The finest US screen actor ever, bar none.

@garyfenlon5769

2 күн бұрын

Unforgiven for me is the role that shows just how brilliant an actor he is, he goes from jovial to utterly terrifying in seconds!!!! the scene with the writer and 'The Duck of Death' (Richard Harris) in the jail cell always gives me CHILLS!

A long time favorite. Still with us at 93. Bless him.

One of the greatest actors of all time. I'll watch a Hackman movie simply because he's in it.

Gene Hackman is truly an Actor’s Actor

By the time he got to Mississippi Burning and the subject matter, he was more than happy to apply the correct intensity and physicality to fit the scene. Perfectly

Such a great interview. He's a charming gentleman.

Classic actor. Classic film. One of my favourite top 10 films.

@GILLY56ify

7 ай бұрын

Definitely in my top 10 of classic must watch movies ... it is so realistic because of the great acting by the main characters and the supporting actors ... Fernando Rey plays his part so well as Frog 1 and is nearly as good as Hackman who was genuinely outstanding

Great film as is Part 2. Gene Hackman is a brilliant actor, he's a really humble, mild-mannered guy, somebody you could share a pint with. Bet he could tell a few stories too.

@jeshkam

2 ай бұрын

Part 2 detox scene is incredible and so sadly overlooked.

@user-tv2bz2ci6b

8 күн бұрын

I totally agree. FC2 is hugely overlooked.

Brilliant actor, brilliant film. Ahhh the 1970's.

One of Gene Hackman‘s best

My favourite actor of all time Gene

@johndoherty4976

3 ай бұрын

Charles Bronson and Steve McQueen where better actor's then Gene Hackman

@user-tv2bz2ci6b

8 күн бұрын

​@@johndoherty4976That's hilarious. Good joke!

@jamesanthony5681

5 күн бұрын

@@johndoherty4976 *were *actors No. Gene was better than both. Hackman's career took off when he was 40, and he got better as he got older. Great in everything.

Back when they made REAL films. Not the shit they make now.

@paleo704

10 ай бұрын

Marvel

@rolonnemarieross7243

2 ай бұрын

Exactly Good cinema and great actors.

@jamesanthony5681

5 күн бұрын

This was a period when the guys running the studios were the movie guys, the ones that loved film, before the accountants and lawyers took over.

@roquefortfiles

5 күн бұрын

@@jamesanthony5681 You got it. A different era. And I miss it terribly. They made films then

@roquefortfiles

5 күн бұрын

@@jamesanthony5681 I watched a documentary on Gene Hackman where Dustin Hoffman (Who roomed with him in the early days) said Gene used to say "I got to go out to a bar for a drink and get in a fight" That's what Gene was like

Another example of why the 70's was the greatest decade for movies, whatever the genre and whatever the language.

@gillan5

4 күн бұрын

And for music too.

Wow! What an interview.

Saw this when I was 10 in Brooklyn N.Y. so I know "new-yorkers". Accent, mannerisms etc. If you would of told me then this was a southern boy, I would of thought you were lying to me. Today, it's still hard to believe. Gene Hackman's performance in my top 3 of all time! Classic!!!

@jakerson181

6 күн бұрын

He's not a southern boy. Born in Southern California and grew up in Illinois.

@jamesdavis6036

6 күн бұрын

@@jakerson181 Non-Newyorker then. Only place on earth that have that accent.

He's wonderful. I first realized this on the movie Hoosiers.

Great actor is Gene Hackman. Brilliant.

His regular speaking voice is a lot different from films. A true chameleon.

Isn't he lovely.

A bona fide Masterpiece

Great film and interview.... one of my favourite films ever!!!! 😎

Friedkin has such a brilliant sense of the oddness of streets in the city that was always there in the 70s !

@mikecorlett3414

5 күн бұрын

Is he any relation to Dan Friedkin who is about to become the next owner of Everton FC?

I adore this film. I can watch it over and over. Perfection

One of the finest actors of all time and one of the greatest directors in cinema, creating one of the best thrillers ever made. Absolute cinematic perfection. I dare anyone to start watching French Connection and try to tear themselves away from the screen.

