This taut cop drama with its hugely thrilling car chase and Gene Hackman as narc Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle, has earned its place among the best films of the 1970s. Highly acclaimed with its gritty style, the assured direction of William Friedkin (whose expansive career includes The Exorcist, Rules of Engagement and, more recently, an episode of CSI) established him among the bright new stars of 1970s’ Hollywood.