Action · Crime · Thriller
American
1971 · Directed by William Friedkin · 104 min
Two New York narcotics detectives stumble onto a drug trail that leads from a Brooklyn luncheonette to a refined Frenchman with international connections. Shot on cold, real streets, it is a procedural thriller built on persistence, bad tempers and surveillance.
Why it matters in cinema history
A landmark of the early 1970s American crime film, it fused documentary-style location shooting with genre thrills and set the template for the grim, procedural urban thriller.
Watch with intention
Watch it as procedure and obsession rather than plot: how the film makes patient, dull watching feel as tense as action.
Save this film, rate it and keep your notes.
Free, no ads. Your journal, your lists, a Cine Guide that remembers you.
Create your free space
