Best Oscar Winners — No. 10

Earlier this week I discussed a series of posts the next 10 weeks on the Best Oscar Winners for Best Picture since 1970. Each Saturday for the next 10 weeks I'll be counting down my favorites and discussing the rationale. As always, if you have thoughts, or other favorites, please feel free to comment and share.

10. The French Connection (1971)
Starring: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, and Fernando Rey
Director: William Friedkin
About: As I said in my introduction, it was hard looking at some of the decades. While considering what films to choose for this list, I wasn't taken with any of the winners from the 1980s. But the 1970s, that's a different story. You could make a case for nearly all those films to be in consideration, and in the end I narrowed it down to a few, beginning with today's pick, "The French Connection." This was somewhat of a history-making film at the time, becoming the first R-rated film to win Best Picture. (It wouldn't be the last.) The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won five — Best Picture, Best Actor (Hackman), Best Director (Friedkin), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. It is an incredible performance from Hackman, as Popeye Doyle, and great work from Friedkin, who has had an interesting career including directing films like "The Exorcist." This remains an enduring classic for a lot of reasons, including that famous car chase sequence, which still holds up. In fact, this is a film that still holds up even 47 years later. If you haven't seen it, it's worth checking in out. As I said, you could make a case for a lot of the films on the list, from the 1970s and other decades. So at some point it comes down, a bit, to personal choice. And I like the format of this film and the elements in it. When looking at the options, it felt like the list would be incomplete without including "The French Connection."
Rating: R for violence and language.