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	...	Thomas Babbington Levy aka Babe
Laurence Olivier	...	Christian Szell
Roy Scheider	...	Doc Levy
William Devane	...	Peter Janeway
Marthe Keller	...	Elsa Opel
Fritz Weaver	...	Professor Biesenthal
Richard Bright	...	Karl
Marc Lawrence	...	Erhard
Allen Joseph	...	Babe's Father
Tito Goya	...	Melendez
Ben Dova	...	Klaus - Szell's Brother
Lou Gilbert	...	Rosenbaum
Jacques Marin	...	LeClerc
James Wing Woo	...	Chen
Nicole Deslauriers	...	Nicole

Storyline

Thomas "Babe" Levy, whose brother Henry James "Doc" Levy is an oil business executive, is a Ph.D. candidate in History at Columbia University. He is also training as a marathon runner. Babe 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 in the Communist witch hunts. Babe's work does not sit well with Doc who wants Babe to move on with his life. While at Columbia, Babe meets and begins to date Elsa Opel, a foreign exchange student also in History. While out for a walk in Central Park late one night, Babe and Elsa are mugged, the unusual aspect of it being that their attackers were men in suits. Babe will learn that the mugging was not a random attack after someone close to Babe is found murdered, the deceased who was not who he purported to be. From here, Babe is thrown into an international conspiracy concerning Nazi war criminal Christian Szell in hiding, and a large cache of ...

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Plot Keywords:

jew | television news | central park | stabbed in the belly | war criminal | 

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Taglines:

A thriller.

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

14A

Did You Know?

Trivia

The outtakes reveal a couple of things. First, Sir Laurence Olivier had trouble using the large switchblade made for his character Szell. Often, he would try to activate it and the blade would not come out. Second, several actors enjoyed imitating the unique speech patterns of Producer Robert Evans. Dustin Hoffman used that imitation for his performance in Wag the Dog (1997).

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Goofs

When Elsa and Babe are at the zoo, she says the French word for "penguin" is "pengwan" (approximating French pronunciation; it is actually closer to "manchot") "penguin" being more along the lines of a puffin.

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Quotes

Janeway: [tantrums] Shit!
[Janeway arrives back at Szell's hideout where Karl and Erhard are waiting; Janeway is revealed as a double agent, which horrifies Babe even more]
Babe: [screams to Janeway] I saw you kill them! You killed them! You killed them! You killed them! You fucking killed them! You killed my brother!

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Crazy Credits

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

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Connections

Spoofed in Maple Palm (2006)

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Soundtracks

Dors, o cité oerverse
(1881)
(from 'Hérodiade')
Music by Jules Massenet
Libretto by Paul Milliet (uncredited) and Henry Grémont (uncredited)
Sung by Joseph Rouleau, with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra)
Conducted by John Matheson
Courtesy of London and Decca Records

User Reviews

"No, you can keep them. You can keep as many as you can swallow. " - Babe (Dustin Hoffman)

John Schlesinger's 1976 classic about a graduate student in New York City who becomes the center of a mean old ex-Nazi war criminal dentist and the government's objective to throw him over. Dustin Hoffman provides us with an excellent performance as the 'Marathon Man'. He was almost forty when he played the role and with his acting skills he makes us believe he is actually a graduate student. Roy Scheider is perfect as Hoffman's crafty and slick older brother who works for the C.I.A. Scheider really does a lot with his role making him perhaps even the coolest character in the movie. Veteran Shakespearan actor Laurence Olivier gives an incredible performance as the evil ex-Nazi that rightfully earned him a Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actor. John Schlesinger provides incendiary direction, and the screenplay is consistently engrossing and full of twists. If you are looking for one hell of a suspense flick with a lot of action you should definitely check out 'Marathon Man' at your local videostore. 'Marathon Man' should have earned Oscar nominations for -- Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role - Dustin Hoffman, Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Laurence Olivier, Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Roy Scheider, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing. Watch out for the creepy 'dentist' scene. Grade: B+

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French German Spanish Yiddish

Release Date:

8 October 1976 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Le coureur de marathon

Filming Locations:

Champs Elysées, Paris 8, Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

$6,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$21,709,020

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$21,709,020

Company Credits

Production Co:

Robert Evans Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Stereo

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1