The French Connection: THR's Original 1971 Review Is Back Online

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents The French Connection: THR's Original 1971 Review Is Back Online.

Hollywood Reporter has republished an archived film review from 1971: the original review of 'The French Connection', the police thriller directed by William Friedkin starring Gene Hackman. If you know the film classic, you read the republication as a document of its time — and if not, you get an unfiltered first look at how critics assessed what would become the future Oscar winner immediately after its theatrical release.

'The French Connection' hit US theaters on October 9, 1971. Even then, the film's success story was already underway — it would end with the Oscar for Best Picture. The republication of THR's review brings exactly that moment back: the very first day audiences and critics got to see the thriller, before it became a legend.

What does a 50-year-old review still offer you today? More than nostalgia — namely a look at the standards with which influential US film critics approached a police thriller back then, long before 'The French Connection' became a classic.

What the Republication Shows

The republished original review is dated to the very day the film hit theaters. THR prefaces the review with a brief introduction that names the premiere date, the director, and the lead actor — and references the subsequent Academy Award in a single sentence. That's all the context needed to read the text for what it is: a piece of American film-criticism history, fresh from the archive.

On Oct. 9, 1971, the William Friedkin thriller starring Gene Hackman hit theaters enroute to winning the best picture Oscar.

Is the Look Into the Archive Worth It?

If you're interested in how contemporary critics judged 'The French Connection' — that is, without the filter of later accolades and without the knowledge of the Oscar — then the original review is exactly the right document. THR has brought the text back online unchanged, and you read it the same way readers back in 1971 did.

You can find the complete original review at Hollywood Reporter:

To the review at Hollywood Reporter