William Friedkin has said the chase scene in “The French Connection” (1971) wasn’t fully scripted, but largely conceived while they were doing location scouting.
It was almost completely improvised and shot entirely out of sequence, over a period of five weeks.
It did not involve solid day-to-day shooting, and all of the shooting was confined between the hours of 10am- 3pm.
One reason was that they were given permission to use only one particular Brooklyn line, the Stillwell Avenue, running from Coney Island into Manhattan (the West End line).
The entire chase was shot with an Arriflex camera, as was most of the picture. One brief shot, where Doyle’s car slams into the fence, was filmed in Ridgewood under the Myrtle Avenue, or M, line.
“‘The French Connection’ was really made in the editing room.
One of the easiest sequences to do was the chase scene.
It was relatively easy to do because everything was worked out minutely, carefully planned and checked in advance. Of course, there were some human errors and we did wreck a couple of cars before we were through.”
The lead role of Popeye Doyle was offered to Lee Marvin, but he rejected it because he didn’t like police officers.
Interestingly, Marvin made his name playing a tough cop in “M Squad” and soldiers in “Attack” (1956) and “The Dirty Dozen” (1967).
He explained that he always made it a point to display some sort of conflict between his character and the military or the police, even though he would be a part of it.
He felt that this was not possible with “The French Connection,” and therefore could not get himself to accept the part.
Both James Caan and Peter Boyle also turned down the role of Popeye Doyle.
One of the main reasons Boyle decided not to make the film was the reaction to his work in “Joe” (1970). Boyle’s character was a bigoted man who went on a violent crime spree, but to Boyle’s horror, audiences began cheering on his brutal activities rather than being repulsed by and opposed to them.
He feared a similar reception if he played “Popeye” Doyle and thus decided to forego the part.
“Each picture I’ve done so far has been for different reasons. ‘The Birthday Party’ (1968), for instance, was purely a labor of love.
I wanted to do [Harold Pinter]. Others were to advance my career, to get better assignments.
I have no regard for and no knowledge of the value of money, I’m not saying that’s a virtue, just a fact. For me, the greatest thrill in the world, the only thrill, is getting 20 seconds on the screen that really gases you.” (IMDb)
Happy Birthday, William Friedkin!