The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

In New York, armed men hijack a subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers. Even if it's paid, how could they get away?

Director:

Joseph Sargent

Writers:

John Godey (novel), Peter Stone (screenplay)

Stars:

Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Walter Matthau	...	Police Lt. Zachary Garber
Robert Shaw	...	Bernard Grier aka Blue
Martin Balsam	...	Harold Longman aka Green
Hector Elizondo	...	Giuseppe Benvenuto aka Grey
Earl Hindman	...	George Steever aka Brown
James Broderick	...	Denny Doyle - Train Conductor
Dick O'Neill	...	Frank Correll
Lee Wallace	...	Al - the Mayor of New York City
Tom Pedi	...	Caz Dolowicz
Beatrice Winde	...	Mrs. Jenkins
Jerry Stiller	...	Police Lt. Rico Patrone
Nathan George	...	Police Ptl. James
Rudy Bond	...	Phil - Police Commissioner
Kenneth McMillan	...	Harry - Borough Commander (as Kenneth Mc Millan)
Doris Roberts	...	Jessie - the Mayor's Wife

Storyline

Four seemingly-unrelated men board subway train Pelham 1:23 at successive stations. Mr. Blue, Mr. Green, Mr. Grey and Mr. Brown are heavily armed and overpower the motorman and novice conductor to take control of the train. Between stations they separate the front car from the remainder of the train, setting passengers in the back cars and the motorman free. The four demand $1 million ransom within exactly one hour for the remaining eighteen hostages, including the conductor. If their demands are not met in time or their directions are not followed precisely, they will begin to shoot hostages dead, one every minute the money is late. Wisecracking Lt. Zach Garber of the transit police ends up being the primary communicator between the hijackers and the authorities, which includes transit operations, his own police force, the NYPD, and the unpopular and currently flu ridden mayor who will make the ultimate decision of whether to pay the ransom. Unknown to Garber, what may be working on ...

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Plot Keywords:

train | hostage | passenger | hijacker | subway | 

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Taglines:

We are going to kill one passenger a minute until New York City pays us 1 million dollars.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

14 November 1974 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

El tomar de Pelham uno dos tres

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross:

SEK 1,003,937 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Palomar Pictures (I), Palladium Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filming of the subway scenes began in late November 1973 and lasted through January 1974. Though the scenes were filmed on a track that had been out of use since the 1940s, they were close enough to the still functioning A and E lines that takes had to be done in between those trains coming through (to and from Hoyt-Schermerhorn station) because of their noise and lights.

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Goofs

The action takes place on the local downtown Lexington Avenue Line, which terminates at the abandoned City Hall loop station, just past Brooklyn Bridge station. While the fact that the train in the film runs to the inner loop at South Ferry (where some express trains terminate) may appear to be a goof, the hijackers request that the switches be set in order to put them in the South Ferry loop - and there is indeed a switch onto the downtown express tracks, right before the Brooklyn Bridge station. At the time the film was made, the Lexington 5 and 6 lines went to South Ferry station. That section of track is still there but no longer in use.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mr. Mattson: Okay, kid, out loud now so's I can hear what you're sayin'.
Bud Carmody: I'm checkin' the passengers gettin' on and off...
Mr. Mattson: Uh-huh.
Bud Carmody: Front and back. Shuttin' the doors. Rear section first and the first section. And the doors are closed. Now I'm checking my indicator lights to make sure all the doors are locked. I remove my switch key and back out the window for a distance of three car lengths to make sure no one's being dragged. 51st Street next stop; next stop, 51st Street. How'd I do?

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Crazy Credits

Although many of the scenes in this film were taken on transit property, the New York City Transit Authority is not responsible for plot, story and characters portrayed. The Authority did not render technical advice and assistance.

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Connections

References Sesame Street (1969)

User Reviews

Great NYC flick

I am biased a little with this film to begin with, as I live in NYC and am a big subway fan. So a gritty 70's flick that takes place in a NYC subway sounds good to me! But the truth is, this film is a great film full of extremely talented actors with a dynamite story. Shaw and Matthau are the obvious stars with everyone else putting in a good co-starring role.

The story takes place on the "6" train no less, which happens to be my fave subway line! It was a great surprise when I found the DVD for only ten bucks, I would have paid a normal price. And the quality of the DVD transfer is VERY nice. The film, though a bit brutal sometimes, even has some decent humor, even the ending is kinda funny, but perfect. I recently watched this on TV, just to compare the two versions and see where all the cuts and edits were. You can't go wrong with this film.