Gene Hackman plays Popeye Doyle, a New York detective chasing a French drug dealer named Alain Charnier. The chase moves from Marseille to New York to Washington and back, and the film never lets up. It is fast, brutal and completely absorbing.
Trailer, via 20th Century Studios.
Popeye and Charnier
Hackman plays Doyle as a loose, obsessive cop who will not stop until he gets his man. Roy Scheider plays his partner, Buddy Russo, a steadier presence who grounds the film’s harder edges. Fernando Rey plays Charnier as a calm, controlled criminal mastermind who treats the whole operation as a business transaction.
The film follows Doyle and Russo as they watch Salvatore Boca and his wife Angie, a married couple tied to the drug trade. They trace the operation through Joel Weinstock, a financier in the underworld, and learn that a shipment of 89% pure heroin is coming to New York hidden in the car of a TV personality named Henri Devereaux.
The Chase
The film’s central set piece is a chase across Brooklyn. It is a single continuous shot that shows Doyle driving a stolen car while a bus pulls alongside him. The sequence is famous, and it still holds up. The tension builds without a word spoken, and the final stop is a genuine shock.
The Supporting Cast
Tony Lo Bianco plays Sal Boca, and Marcel Bozzuffi plays Charnier’s hitman Pierre Nicoli. Bill Hickman plays Bill Mulderig, a federal agent who joins the case. Ann Rebbot plays Marie Charnier, and Harold Gary plays Weinstock. Arlene Farber plays Angie Boca, and Eddie Egan plays Simonson.
The film draws on the true story of Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso, two detectives whose work inspired the story. The screenplay is credited to Ernest Tidyman, adapted from Robin Moore’s book of the same name.
Awards and Legacy
The film won five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor for Hackman, Best Director for William Friedkin, Best Film Editing, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Scheider, Best Cinematography, and Best Sound. Tidyman received a Golden Globe nomination, a Writers Guild of America Award, and an Edgar Award for his screenplay.
The film appeared on the American Film Institute’s list of the best American films in 1998 and 2007, at 70th and 93rd respectively. In 2005, the Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
A Short Run
| Event | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release year | 1971 |
| Runtime | 104 minutes |
| Academy Awards | Five wins, eight nominations |
| AFI rank | 70th (1998), 93rd (2007) |
The film remains a tight, focused thriller. Its chase scene is a classic, and its portrait of a driven detective is still convincing. The supporting cast fills out the world around Doyle without ever stealing focus.
The film’s strength comes from its refusal to explain itself. It trusts the audience to keep up, and it pays off.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.
