Posted on 01/23/2020 8:19:37 AM PST by oh8eleven
“He was some narcotics detective. He made that case. He made the French Connection case," said retired Det. Randy Jurgensen, who also worked on the case and on the award-winning movie as the NYPD adviser.
“Sonny Grosso was a legendary cop who made the transition to filmmaking with gritty cinema verite stories about cops," Denis Hamill said Wednesday night, praising him for being the inspiration for the Scheider character in “the best cop movie ever made.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
LOL!
LOL!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvrwPEgHq_A
Slightly related as the chicken franchise was named after Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, a fictional character from the ‘French Connection’ movie played by Gene Hackman,
I’ve never seen that one (yet), but I remember the ads for it, I think... clip of a car hitting the rear of a semitrailer during a chase, really used to love movies that destroy stuff. :^)
That scene was filmed on the Taconic State Parkway, and brings back memories to anyone who grew up around downstate NY in the 1970s.
RIP Sonny
Sonny’s interviews (on The French Connection DVD) about making the movie, the case on which it is based and Eddie Egan are very interesting.
“That sh!t-box Dodge.”
Gotta admit, that’s a very good car chase!
It’s not real though, as any New Yorker knows.
The shoot across the George Washington Bridge, which takes you west into Fort Lee, NJ (home of Mr. Richard Feder).
Then, a few minutes later, they’re heading north on the Taconic, which is at least ten miles north of Fort Lee, and on the other side of the Hudson River. So after going west, they’re suddenly north of NYC.
The Millwood/Briarcliff Manor exit from the Taconic is about 25 miles north-northeast of Fort Lee.
So Popeye was Sonny?
Ha! "Dear Roseanne Roseannadanna..."
I’m thinking “Buddy ‘Cloudy’ Russo, played by Scheider.” was Grosso.
In 1971 the French Connection winning all those Oscars was exactly what the cops in New York City needed, We were under attack from scumbags who killed 16 of us in an 18 month stretch; and the Knapp Commission was pounding us every day. RIP Sonny and Eddie.
“... car hitting the rear of a semitrailer ...”
Yes indeed... Roy Scheider unintentionally goes UNDER the truck. Destroys his Pontiac Ventura (Pontiac’s version of the Chevy Nova)...
Interestingly, Bill Hickman was the driver of the Pontiac Catalina or Bonneville that Scheider was chasing; he was also the driver of the 1968 Dodge Charger in Bullit.
Richard Hatch’s facial expressions and reactions (in the criminal car with Bill Hickman) reactions during the car chase are hilarious.
Thanks for your service - both NYPD and USMC - glad you made it.
Yes, but then Serpico came out couple years later and there went all the goodwill.
Popeye’s Chicken was started by Al “Popeye” Copeland of New Orleans.
RIP.
Today in New York the criminals would have been released without posting bail.
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