Hickman then popped up in a slightly expanded role (Mulderig, an antagonizing federal agent) in 1971's "French Connection." And while this character isn't involved in the car chase, he himself did most of the driving of the Pontiac LeMans chasing an MTA train.
For anyone assuming that this car chase syncs up with "Black Magic Woman" -- or that it was supposed to and they couldn't get the rights -- neither of those theories really works. In the deleted-scenes commentary on the 2001 DVD of "French Connection," William Friedkin says he created many scenes in the movie to give the movie structure and -- as he cut the film together -- he was able to delete some of this "scaffolding" because he no longer needed it to clarify the story. This would suggest that -- in the case of the car chase -- he used the Santana song to give it feel and structure. Then he removed the song, went back and re-edited parts (lengthening a shot here, deleting a shot there, trimming, etc). And that's the final product. (This happens a lot in editing). So it's never going to sync up perfectly, and the original edit is likely long-gone. You can still try it, though: if you start the song from the guitar lick at 2:11 -- right when the transit cop is shot -- it works well. And if you work backwards from this point and start the song from the beginning, it kind of fits, too.
Anyhow, two years later, Hickman was back to being the bad guy, this time driving a Pontiac Grand Ville (Grandville?) in pursuit of (or pursuing) Roy Scheider, an undercover cop in a Pontiac Ventura.
While most people now consider the 872 sequels to "The Fast and the Furious" to be excellent chases, I find them incredibly labored and phony -- triumphs of computer-aided filmmaking instead of driving prowess. They just seem like slapped together, soulless pieces of cinema.
While "Bullitt" has proven to be the quintessential Steve McQueen film, and "French Connection" won several Oscars, "The Seven-Ups" is kind of forgotten today, and that's a shame. It really seems to be "French Connection II," just without Gene Hackman. Roy Scheider and Tony Lo Bianco both have prominent roles again, Sonny Grosso is there as an advisor, composer Don Ellis returned, as did editor Gerald B. Greenberg and producer Philip D'Antoni.
I think that last name is part of the problem: D'Antoni had produced "Bullitt" and "French Connection," which were directed by Peter Yates and William Friedkin, respectively. But D'Antoni himself directed "The Seven-Ups," and it has the feel of a well-done TV show, not a feature (except the car chase, of course). On the DVD, there's a laughable, clearly fake/scripted "making of" scene in which D'Antoni confers with Bill Hickman, who must have been thinking, "I could have directed this whole damned movie -- not just the car chase -- and gotten a credit and done at least as good a job... for a lot less money than you're making!" Oh well.
Both men seemed to mostly disappear from feature films after this. Hickman choreographed the motorcycle chase in "Electra Glide in Blue," and died of cancer in 1986.
D'Antoni had a long contract with NBC according to Wikipedia, and seems to have eventually sold off his rights to "Cruising" (finally made in 1980 by William Friedkin) and "French Connection II," made in 1975 by John Frankenheimer and starring Gene Hackman. That movie features a long chase -- on foot -- that's quite good, but the best scenes are actually when Hackman is trying to adjust to life in France. It's also hinted that his previous partner (Roy Scheider) was a bad cop... shades of hostility toward "The Seven-Ups"? Roger Ebert essentially said that while "FCII" wasn't as good as the original, it was better than the rip-offs that came in its wake. I have to agree.
As a bonus, here's a scene from another great film -- a film which is essentially one long car chase: "Smokey and the Bandit." Despite the down-home atmosphere and countrified reputation this movie has, it's excellently directed. Alfred Hitchcock cited it as one of his favorites... possibly because it is such a cat-and-mouse game. Below is the only scene in the entire movie featuring both Burt Reynolds and Jackie Gleason. (The end of this movie also features a frame with both of them, but they're not really interacting directly):
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