

657
00:34:49.880 --> 00:34:51.639
Yeah, I would say that was all of Act too.

658
00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:55.760
It was act too, right, the kidnapping, the withdrawal, and

659
00:34:55.800 --> 00:34:59.199
then kind of his rebirth. But there was some really

660
00:34:59.599 --> 00:35:02.840
great scenes for Hackman. He's given that scene to speak

661
00:35:02.840 --> 00:35:06.480
with Bartolo May about baseball. This is an opportunity for

662
00:35:06.519 --> 00:35:08.360
you and me to learn a little bit more about

663
00:35:08.360 --> 00:35:11.039
who Popeyed Oil was before he was a cop, right,

664
00:35:11.159 --> 00:35:13.960
and then the reason why he ended up becoming a cop.

665
00:35:14.239 --> 00:35:20.320
Well, it was and uh a kid, you know, with

666
00:35:19.920 --> 00:35:23.840
the Nuns and the Confessions.

667
00:35:24.480 --> 00:35:34.039
I was a ballplayer, ballplayer, a ball player and baseball layer. Yeah,

668
00:35:34.440 --> 00:35:36.480
no one had a try out with the Yankees.

669
00:35:37.679 --> 00:35:38.039
Uh.

670
00:35:38.199 --> 00:35:41.320
They sent me down to the to the miners.

671
00:35:41.840 --> 00:35:45.599
And the bottom bottom problem was.

672
00:35:45.519 --> 00:35:51.960
That the kid there and he was fast and he

673
00:35:54.079 --> 00:35:57.960
played shortstop at the time. You get the ball.

674
00:35:59.639 --> 00:36:04.719
And I saw this kid, I just immediately took the test.

675
00:36:04.760 --> 00:36:07.039
For the cops, that kid was making Mantle.

676
00:36:07.559 --> 00:36:12.400
What they needed was a chase scene that would rival

677
00:36:12.480 --> 00:36:16.400
the chase scene from the French Connection. You remember where

678
00:36:16.639 --> 00:36:19.639
Doyle gets into that car and he's chasing after the

679
00:36:19.840 --> 00:36:22.800
L underneath. It filmed with no permits, you know, the

680
00:36:22.920 --> 00:36:26.199
whole thing, and we get a foot chase.

681
00:36:26.440 --> 00:36:30.559
I mean there are echoes of the French Connection chase

682
00:36:30.559 --> 00:36:34.920
scene because he's running in a car that's following the L. Yeah,

683
00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:37.519
the L's much faster, but he has to get in

684
00:36:37.559 --> 00:36:39.719
front of it and then run up the stairs to

685
00:36:39.760 --> 00:36:42.559
the L and try to get on the train. And

686
00:36:42.840 --> 00:36:45.400
in this particular chase scene, at a certain point, he's

687
00:36:45.480 --> 00:36:48.480
chasing a boat that's going down the harbor. So he's

688
00:36:48.559 --> 00:36:51.280
running down the side of the harbor and he turns

689
00:36:51.320 --> 00:36:52.920
in to see if he can get to the point

690
00:36:52.920 --> 00:36:55.360
where he could jump to the boat, and clearly he can't.

691
00:36:55.400 --> 00:36:57.760
He has to run back out down there, Yeah, down

692
00:36:57.800 --> 00:37:00.960
the pier and up again and chase, chase, chase.

693
00:37:01.079 --> 00:37:04.480
I did not think about that. Sharnye first gets on

694
00:37:04.559 --> 00:37:07.440
an electric street car, yeah, and so Popeye is running

695
00:37:07.480 --> 00:37:10.639
after this street car and then Sharanya gets off of

696
00:37:10.679 --> 00:37:13.280
it and gets onto his yacht.

697
00:37:13.400 --> 00:37:13.719
Yeah.

698
00:37:13.719 --> 00:37:16.639
So now Popeye is chasing down the yacht, right, so

699
00:37:17.199 --> 00:37:20.559
it's like he's out doing the chase scene almost.

