'Popeye' Doyle (an Academy Award-winning Gene Hackman) and Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider) are tough New York cops attempting to crack a drug smuggling ring. They have a small candy store under surveillance, but Doyle is not happy when he receives the order to work with a pair of French federal agents on the case, one of whom he has a long-standing feud with. Gene Hackman and director William Friedkin both earned Academy Awards for the film, which also took Best Picture.