The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) – Film Review

Director: Joseph Sargent
Cast: Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam
Certificate: 15

By Sarah Morgan

Do you ever get a feeling that you’re going to enjoy a film after just a handful of scenes or the stylish way it begins?

Occasionally that happens to me, including while watching The Taking of Pelham One Two Three; there’s just something about David Shire’s atonal opening theme that marks it out as a special movie.

Admittedly, it was always likely to intrigue me by virtue of being made in the 1970s, which is perhaps my favourite decade for films, especially thrillers. I must have seen hundreds of them over the years, but for some reason, director Joseph Sargent’s adaptation of John Godey’s novel had escaped me. I’m so pleased to have finally had an opportunity to see it.

“Utterly chilling”

Originally released in 1974, it’s the nailbiting story of a highjacking on the New York subway. A group of gunmen board a train and hold its passengers and crew hostage, demanding $1million from the city’s mayor – and if they don’t get it, they’ll start killing off their hostages, one by one.

Robert Shaw is utterly chilling as their leader, who lock horns, mostly by intercom, with Transit Police officer Zachary Garber, played by Walter Matthau; if you’ve only ever seen him in comedies, you’re going to get a surprise here because he’s wonderfully compelling in a more serious role.

Having said that, the movie isn’t without more light-hearted moments, including the wonderful denouement, in which Matthau gets an opportunity to use his now trademark hangdog look.

“Definitive”

Martin Balsam and Hector Elizondo also appear as hijackers, and although they do have eye-catching scenes, it’s Shaw and Matthau we’re really fascinated by.

But be warned, there are a handful of casually racist and sexist comments, as you might expect from a project made during this era, but they don’t distract from your overall enjoyment of a movie that has inspired many film-makers over the years, including Quentin Tarantino, who paid homage by naming his Reservoir Dogs characters after colours, as screenwriter Peter Stone does here.

There’s a heap of special features too, including interviews with cast and crew members, various audio commentaries and making-of documentaries.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three has been made twice since, but this is the definitive version.

Sarah Morgan

Sarah Morgan studied film journalism at post-graduate level with the BFI and has been writing about TV and film for PA Media’s newspaper, magazine and new media customers since 1996. She’s also written for a wide range of other publications, both online and in print, including the book Offbeat and Intermission magazine, and is a regular contributor to the Talking Pictures TV podcast. When she isn’t watching movies, she’s collecting and reading vintage crime and horror paperback books or, for her sins, watching her beloved Sheffield Wednesday.

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