10 Movies That Accidentally Filmed Things You Weren't Supposed To See
3. A Stunt Driver Accidentally Crashed Into An Unsuspecting Civilian (The French Connection)
Classic 1971 action-thriller The French Connection contains one of the most iconic vehicle chases in movie history, with Gene Hackman's detective Jimmy Doyle speeding through New York's crowded downtown streets. But amazingly, very little about this sequence was actually planned in advance.
This is because director William Friedkin didn't have all the permits he needed to film on the streets. As such, there was very little traffic control, and basically the whole thing was improvised, with stunt driver Bill Hickman dodging and weaving - at high speeds - past ordinary civilian cars, who had no idea that a chase was being filmed.
It isn't an exaggeration to say that this sequence was life-threatening to shoot, and this danger was made perfectly clear when the stunt car accidentally smashed into an unsuspecting white Ford, causing significant damage to both vehicles.
As with all the other close calls during the chase, this incident (3:26 in the video below) was completely unplanned. Reportedly, the man whose car was hit was on his morning work commute, and was simply unlucky enough to get caught up in the action.