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The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
In New York, armed men hijack a subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers while the authorities question about the method of their escape.
1974 · Directed by Joseph Sargent · 105 min · Crime · Thriller · Action · Comedy · Screenplay in the scene database · 17 frames
Tagline
We are going to kill one passenger a minute until New York City pays us 1 million dollars.
Plot
In New York City, four men wearing similar disguises and carrying concealed weapons board the same downtown 6 train, "Pelham 1-2-3," at different stations. Using their code names Mr. Blue, Mr. Green, Mr. Grey and Mr. Brown, they take 18 people, including the conductor and an off-duty undercover police officer, hostage in the front car.
Communicating over the radio with New York City Transit Police lieutenant Zachary Garber, Blue demands that a $1 million ransom be delivered within exactly one hour or he will kill one hostage for every minute it is late. Green occasionally sneezes due to a cold, to which Garber always responds, "Gesundheit". Garber, Lt. Rico Patrone and others cooperate while speculating about the hijackers' escape plan. Garber surmises that one hijacker must be a former motorman because the hijackers uncoupled the head car and parked it further down the tunnel below 28th Street.
Conversations between the hijackers reveal that Blue is a former British Army colonel and was a mercenary in Africa; Green was a motorman who lost his job after being caught in a drug bust; and Blue does not trust Grey, who was ousted from the Mafia for being erratic. Unexpectedly, Grey guns down a transit supervisor from Grand Central as he approaches the hijacked train.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Peter Stone
- Cinematography: Owen Roizman
- Edited by: Robert Q. Lovett, Gerald B. Greenberg
- Music: David Shire
- Produced by: Edgar J. Scherick, Gabriel Katzka
Cast
- Walter Matthau as Lieutenant Garber
- Robert Shaw as Blue
- Martin Balsam as Green
- Héctor Elizondo as Grey
- Earl Hindman as Brown
- James Broderick as Denny Doyle
- Dick O'Neill as Correll
- Lee Wallace as Mayor
- Tom Pedi as Caz Dolowicz
- Beatrice Winde as Mrs. Jenkins
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Palomar Pictures International, Palladium Productions
- Themes: new york city, ransom, kidnapping, hostage, liberation of hostage, 1970s, mayor, hijacking, hostage-taking, remake
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