US (1971): Crime/Drama/Action/Thriller
This gritty, fast-paced, and innovative police drama earned five Academy Awards. Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) and his partner Buddy "Cloudy" Russo (Roy Scheider) are New York City police detectives on narcotics detail, trying to track down the source of heroin from Europe into the United States. Suave Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey) is the French drug kingpin who provides a large percentage of New York City's dope, and Pierre Nicolli (Marcel Bozzuffi) is a hired killer and Charnier's right-hand man. Acting on a hunch, Popeye and Cloudy start tailing Sal Boca (Tony LoBianco) and his wife Angie (Arlene Faber), who live pretty high for a couple whose corner store brings in about $7,000 a year. It turns out Popeye's suspicions are right -- Sal and Angie are the New York agents for Charnier, who will be smuggling $32 million worth of heroin into the city in a car shipped over from France.
This film broke plenty of new ground for screen thrillers; Popeye Doyle was a highly unusual "hero," an often violent, racist and mean-spirited cop whose dedication to his job fell just short of dangerous obsession. The film's high point, a high-speed car chase with Popeye tailing an elevated train, was one of the most viscerally exciting screen moments of its day and set the stage for dozens of action sequences to follow. And the film's grimy realism (and downbeat ending) was a big change from the buff-and-shine gloss and good-guys-always-win heroics of most police dramas that preceded it. The movie was inspired by a true story, and Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso, Popeye and Cloudy's real life counterparts, both have small roles in the film. A sequel followed four years later. (Mark Deming, All Movie Guide)
8 nominations, 5 Awards
· Best Picture 1971: Philip D'Antoni - Producer (D'Antoni-Schine-Moore, 20th Century-Fox)
· Actor 1971: Gene Hackman
· Directing 1971: William Friedkin
· Writing (Best Screenplay based on material from another medium) 1971: Ernest Tidyman
· Film Editing 1971: Jerry Greenberg
· Supporting Actor 1971: Roy Scheider
· Cinematography 1971: Owen Roizman
· Sound 1971: Theodore Soderberg, Christopher Newman