This particular change to “The French Connection” came unexplained and unannounced, so we can only guess at the precise reasoning behind it. We see a bit of banter between two policemen working in what was then called the “inner city,” dialogue underlining their “good cop, bad cop” dynamic; in certain ways, it’s not so different from the set pieces you would find in Blaxploitation films of the era. He is one in a long line of characters that would stretch forward into shows like “The Shield” and “The Wire”: figures built on the idea that “good cop, bad cop” can describe not just an interrogation style or a buddy-film formula but also a single officer. The one newly smuggled into “The French Connection” reveals, to use a period term, the hand of the Man, even if it’s unclear from which direction it’s reaching. Censors, like overzealous cops, can be too aggressive, or too simplistic, in their attempts to neutralize perceived threats.

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Persons: it’s, —, Doyle, we’re, they’re, Gene Hackman, megacorporations, Friedkin Organizations: State, Disney