‘French Connection’ epic NYC car chase shot without permits

(Popular Mechanics) 1971’s The French Connection features one of the most harrowing car chases in cinema history: Detective Jimmy Doyle (Gene Hackman) hurtling down crowded NYC streets in a brown Pontiac to catch a bad guy who’s commandeered an elevated subway train. It’s a lurid orgy of screeching tires, darting traffic, and considerable impacts–and as Gothamist explains, much of it was shot on busy city streets with no traffic control, putting unsuspecting drivers and pedestrians literally in the center of the deadly high-speed action.