700
00:37:20.199 --> 00:37:22.880
Even though it was echoing the French connection. It was

701
00:37:22.920 --> 00:37:25.280
a good chase scene. But I think the payoff at

702
00:37:25.320 --> 00:37:27.960
the end is a little depressing to me. I always

703
00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:32.960
thought the French harbor patrol would stop the yacht right

704
00:37:33.039 --> 00:37:35.760
when Doyle gets to the end, like he's running and

705
00:37:35.800 --> 00:37:38.880
running and running. But in the meantime, the French cop

706
00:37:38.920 --> 00:37:41.760
has called the coast guard of the French and there's

707
00:37:41.800 --> 00:37:45.519
a very natural sort of thin spot in that those

708
00:37:45.559 --> 00:37:47.760
boats come out with their lights on and that's it.

709
00:37:48.079 --> 00:37:50.519
He gets them. But that's not how they ended. Bob

710
00:37:50.519 --> 00:37:52.800
Boy Doyle pulls out his gun and just shoots the guy,

711
00:37:53.079 --> 00:37:56.719
and it's a little bit of what our French policeman

712
00:37:56.880 --> 00:37:58.760
was saying, is like, you're just gonna pull out your

713
00:37:58.800 --> 00:38:02.039
gun and you're gonna shoot him, literally in the first

714
00:38:02.079 --> 00:38:05.119
scene of the movie, and that's exactly what he did.

715
00:38:05.760 --> 00:38:07.760
I actually really agree. I thought it would have been

716
00:38:07.840 --> 00:38:12.079
much more satisfying if Charnia comes to justice they got him.

717
00:38:12.239 --> 00:38:15.480
In fact, in not catching the guy, they couldn't take

718
00:38:15.480 --> 00:38:18.880
apart this whole network. Maybe he's just a big player

719
00:38:19.000 --> 00:38:22.599
because it clearly he's buying tons and tons of high

720
00:38:22.719 --> 00:38:25.719
quality pure opium from the Far East.

721
00:38:26.320 --> 00:38:30.920
Well, this could have become the French Connection franchise. And

722
00:38:31.000 --> 00:38:34.400
there was one more chapter in the French Connection, was there?

723
00:38:34.519 --> 00:38:38.039
It was a nineteen eighty six television film starring Wait

724
00:38:38.079 --> 00:38:39.440
for It, Ed O'Neill.

725
00:38:39.599 --> 00:38:42.679
Well, you accidentally killed the federal officer in the controversial

726
00:38:42.719 --> 00:38:45.360
French Connection case. Now, the major suspects in that case

727
00:38:45.400 --> 00:38:48.480
avaded capture. Said you notice any similarities at all between

728
00:38:48.519 --> 00:38:50.800
your actions then and what happened today. Yeah, today, I

729
00:38:50.800 --> 00:38:53.559
didn't kill a federal officer and the suspects did not

730
00:38:53.599 --> 00:38:56.000
evade capture. Listen, how do you justify Lieutenant paul Is

731
00:38:56.039 --> 00:38:57.920
recommending you for a departmental citation?

732
00:38:58.079 --> 00:39:01.320
I don't have to you consider yourself a good cop. Hey, mister,

733
00:39:01.400 --> 00:39:04.159
let me get something straight. I'm a police officer. I'm

734
00:39:04.199 --> 00:39:06.119
concerned with the law abiding citizens of the city. And

735
00:39:06.119 --> 00:39:07.000
now when you address me.

736
00:39:07.039 --> 00:39:09.360
You call me detective or sir, but don't call me

737
00:39:09.400 --> 00:39:09.760
a cop.

738
00:39:09.800 --> 00:39:12.679
I don't like it. Only a cop calls me a.

739
00:39:12.559 --> 00:39:16.320
Cap married with children and modern family over him. And

740
00:39:16.440 --> 00:39:20.239
modern family and modern family is what it took to

741
00:39:20.840 --> 00:39:23.440
not make me think of ol Bundy every time I

742
00:39:23.480 --> 00:39:26.880
see them. Right, But I don't have a desire to

743
00:39:26.920 --> 00:39:31.360
find that film. Matt, are we ready to ask the question? Yeah,

744
00:39:31.440 --> 00:39:33.719
I have an answer. I'm not equivocating on this.

