The Seven-Ups (1973)

(On Cable TV, April 2022) Digging through Hollywood history, it’s sometimes fascinating to uncover films that were clearly meant to be follow-ups to far more famous titles, but failed to achieve any notoriety on their own. Yes, I’m talking about sequels that nobody saw but also thematic follow-ups, such as The Seven-Ups, a film clearly meant to be another attempt to capture the magic of The French Connection. The primary link to the previous film is obvious, with Roy Scheider playing a character named “Buddy” in both movies (even if they’re not meant to be the exact same character), but they extend well into the credits with numerous crewmembers and above-the-line crew. Same producer, screenwriter, composer and stunt coordinator, for instance. Same intention to present a gritty universe of evil criminals and unorthodox cops. The same general idea for an extended stunt sequence as the highlight of the film. While The Seven-Ups certainly isn’t as well known as The French Connection, it does have its moments. Some of the suspense and action set-pieces have aged relatively well for a 1970s film, and Scheider was a top actor for a reason – his ability to keep us engaged is clear here, even as we’re asked to consider a group of crooked cops as the heroes. Still, if you’re looking for a reason to watch the film, there’s no debate: The car chase sequence that starts in a parking garage and proceeds furiously to the outskirts of New York City is the slam-bang sequence that justifies the film. It starts slowly, but the truck-smashing climax is as abrupt as it’s spectacular – and try not to notice that it doesn’t narratively advance the film for something like twenty minutes. The rest is a more brightly-lit-than-usual 1970s cop thriller: Unpleasant, cold, harsh and glum, but more engaging than many similar films and not unpleasant to watch either. Still, the point of the film was the car chase, and that’s well-worth watching at least once – especially if you had no idea The French Connection led directly to The Seven-Ups.