They really don’t make ‘em like they used to. Gene Hackman was such a riveting/powerful actor. Everything he did, he always gave his 110%. French Connection, Unforgiven, Hoosiers, Mississippi Burning and Get Shorty are some of my favorite performances of his.

@conorsmith8551

9 ай бұрын

He’s great in the birdcage too ha

@shasta810

6 күн бұрын

Scarecrow from 1973 the conversation from 1974 two of his other great ones.

The greatest police/crime drama in cinema history, bar none.

Gene is such a classy guy and a superb actor. French Connection and him were made for each other. My top 5 movie.

RIP Billy

Thank you very much for this! Gene was funny, serious and matter of fact about the film. He was relaxed and well spoken here. Enjoy your retirement😀

Awesome film, Hackman is awesome too.

Part 1 is a MASTERPIECE. The ending is one of the most memorable for me, and I've seen plenty of films in my time.

Absolutely one of my favorite actors.

Gene Hackman is probably one of the 10 best actors the last 50 years. I miss the French Connection, it's been many years since I saw it and I would like to watch the sequel too.

@maxbowie6074

Жыл бұрын

For me he's a strong contender for the best film actor America's ever produced. He's that good

@dora1980

Жыл бұрын

@@maxbowie6074 He's one of the best for sure and I like him when he plays tough guys.

@melsteffano6189

11 ай бұрын

F.C II is terrific as well!

@dora1980

11 ай бұрын

@@melsteffano6189 I've never watched it but I believe you!

@matthewjdouglas6471

11 ай бұрын

I've watched both films at least 10 times each. I just love them both.

one of my favourite movies

Best actor ever

His work is always spot on, never a false moment. One of the best, right up there with Spencer Tracey.

As a teenager I watched in in the 70ies-One of the 3 most badass movies of all time.

Love the Irish Goodbye upon exiting the bar! ☘️

Great actor. Great Movie! Won 5 Oscars. You should see this film. It's a great ride.

"Whether you like him or not, he is who he is" on his character Gold

Hackman's interview in James Lipton's 'At the Actor's Studio' is still the best episode by a wide margin.

Just love Gene Hackman🎉🎉🎉🎉

Great actor. The eerie film score of TFC was great as well, especially during the end scene.

Whatever doubts and hesitancy Hackman had about effectively portraying Popeye's fearless physical bravado and bullying, roughneck nature, we in the audience never detect it. Hackman's performance is seamless and his commitment to the character is fully realized. I think the film seems somewhat dated now - it is very much a movie of its particular historical moment - but Hackman's work holds up exceptionally well. Some might say his greatest performance came in The Conversation in which he plays a character that's vastly more cerebral and emotionally reserved - nearly an inversion of Popeye Doyle - but both performances are a testament to Hackman's considerable range and talent.

@melsteffano6189

11 ай бұрын

Well said! The idea that the movie is "Dated" strikes me as odd. All period films are "Dated" This is a modern "Period" film. Wouldn't you say? Simply astounding.

@orpheus9037

11 ай бұрын

@@melsteffano6189 You have a point there. This is something I've been thinking about for a while now. I would agree French Connection is definitely part of the modern period - in other words, it seems more part of our era than distinct from it. But here's the thing. Look at Jimmy Cagney's famous gangster film from 1931: The Public Enemy. As a thought experiment, pretend you're watching it in 1981. Do you think the film, fifty years after the fact, would seem dated? I would definitely think virtually anything from the early thirties - especially movies - would seem dated to a an early eighties audience. Yet, oddly, here we are in 2023 talking about a movie released in 1971 that seems more recognizably contemporary. Something about that 60/70 era - the movies, the music, etc - stays with us. It never becomes "Clara Bow"

@mandolindleyroadshow706

9 ай бұрын

I agree, I have always thought of The French Connection and The Conversation as the yin and yang of Hackman performances (extrovert vs. introvert). Yet his physicality remains remarkably consistent: his shambling walk, the way he points his finger, etc. Brando did something similar when he followed-up The Godfather with Last Tango In Paris. Two totally different performances, but the essence of the actor remains in place.

