Other mistake: At the very start of the chase scene, where the shooter tries to kill Popeye, he looks up to the shooter's position. There are at least 6-7 floors of the building. When Popeye looks over the edge, he can see the shooter running away from the building. In the next scene, he is chasing the shooter on foot and is not far behind him. By the time Popeye had run back down all those flights of stairs, the shooter would be long gone.
The French Connection (1971)
1 other mistake
Directed by: William Friedkin
Starring: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey, Tony Lo Bianco
Continuity mistake: During the car chase scene under the "B" Elevated Train in Brooklyn (86th St.), Popeye passes the same curve at least 3 or 4 times. Look closely, you'll probably see the same movie theatre over and over again. Apparently, they rerun the same chase clip to increase the length of this scene.
Buddy "Cloudy" Russo: We got the information there's no shit on the street. Right? It's like a god damn desert full of junkies out there. Everybody waiting to get well.
Trivia: James Caan, Peter Boyle and Steve McQueen were all offered the role of "Popeye" Doyle but turned it down for various reasons. Gene Hackman was eventually cast without auditioning, reading for the part or screen-testing.
Question: Why does Sal take the dirty car out of the city parking lot and park it by the docks? If that's the drug car why would the French let him do that?
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Answer: The parking laws in the 1970's were not as strict as they are today, leaving a car on the street is no different from parking on the curb in a suburban area. The car was supposed to be picked up by the mob.