Did Disney Censor ‘The French Connection’? Film Fans Furious About Missing Racial Slur Scene

Classic film fans are up in arms this week over the apparent censorship of the acclaimed 1971 crime thriller, The French Connection, on digital platforms—including the version of the film currently streaming on The Criterion Channel, the independent streaming service dedicated to classic films.

On Tuesday, film nerds started buzzing about the revelation following a blog post from Jeffrey Wells on Hollywood Elsewhere, an often-controversial film enthusiast who has come under fire in the past for his inflammatory and offensive opinions. Nevertheless, Wells pointed out that the version of The French Connection streaming on The Criterion Channel omits a sequence in which Gene Hackman’s character, Detective Popeye Doyle, uses a racial slur after his partner has been stabbed by a Black character.

You can read the uncensored scene via The French Connection script, which is available for free online. (It’s worth noting that the film won 5 Oscars in 1972, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Actor.) After Roy Scheider’s character, Detective Russo, is stabbed by a character listed in the script as “Black Pusher”—played by actor Alan Weeks—Russo says, “How’d I know he had a knife.”

To which Doyle replies, “Never trust a [racial slur].”

If you watch the scene on the Criterion Channel, however, that entire conversation, which takes place outside of the NYPD headquarters on the Lower East Side, has been cut. Film lovers on Twitter reported that their purchased digital copies of the film also did not include the scene with the racial slur.

I just verified it from my own copy of the film. They did indeed chop a chunk of a scene out, about 9 and a half minutes into the film. It's clumsy and it's stupid.

— DrewMcWeeny (@DrewMcWeeny) June 6, 2023

At the risk of being like "nooo, my precious n-word," the uncensored FRENCH CONNECTION should be the only one in circulation, whether on TV or in theaters. I don't think it's a stretch to say that Friedkin knew exactly what having his detective protagonist use it said about him. https://t.co/F4CgIl1j1i

— Sam Adams (@SamuelAAdams) June 6, 2023

various movie nerds are reporting that Disney is secretly censoring movies like The French Connection, a film that won Best Picture in 1971. someone needs to stop these sleazy vandals. pic.twitter.com/gT0xQDVBjv

— Scott Weinberg (@scottEmovienerd) June 6, 2023

That said, it appears the scene is still included in digital and streaming copies available on Disney+ outside of the U.S. (The film is not available on Disney+ in the U.S.)

Still, many were quick to blame Disney for the censorship. The French Connection was a 20th Century Fox film, a company that Disney now owns thanks to a 2017 merger with Fox. Decider reached out to both The Criterion Channel and 20th Century for comment but did not hear back by the time of publication.

Film enthusiasts on Twitter are now calling for The Criterion Channel to add a note at the beginning of the film indicating that the film has been edited from its original version. In the past, Disney has added disclaimers to movies featuring harmful racial stereotypes or language, on movies like Aladdin, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, The Jungle Book, The Aristocats and Dumbo.

Unlike those films, The French Connection is an R-rated movie for adults, and fans argue that new edits of classic films set a dangerous precedent that could influence media literacy and cinematic history. Others wonder why people want to hear the n-word so badly. The debate rages on.