French Connection II
original film poster
Directed by	John Frankenheimer
Produced by	Robert L. Rosen
Written by	Laurie Dillon Robert Dillon Alexander Jacobs
Starring	Gene Hackman Fernando Rey
Music by	Don Ellis
Cinematography	Claude Renoir
Editing by	Tom Rolf
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	May 21, 1975
Running time	119 min.
Country	US
Language	English
Preceded by	The French Connection

French Connection II is a 1975 crime drama film starring Gene Hackman and directed by John Frankenheimer. It is the sequel to The French Connection. Hackman and Fernando Rey are the only returning cast members.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Score 3 Reception 4 Trivia 5 Notes 6 External links

[edit] Synopsis

While the initial film was based on a true story, the sequel is entirely fictional and expands on the central character of Popeye Doyle by placing him in Marseilles, France, where he is attempting to track down French drug-dealer Alain Charnier, who got away at the end of the first film.

[edit] Score

The music was composed and conducted by Don Ellis, who was returning from the original film. It is a very challenging modernistic score with many jazz elements. A CD was released by Film Score Monthly paired with the music from the first film.

[edit] Reception

While not reaching the mainstream success of the original, the film has received a positive score of 80% "Fresh" rating at RottenTomatoes.com.^[1]

[edit] Trivia

During his withdrawal scene, Doyle rambles about his youthful ambition of being a baseball player. One of his lines is "Mickey Mantle sucks!". The producers of the film screened it for Mantle beforehand fearing he might be offended by the line. Mantle instead roared with laughter and gladly signed a waiver for the line to be used, on the condition that he and his lawyer continue watching the film to their enjoyment.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• French Connection II at the Internet Movie Database
• French Connection II at Allmovie

v • d • e Films directed by John Frankenheimer 1950s The Young Stranger (1957) 1960s The Young Savages (1961) · All Fall Down (1962) · Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)  · The Manchurian Candidate (1962) · Seven Days in May (1964) · The Train (1964) · Seconds (1966) · Grand Prix (1966) · The Fixer (1968) · The Extraordinary Seaman (1969) · The Gypsy Moths (1969) 1970s I Walk the Line (1970) · The Horsemen (1971) · The Iceman Cometh (1973) · Story of a Love Story (1973) · 99 and 44/100% Dead (1974)  · French Connection II (1975) · Black Sunday (1977)  · Prophecy (1979) 1980s The Challenge (1982) · The Holcroft Covenant (1985) · 52 Pick-up (1986) · Dead Bang (1989) 1990s The Fourth War (1990) · Year of the Gun (1991) The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) · Ronin (1998) 2000s Reindeer Games (2002)