Marathon Man (1976)

A graduate history student is unwittingly caught in the middle of an international conspiracy involving stolen diamonds, an exiled Nazi war criminal, and a rogue government agent.

Director:

John Schlesinger

Writers:

William Goldman (screenplay), William Goldman (from: his novel)

Stars:

Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dustin Hoffman	...	Babe
Laurence Olivier	...	Szell
Roy Scheider	...	Doc
William Devane	...	Janeway
Marthe Keller	...	Elsa
Fritz Weaver	...	Professor Biesenthal
Richard Bright	...	Karl
Marc Lawrence	...	Erhard
Allen Joseph	...	Babe's Father
Tito Goya	...	Melendez
Ben Dova	...	Szell's Brother
Lou Gilbert	...	Rosenbaum
Jacques Marin	...	LeClerc
James Wing Woo	...	Chen
Nicole Deslauriers	...	Nicole

Storyline

Tom Levy, who is nicknamed Babe by his older brother Henry Levy, an oil executive who in turn is nicknamed Doc by Tom, is a Ph.D. candidate in History at Columbia University. He is also training to run a marathon. Tom is paying homage to his deceased father, H.B. Levy, in pursuing the same studies as him, his father who committed suicide while being under investigation solely for being a Jew. Tom's work doesn't sit well with Doc who wants Tom to move on with his life. While at Columbia, Tom meets and begins to date Elsa Opel, a foreign exchange student also in History. While out for a walk in Central Park late one day, Tom and Elsa are mugged, the unusual aspect of it being that their attackers were men in suits. Tom will learn that the mugging was not a random attack after someone close to Tom is found murdered, the deceased who was not who he purported to be. From here, Tom is thrown into an international plot concerning a WWII Nazi named Christian Szell in hiding, and a large cache...

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Plot Keywords:

weeping | jew | man wearing glasses | television news | street gang | 

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Taglines:

One man's dangerous attempts to clear his father's name.

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French German Spanish Yiddish

Release Date:

8 October 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Marathon-Mann

Filming Locations:

Champs Elysées, Paris 8, Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

$6,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$21,709,020

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Robert Evans Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Stereo

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Abebe Bikila is shown in flashbacks running in and winning the 1960 Olympic Marathon shoeless. After the race, when asked why he had run barefoot, he replied, "I wanted the whole world to know that my country, Ethiopia, has always won with determination and heroism."

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Goofs

When Tom is chasing the other runner, who said "behind schedule?" the distance that Tom lags the other runner changes.

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Quotes

Janeway: All right, you guys! Let's go! Move out of there!
Melendez: Blow it out your ass, motherfucker!

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Crazy Credits

The ending credits scroll with Babe's jogging route as a backdrop.

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Connections

Referenced in Looking: Looking for Truth (2015)

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Soundtracks

Der Neugierige
(1823)
Music by Franz Schubert
Performed by Fritz Wunderlich tenor
Used by arrangement with Polydor Inc.

User Reviews

Best thriller ever?

Suspense filled, is the only adequate description I can think of. The direction is bleak and taut, the movie's music theme is like a growing menace and the acting of the leads is peerless. The film's most famous scene, the dentist chair interrogation has become part of pop culture, and deservedly so. This, along with many other scenes, including the enemies breaking into the bathroom, are a masterful example of how to create almost unbearable tension on film.