@dzanier

6 ай бұрын

Very well said.

@jamesanthony5681

5 күн бұрын

Good comment. It's interesting that Hackman had that hesitancy to portray that bullying and toughness on screen. In real life Gene was a tough guy (an ex-marine), a guy you wouldn't want to mess with, and at times as a young man would go looking for fights. Dustin Hoffman said that about Hackman, as both he and Gene were good friends going back to their early actor days in NYC. "I need to get in a fight," Hackman said (paraphrasing slightly) to Hoffman one time.

Gene and Roy are some of the best.

One of the best Hollywood tough guys. Smart. Astute. Badass.

Hackman is one of the greats, almost all of his performances are fantastic. _Scarecrow_ (1973) with Pacino is an underrated movie.

Love Gene 🇮🇪

An absolute shocker of a film.

~~ William Friedkin could be difficult & demanding for his cast & crew to deal with - but the results speak for themselves - French Connection still resonates to this day - and that film is what earned him the right to do The Exorcist and he clearly made the most of that opportunity as well ..

A truly great actor

Insane film. A miracle. Gene Hackman owns the movie.

The movies released in 1971 show the sheer creative poverty now, an awesome list.

I loved William Goldmans story about Roy Scheider in marathon man when he says Dustin Hoffman is griping that his character 'wouldn't look for a flashlight' and they are carrying on with the director and Roy Scheider is just standing there for an hour just being rock solid. I remember he didn't want to do Jaws 2 but was contractually bound, and that movie would have been, well, Jaws 3, if he hadnt been in it. Definitely was an under rated actor. But its amazing that a movie like this could be so good, when its basically about 'well, some french guys smuggling in drugs and they get away'.

Love it!

That movie could never be made today

They don't make em like this anymore.

Gene is a real legend

A great actor. Kevin Costner said he was arguably the best actor he’s ever worked with!

gene hackman:LEGEND. TERRIFIC MOVIE

I watched this last week for the first time all the way through and really loved the shots of New York.

Hackman did his own stunt driving? Wow.

@domherbin8562

11 ай бұрын

Bill Hickman did !

Gene Hackman is a GREAT Actor. I've never seen him give a poor performance.

Great Interview 💯 💯 💯

Hackman was GREAT as Popeye

He's a great actor.

I’m surprised he would do an interview he lives a very secluded life style.

Love Mississipi Burning

My Brother-in-law was the real life treasury agent from the book

Assisti Missi sip em chamas com Gene Hacmam que ator tslentoso demais

He’s one of the greats! Wonder if they kicked in a bonus to him after the success?

Billy Friedkin originally wanted Jackie Gleason to play Popeye, and when you see Eddie Egan (the real Popeye) it is hard to imagine anyone but Gleason in the role (if it was a year or two later, Charles Durning would have fit the bill). Gene Hackman brought a different skill set to the performance. First, his physicality lent itself to this most physical of leading man performances, his innate charm and likeability took the edge off of Egan's racism. What Hackman lacked was, not as he says, the anger, but Eddie Egan's Brooklynese way of speaking. That voice was the character's signature and Hackman found out quickly he couldn't master that "deez, dem and doze" dialect. So what he did instead was take a cue from his old Marine drill instructor and that helped make Popeye his own (Egan was a Marine as well, and when he told Hackman he was, the actor knew he could find Popeye's core). You will note that when Popeye raids Roy's Bar ("Popeye's here!"), Hackman spouts it from the side of his mouth. That's straight up "hut-hut" Marine style.

The remote button you identified as “Wi-Fi” is actually the oscillation button.

