Suggested Reading/Viewing: "The French Connection" (Book - 1969 & Movie - 1971)

The French Connection by Robin Moore



My rating: Book: 4 of 5 stars - Movie: Two Thumbs Up





This particular edition of "The French Connection," the Bantam Books mass market paperback edition, was the 17th printing of the book, published in mid-late 1972. I recently picked up a near-new condition copy for $1.00 at a used book store. Having seen the movie several times previously (I still own a copy on VHS, really gotta upgrade to a DVD copy!), I was glad to finally have a chance to read the book as well. On the front cover of the copy I picked up, above the title of the book, in red lettering are the words "Best Picture Of The Year! Winner of Five Academy Awards!" This refering to the fact that by this point the movie adaptation of "The French Connection" had been released and done very well indeed, winning all kinds of awards and critical acclaim, evenutally going on to become what is considered by many to be one of the finest movies about organized crime and the dope trade ever produced.



The book reads particularly well if you've seen the movie. If you haven't seen the movie, the book would still read well, but might turn off some readers as the plot revolves heavily around the seemingly never-ending descriptions of how the cops tailed their suspects around New York City - up and down north-south streets. Back and forth on the cross-town streets. Up and down and all around the town on streets that will be familiar to people who live in New York or who have spent time there but will have absolutely no meaning to those who do not know the city and these heavily detailed descriptions may seem a bit overdone to those unafmiliar with the streets of Manhattan.



Other than that one small consideration, this book is top notch reading as one would come to expect from the legend of the title...every one's heard of "The French Connection," right? But not everyone has read the book AND/OR seen the movie. I've done both now and can attest to the equal enjoyment of both experiences...great movie, great book...experiencing both at least once each is highly reccomended.



For those of you who could give a rats ass about the book, there's the movie, which does have the added bonus of the inclusion of the stunning visuals of the setting of the story - the New York City of the late 1960's: a much grittier, less sanitized looking place when the movie was filmed on location there in the late 1960's. With the movie, unlike with the book, you don't have to try to visualize what city of that time looked like, and where the story is taking you...it's served up to you in all it's ragged, ravaged glory and all you have to do is sit there, shovelling fistfulls of hot buttery popcorn into your yap, effortlessly watching it appear on the screen...but you still have to try to follow along!







A shorter, more action packed trailer...





The filming of one of the craziest car chase sequences in cinema history!





...and more random scenes from the movie.









...and no, Red Box does not have "The French Connection" available for rental this month. You'll have to find a copy someplace other than McDonalds.

Suggested Reading: "Anarchy, Protest & Rebellion & the Counterculture that Changed America" photos by Fred W. McDarrah (2003)

Anarchy, Protest, & Rebellion & the Counterculture That Changed America
Photography by: Fred W. McDarrah

My rating: 5 of 5 stars





*A book highly suggested for those readers interested in the cultural and political scenes in and around New York City during the mid-1960's through the early-1970's. Also highly suggested for readers who enjoy looking at old photos more than actually reading - this is after all, as the cover states, a photographic memoir. The majority of the hundreds of stunning black & white photographs contained in this amazing 375-page collection consist of images shot in and around New York City - the city, not so antiseptic in those days, providing the perfect backdrop of urban grit and grime to unforgettable scenes of political challenge and social change.

From the back cover of the book:

Culled from an archive of over 5,000 photographs, "Anarchy, Protest & Rebellion and the Counterculture that Changed America" presents America's most tumultuous decade through the eyes of renowned photojournalist Fred W. McDarrah. As staff photographer for the leading counterculture weekly the "Village Voice," McDarrah was everywhere - and he photographed everything and everybody. From the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago to the Newark riots; from the Beatles' first American press conference to Andy Warhol's Factory; from Woodstock to the closing of the Fillmore East; from Broadway to Stonewall to Harlem to City Hall, Fred's award winning pictures capture the struggle and promise of the sixties and define a generation.

Many of these photographs have never been published, or were seen only once in the "Village Voice," where for forty years McDarrah ran the photo desk. A number of his portraits, however, like those of Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, and Abbie Hoffman, have become some of the most celebrated icons of their subjects. These pictures represent a depth and breadth of public and private events and emotions, both political and startlingly intimate, that is rarely found in the work of one man - a powerful synthesis of American photojournalism, cultural and political documentary and, despite McDarrah's modest protestations, art.

*Click HERE to view a Village Voice photo archives slideshow of some of McDarrah's work, including several photos that appear in the book.

Suggested Viewing: PBS-TV The American Experience Series: The World That Moses Built" (1989)

From the PBS-TV series "The American Experience":

"The World that Moses Built"
Season 1 - Episode 15
Air Date: 01/10/89