745
00:39:34.320 --> 00:39:36.920
In the wayback machine and rolling.

746
00:39:36.800 --> 00:39:38.000
Back years to Mat.

747
00:39:38.639 --> 00:39:42.039
Did French Connection to groove through the decades or did

748
00:39:42.079 --> 00:39:42.920
it lose its beat?

749
00:39:43.119 --> 00:39:46.159
I have to say that it grooved through the decades.

750
00:39:46.280 --> 00:39:50.039
It was a pleasant surprise. When I watched it. I

751
00:39:50.199 --> 00:39:53.880
was not expecting as an entertaining movie as it was.

752
00:39:54.000 --> 00:39:57.760
Maybe film critics and people like that would pooh pooh it,

753
00:39:57.840 --> 00:40:01.079
But I'm just a regular Joe and I liked it.

754
00:40:01.079 --> 00:40:03.960
It was interesting, it was a little bit dark and

755
00:40:04.079 --> 00:40:07.320
part of it so you're bought into it and you're

756
00:40:07.400 --> 00:40:11.679
concerned with characters, and I liked it. It was entertaining. I

757
00:40:11.760 --> 00:40:14.199
do reserve that I think the ending would have been

758
00:40:14.280 --> 00:40:18.360
much more satisfying to bring Sharnier to justice. I think

759
00:40:18.400 --> 00:40:21.599
it is a movie that you can definitely still watch

760
00:40:21.639 --> 00:40:25.679
and still be entertained and even be amused at the

761
00:40:25.719 --> 00:40:29.440
differences between the movie made in the seventies and movies

762
00:40:29.480 --> 00:40:30.880
made in the twenty twenties.

763
00:40:31.000 --> 00:40:33.639
It's even amusing to see the differences in how two

764
00:40:33.719 --> 00:40:38.039
films are made. Yeah, oh, between just these two. I

765
00:40:38.079 --> 00:40:41.440
honestly thought, Matt, that I was gonna hate this film.

766
00:40:41.679 --> 00:40:45.960
I really like the French Connection. I really like learning

767
00:40:45.960 --> 00:40:49.920
who William Freakin is. I love seeing Gene Hackman, and

768
00:40:49.960 --> 00:40:53.440
I like seeing Roy Scheider before Jaws. I just like

769
00:40:53.760 --> 00:40:57.320
so much about that film, and I just thought that

770
00:40:58.159 --> 00:41:00.800
French Connection two is going to be a big letdown.

771
00:41:00.920 --> 00:41:04.639
And I thought I was really going to say, yes, Matt,

772
00:41:04.679 --> 00:41:09.400
you're right, sequels, they shouldn't make them. But when the

773
00:41:09.440 --> 00:41:14.639
French Connection two got to the point where they were

774
00:41:14.719 --> 00:41:19.719
addicting Popeye to the heroin, the movie got very interesting

775
00:41:19.760 --> 00:41:21.880
to me because it went in a direction that I

776
00:41:22.079 --> 00:41:25.760
was not expecting. I felt like I did after I

777
00:41:25.920 --> 00:41:28.920
watched Pellam one, two three. I didn't know anything really

778
00:41:28.960 --> 00:41:32.079
about it, and I really enjoyed it. It was a

779
00:41:32.119 --> 00:41:34.400
little slow for me getting started, but by the end

780
00:41:34.519 --> 00:41:36.920
I really liked it. So yeah, I think it's still

781
00:41:36.960 --> 00:41:38.760
definitely grooves. I enjoyed it.

782
00:41:39.079 --> 00:41:40.920
I have to one hundred percent agree with you on

783
00:41:41.000 --> 00:41:44.880
all your points. You did reiterate the difference between French

784
00:41:44.880 --> 00:41:47.480
Connection and French Connection two, and I do have that

785
00:41:47.559 --> 00:41:50.559
same thing where I just think sequels are usually not

786
00:41:50.760 --> 00:41:53.760
that great. This was a little less of that to me.

