Gene Hackman recalls ‘The French Connection’ 50 years later: ‘A moment in a checkered career of hits, misses’
It’s the heart-stoppingmoment when a bashed-in Pontiac LeMans hurtles beneath NYC’s elevated subway at 90 miles an hour, dodging traffic and pedestrians in a wild race to keep up with a hijacked N train rumbling overhead.That five-minute sequence — a crash course in ‘70s guerrilla filmmaking — is now regarded by many to be the best movie car chase of all time. However, with the 50th anniversary of "The French Connection" revving up this week, legendary actor Gene Hackman is blunt about the genuinely death-defying scene — and the lasting impact of the gritty cop drama that won him the first of his two Oscars.