The Connection (1961)
Eight drug addicts are waiting for their connection in a New York apartment belonging to Leach. Jim Dunn, a budding filmmaker, has agreed to pay for the fix if the addicts will allow him to film the connection scene. After the men get their shots, they talk Dunn into trying heroin in order to understand the subject "first hand." He becomes ill and while sleeping, Leach takes an overdose that puts him into a coma. Dunn recovers, with the aid of the connection, and writes off the film as a failure.
Cast and Crew:
Director(s):
Shirley Clarke
Writer(s):
Jack Gelber (play)
Starring:
Warren Finnerty, Jerome Raphael, Garry Goodrow, Jim Anderson, Carl Lee, Barbara Winchester, Henry Proach, Roscoe Lee Browne, William Redfield, Freddie Redd, Jackie McLean, Larry Ritchie, Michael Mattos, Linda Veras
Producer(s):
Lewis M. Allen, Shirley Clarke, Jim Di Gangi
Release Info:
Release Date: October 3, 1962 (USA) | Length: 110 min | Genre: Drama, Music | Certificate: Not Rated | Note(s): Larry Ritchie's name is mispelled Richie in the IMDB credits but is correct in the films credits. Restored and preserved by the UCLA Film and Television Archive in 2004. Based on a play by Jack Gelber. This film was held up for release after the Board of Regents of the Motion Picture Division of New York State's Dept. of Education viewed the film and refused to grant it a license to be commercially shown. This was mostly due to the repeated use (seven times) of a four-letter word that rhymes with "hit" and is used as a slang synonym for heroin. The film was judged obscene but opened without a license anyway at the D.W. Griffith Theater on October 3, 1962, only to receive several bad reviews from the major N.Y. film critics. Director Shirley Clarke sued and a month later, the highest court in the state reversed the decision of the Board of Regents. However, the reputation of the film was already damaged and to this day, it has never recouped its original $167,000 budget.