Continuity mistake: During the car chase scene under the "B" Elevated Train in Brooklyn (86th St.), Popeye passes the same curve at least 3 or 4 times. Look closely, you'll probably see the same movie theatre over and over again. Apparently, they rerun the same chase clip to increase the length of this scene.
The French Connection (1971)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: William Friedkin
Starring: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey, Tony Lo Bianco
Popeye and Russo find out that drugs are hidden in the rocker panels of Charnier's Lincoln Continental. Meanwhile, Charnier takes his car to a drug trade on a small island with only one entrance. When Charnier leaves, he gets to the end of the bridge and finds Popeye, waving to him. The cops then chase him back to the island, where Russo and the cops have a shootout with the other drug dealers. Popeye chases after Charnier who leads him into an abandoned crematorium. Popeye shoots at what he thinks is Charnier, but in actual fact, he shot Mulderig (the cop he hated so much). Popeye tells Russo that he saw Charnier and that he will find him. He runs off deeper into the crematorium, until he is out of sight. A gunshot is heard, and the screen goes black. An epilogue tells us that Charnier got away, and Popeye and Russo were transferred out of Narcotics and reassigned.
jezzy t
More mistakes in The French Connection
Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle: If that's not a drop I'll open up a charge for you at Bloomingdale's.
Buddy "Cloudy" Russo: Make it Alexander's Toy Department.
Trivia: The casting of Fernando Rey was an accident. William Friedkin had wanted to cast Francisco Rabal, whom he had seen in Belle de jour (1967), but at the time didn't know his name. Only after actor and director met did Friedkin realize Rey wasn't the actor he had wanted. Friedkin ended up keeping Rey after learning that Rabal spoke neither English nor French.
Question: Could the police really put the Lincoln back together perfectly and that quickly?
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Answer: It's a different car of the same make and model that they swapped for the one they tore apart, and in which they hid the drugs in the same place as the original.