The sad news came out this morning that Gene Hackman and his wife were found dead in their home in New Mexico. An investigation as to what happened is underway.
My first exposure to Hackman was his portrayal of Lex Luthor in 1978's Superman: The Movie. I've seen most of his films. My favorite film of his was the 1992 western Unforgiven: he played the evil sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett and it earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
A few years ago I watched The French Connection - the winner of the 1972 Academy Award for Best Picture among many other prizes - for the first time. All I knew about it going in was that it starred Hackman and that it was about drug smuggling. If anybody had told me beforehand that I was going to be screaming my lungs out while watching it, I would not have believed it. But that is indeed what happened. The scene where Hackman's Popeye Doyle (which snagged him his first Oscar win) commandeers a car and goes off in pursuit of a train is one of the most terrifying spectacles committed to film that I've ever beheld. It's just CRAZY. It might be the best chase scene in the history of American cinematography.
So I thought that to honor the memory of Gene Hackman, I would share that scene. A fine actor at his very finest.
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