The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

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Template:Infobox Film The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (also known as The Taking of Pelham 123) is a thriller movie released in 1974. It was directed by Joseph Sargent, produced by Edgar J. Scherick, and was based on a book by John Godey. It stars Walter Matthau, Jerry Stiller, Martin Balsam and Robert Shaw.

1 Plot
2 Music
3 Remake
4 Trivia
5 See also
6 External links

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Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Lieutenant Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau) is a cynical and grumpy New York City Transit Authority policeman. His routine is interrupted by an unexpected hijacking of a subway train (on the number 6 line). The police force is confused by the hijacking because:

the subway is a closed system; there is no place to take the train to escape, and
all subway trains have a dead-man's switch which requires a live person at the controls to keep the train running, thus preventing a hijacker from escaping away from the running train.

The police frantically pursue the train on the city streets to deliver the ransom of one million dollars as Lieutenant Rico Patrone (Jerry Stiller) attempts to negotiate and distract their attention. Unknown to the police, the four hijackers led by British mercenary Bernard Ryder (Robert Shaw) and a disgruntled former motorman Harold Longman (Martin Balsam) have disabled the dead-man's switch. Once the hijackers receive their ransom money, they send the train off at top speed toward the terminal station where it would crash and thus kill all the passengers. Previously, the hijackers have left the train and attempted to escape out of the subway tunnels with their ransom money.

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Music

The score was composed and conducted by David Shire. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three remains his most popular score, and is considered a brilliant combination of the popular funk idioms of the era and twentieth century musical composition. Shire composed a tone row and placed it against an R&B beat for his main theme. It perfectly captures the bustle and diversity of New York, and is an unofficial theme for the 6 Train (the local Lexington Avenue Line that is depicted in the film). The soundtrack album was the first-ever CD release by Film Score Monthly. The end titles contain a more expansive arrangement of the theme, courtesy of Shire's wife at the time, Talia Shire, who suggested that he close out the score with a more traditional ode to New York.

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Remake

In 1998, the film was remade as a television movie, with Edward James Olmos in the Matthau role and Vincent D'Onofrio replacing Shaw as the senior hijacker. Although not particularly well received by critics or viewers, this version was reportedly more faithful to the book. It was also devoid of the quirky humor that made the original so memorable.

Many fans of the New York City Subway (localy termed railfans) despise the newer verson, often calling it "The Taking of Bloor-Danforth One Two Three" after the Toronto subway line it was filmed on.

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Trivia

The movie was the inspiration for Carter USM's song The Taking of Peckham One Two Three.
The terrorists' system of referring to each other as colors, such as "Mr. Pink", was later used by Quentin Tarantino in his film Reservoir Dogs.
A reference to the movie appears in this lyric from the Beastie Boys' song "Sure Shot": Well, It's The Taking Of Pelham, One, Two, Three
In real radio communications among the New York City Transit Authority's train crews, a 24 hour clock is used. Technically, this would have made the title train "Pelham 1323"
Earl Hindman (Wilson on Home Improvement) has a small part as one of the criminals.