French Connection II
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
John Frankenheimer
Gene Hackman
Fernando Rey
Bernard Fresson
Jean-pierre Castaldi
Charles Millot
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Since the drug smuggler Alain Charnier got away from him in New York, narcotics detective Popeye Doyle follows him to France and works with the police there to capture him and shut down his operation.
Director
John Frankenheimer
Cast
Gene Hackman
Fernando Rey
Bernard Fresson
Jean-pierre Castaldi
Charles Millot
Cathleen Nesbitt
Alexandre Fabre
Pierre Collet
Philippe Leotard
Ed Lauter
Jacques Dynam
Raoul Delfosse
Patrick Floersheim
Crew
Alex Archambault
Alex Archambault
Monique Archambault
Monique Archambault
Gordon Arnell
Bernard Bats
Margot Capelier
Thierry Chabert
Laurie Dillon
Laurie Dillon
Robert Dillon
Robert Dillon
Don Ellis
Logan Farzee
Jacques Fonteray
Georges Glon
Alexander Jacobs
Lucie Lichtig
Charles-henri Montel
Sergio Moritz
Hal Needham
Pierre Nourry
Claude Renoir
Tom Rolf
Robert L. Rosen
Pierre Saint-blancat
Jacques Saulnier
Ted Soderberg
Bernard Stora
Gerard Viard
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Jack Daniel's.- Jimmy Doyle
Jacques qui?- French Barkeeper
Jackie, yeah, Jackie Daniel's.- Jimmy Doyle
???- French Barkeeper
Scotch, right there, El Scotcho.- Jimmy Doyle
I'm gonna take you right down in that alley there. Right down there. And we'll start, we'll start on your throat, right here. Bustin' everything in it. You like that, uh. Then your belly. I'll start workin' on your belly. I'm gonna hit you so fuckin' hard, that the belly's gonna break your backbone.- Jimmy 'Popey' Doyle (who doesn't speak french interrogating a suspect who doesn't speak english)
Je comprends pas.- Suspect
You compris that?- Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle
Non.- Suspect
No, you don't understand, huh? Then I'm gonna work on your arms. I'm gonna set 'em over a kerb. I'm gonna use 'em for a trampoline and jump up and down on 'em. And then your kneecaps. One, two. Kneecaps. Oatmeal. I'll mke oatmeal outta your fuckin' kneecaps. And when I get done with you, you're gonna put me right in Charnier's lap.- Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle
Ah, food. What do you do, cremate the fuckin' thing? D'you cremate it? Not enough ketchup and where's the mayo, mayonnaise, mayonnaise! Mayo, mayo, mayo, mayo, watch my fuckin mouth: MAYO!- Jimmy Doyle
Mayo.- French policeman
Mayo, right, and relish. Relish, relish.- Jimmy Doyle
Relish.- French policeman (proving that a word simple a this can be easily pronounced with a french accent)
Hey, Miletto! Come on, get up here! I want you to ask this fuck somethin'. Ask him if he ever picked his feet in Poughkeepsie.- Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle
Trivia
Whenever Fernando Rey is speaking French in the film, his voice is dubbed by a French actor.
Alain Charnier's villa is the same building used in the original film, French Connection, The (1971).
In planning the climactic chase in which Doyle pursues Charnier across Marseilles, director John Frankenheimer wasn't aware that Gene Hackman suffered from knee problems. Despite this, Hackman went ahead and filmed the entire chase without a double, badly inflaming his knee by the time he was through. He has said that Doyle's expressions of pain and determination as the chase progressed didn't require much acting.
Doyle's memorable cry of "Mickey Mantle sucks!" during the cold turkey sequence was the source of much trouble for the film makers and their legal department. Producer Robert L. Rosen had to track down Mickey Mantle to obtain his permission for the reference. After a long phone call, Rosen flew out to Mantle's home in Dallas with a print of the film, which was screened for him and his lawyer. When Hackman uttered the line, Mantle surprised Rosen not only by roaring with laughter but also insisting that they watched the rest of the film because both he and his lawyer were enjoying it so much. Mantle later happily signed a release waiver and the line stayed in the film.
Eddie Egan, the real-life New York cop who was the basis for the character of Jimmy Doyle in "The French Connection", really did have a try-out for the Yankees in his youth, and played alongside a then-unknown Mickey Mantle.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States May 21, 1975
Released in United States Winter January 1, 1975
Re-released in United States on Video January 5, 1994
Director John Frankenheimer died July 6, 2002 of a stroke at the age of 72.
James Poe was originally contracted to write the script.
Completed shooting October 25, 1974.
Released in United States Winter January 1, 1975
Re-released in United States on Video January 5, 1994
Released in United States May 21, 1975
