This scene from The French Connection is permanently burned into my childhood cinematic memory. I remember when seeing it on television many years after it was released in 1971, I was watching it with my father who mentioned…”you know how it seems he’s driving really fast? It’s because they sped the cameras up.” That might have been the moment that piqued my interest in the art of filmmaking—the little nuances of detail and embellishment to give the film arts a much more rich experience. 

I wanted to do music for a classic film, and I casually came across this scene one afternoon and noticed that there is almost no score on this seven and a half minute sequence. When I thought about the music, I looked to other 70’s thrillers at the time, and always really loved the electric piano (Rhodes) style soundtracks of Dirty Harry and 3 Days of The Condor. I gotta shout out the original soundtrack from Don Ellis is superb, and I think it was more than intentional not to have music during this sequence to heighten the tension. Still, seemed a good challenge, and so here it is. 

Many thanks to a few talented people who appeared on this track. Drummer Charles Ruggiero ( @ruggierodrums ) really nailed it, and singer Alyssa Newton ( @_alyssanewton ) provided the terrific haunting vocals. They both fit perfectly into the vibe I was seeking. 

Give a close listen to about 6:44, and you’ll notice the sound in the video change. I ended up cutting all of the audio in the sequence from that point, as Ellis’ soundtrack kicked in with some light timpani. So, I re-foleyed the scene with the exception of Gene Hackman’s “Hold It!” That, I cut out of the original and re-laid it into the final.