787
00:41:53.880 --> 00:41:55.920
I'm sure there was some of that. I'm sure it

788
00:41:55.960 --> 00:41:59.119
was a big payday for the stars. And that's okay

789
00:41:59.760 --> 00:42:03.679
because because I think he turned in a really stellar performance,

790
00:42:03.760 --> 00:42:06.719
especially during some of those when he was recovering and

791
00:42:06.800 --> 00:42:09.280
when he was addicted to Heroin amazing.

792
00:42:09.559 --> 00:42:13.039
We have another Gene Hackman film coming up on season two.

793
00:42:13.800 --> 00:42:17.159
I talked about it last year. It's called Scarecrow with

794
00:42:17.320 --> 00:42:20.119
al Pacino. I can't wait for you to see that film.

795
00:42:20.280 --> 00:42:22.960
I'm just excited to see what you think about Scarecrow.

796
00:42:23.440 --> 00:42:23.639
Yeah.

797
00:42:23.960 --> 00:42:26.719
I don't think I've ever seen that. I don't even

798
00:42:26.760 --> 00:42:27.679
know what that movie's about.

799
00:42:27.760 --> 00:42:31.360
You're gonna like it. It's a great character performance. It's

800
00:42:31.360 --> 00:42:32.679
pretty good. It's pretty good.

801
00:42:32.880 --> 00:42:35.519
I'm a huge Gene Hackman fan, and I think I

802
00:42:35.599 --> 00:42:39.639
first recognized him for being a sort of a powerful

803
00:42:39.719 --> 00:42:42.679
actor on the movie Crimson Tide.

804
00:42:42.480 --> 00:42:45.360
Him and Denzel Washington not seeing eye to eye.

805
00:42:45.400 --> 00:42:48.199
Denzel is an actor's actor for sure, but to be

806
00:42:48.199 --> 00:42:51.159
able to go toe to toe with Gene Hackman, I

807
00:42:51.239 --> 00:42:54.440
think that's somewhat made Denzel Washington's career, but it also

808
00:42:54.480 --> 00:42:58.199
showed Gene Hackman to be just a really amazing actor.

809
00:42:58.360 --> 00:43:03.239
I agree. Well, that is season two, episode one in

810
00:43:03.320 --> 00:43:03.800
the books.

811
00:43:03.880 --> 00:43:05.719
All right, man, that's good. I think we wrapped it.

812
00:43:05.719 --> 00:43:07.280
We didn't go as deep in stuff what we sort

813
00:43:07.280 --> 00:43:08.920
of went and did some other stuff, so I think

814
00:43:08.920 --> 00:43:09.280
it's good.

815
00:43:09.440 --> 00:43:11.920
Matt. Thank you again for joining me for season two.

816
00:43:12.079 --> 00:43:14.599
We have lots of good films coming up. And thank

817
00:43:14.639 --> 00:43:17.440
you listener for joining us today. Have you seen French

818
00:43:17.440 --> 00:43:20.079
Connection two? Tell us what you thought about it on

819
00:43:20.119 --> 00:43:24.360
Cinematic Flashback dot com. We appreciate your feedback and comments.

820
00:43:24.599 --> 00:43:27.559
Please subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Share us

821
00:43:27.599 --> 00:43:30.800
with your friends and we would appreciate a review. So

822
00:43:30.920 --> 00:43:34.159
join us next time. As we dive into another seventies classic.

823
00:43:34.440 --> 00:43:36.360
Thanks for hanging out with us, and we'll see you,

824
00:43:36.400 --> 00:43:43.360
then see you, and then kind of a little bit later.

825
00:43:43.920 --> 00:43:47.280
And this is an example of everything that could go wrong.

826
00:43:47.559 --> 00:43:53.840
Exorcist two nineteen seventy seven. Giant budget, major director, total disaster,

827
00:43:54.239 --> 00:43:57.280
and also just a terrible name. All right, here's the

828
00:43:57.320 --> 00:43:58.679
best sequel.

829
00:43:58.360 --> 00:44:07.320
Name ever, Alien aliens, Exorcist and Exorcism, not Exorcist too right,

830
00:44:07.320 --> 00:44:09.840
we're doing it again back in the breach.

831
00:44:10.639 --> 00:44:15.800
Yeah,