TCM, to their shame, for years has been censoring the dialogue between Doyle and Grosso in the police station after Sonny has been slashed in the arm by a black drug dealer. It’s a key and extremely well-written scene, but TCM for some reason doesn’t think viewers are mature enough to digest a brief exchange between two cops that included the word ni*ger. And keep in mind that the word is uttered only that one time in the entire movie. There are other movies TCM has aired where the dreaded n-word is spoken and not censored. One of them, “In The Heat of The Night,” is also a great movie. But for some reason they couldn’t keep their hands off of “The French Connection.”

@moneypenny1957

11 ай бұрын

I've seen it uncut on tcm

@charleswinokoor6023

11 ай бұрын

@@moneypenny1957 The last two times it aired the dialogue in question was missing. I know because I recorded it both times.

@philippastore2228

10 ай бұрын

@@charleswinokoor6023 Uncarded public access Vending Machine Cigarettes priced at 35 cents per pack in New York State in '71 was the greater Evil, also highlighted in that scene between Gene and Ray @2:06.

@jukodebu

7 ай бұрын

I noticed that also - but they kept in the term sp*cs a few times

Five Oscars, not bad, not bad at all.🤣🤣

Never made a bad movie

All the best tough guys and sax players wear a pork-pie hat.

1971, I'll bet he didn't protest that much.

About all I remember he did plenty of running.

I’ve always thought of Hackman as the US version of Michael Caine.

Rest in peace sammy Wilson

he looks and sounds great why not making movies today?

@thomassmith1945

6 күн бұрын

This interview was from 2008. he retired from acting years ago and is in his nineties.

It's his life, if it's his time to retire, it is. It's just sad thinking he'll never entertain me the way he's provided me with so many times before.

What bar was it??? Is it still there?

Sounds like a lot of those scenes in the brilliant movie ,scared the Bejesus out of you Mr Hackman ?

8:47 Doesn't this contradict everything Friedkin has said about this scene?

Just because someone says the nword doesn't make them racist If that's the case everyone that used it would be racist Movies and rap music have made billions from using it.

Wow he is somewhat shy almost, to hear his voice as Gene, not whatever character he’s portraying.

Wow he looks really good, he must be about 83 now?

@SurvivingTheApocalypse

3 ай бұрын

This interview was recorded in 2008.

@TechNoir-wz5ic

7 күн бұрын

Gene Hackman I believe is around 94 now.

@jakerson181

6 күн бұрын

​@@TechNoir-wz5ic94

As of 2020 the network TCM has expunged the "n" word segment from the film. I'm not a fan of that decision at all. Listen to Gene above to understand why.

Great movie. Horrible book.

Friedkin in his book recalls the scene with the drug dealer in the opening took 30+ takes on day one and it still wasn't satisfactory. Hackman wanted to quit. Like it or not The French Connection defined Hackman as an A List star and launched his long career. I think he has always had a problem with that fact. The one thing about him that's pathetic. He is an actor, now long retired, but played many different roles in a career including his role in Superman. Let's be realistic, what kind of prep do you do to play a hero from a kid's comic book? His aversion to the alleged racist cop portrayal in FC is all bullshit, it was a fake, movie role. And good movie role. Remember he wasn't the first choice for it either, an afterthought. From a true perspective, the real life, NYPD Detective Eddie Eagan, how many lives were saved keeping that dope off the street? And hundreds of other arrests before that in his service career? Hundreds, thousands? How many families were spared death and heartache? Mostly Blacks and Puerto Ricans. How many kid's grew up with their parents? How safer were the streets of those neighborhoods? Hackman then, as probably now, needs to get beyond his own personal view of life and look at the larger picture. As for a tough shoot, possibly. I was outside working in NYC when that movie was filmed, I got through it Ok. I had a good coat. For Christ's sake, he was a former U.S. Marine. Went through USMC MCRD training in the 1950s. Are you kidding, "I got too cold?" Hackman was a WOKE whiner before the term ever got used. And as for this horrible role as Eagan the cop it sure didn't keep him from the sequel (with a much bigger payday) just a few years later did it?

what a great interview. It's nice to hear Gene speak highly of Friedkin, because all those many interviews with Friedkin, he acknowledges such