The French Connection
William Friedkin: a man Possessed, PART II
William Friedkin spent weeks riding along on unauthorized Harlem narcotics busts with real NYPD detectives Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso, soaking up a grim underworld where the line between cops and criminals had all but disappeared. When Hollywood rejected the story as unfilmable, Friedkin brought guerrilla documentary tactics to Manhattan — shooting on frozen streets without permits, staging illegal traffic gridlocks, and personally operating a camera inside a Pontiac tearing down Brooklyn avenues at 90 miles an hour. The result transformed American crime cinema forever. In this three-part production history, Cinema Shock charts how a director on the verge of ruin turned a dry non-fiction book into an uncompromising, Oscar-winning landmark.
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PART 1:
Part 2: (coming soon)
Part 3: (coming soon)
CINEMA SHOCK ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS:
Andy Lancaster | asotirov | Benjamin Turpin | Benjamin Yates | Capiapoa | courtland ashley | curtcake5k | Dick Jones | Felizmon | Interzone78 | Jackson_Baker | John sweet bussy Greaney | Jvance325 | KDurden | Kristian Blilie Berg | LogLad | Lucy Lawson | MagicBloat | mcdudely | Nate Izod | Phil Ellis | Princess Krishna Kali | samurai_hillbilly | Tim G | triplr1478
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne & Justin Bishop.
For episode archives, merch, show notes, and more, visit cinemashock.net