Going off the Rails: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

Cinematic Semicentennial Series – 1974 Edition*

“Screw the goddamn passengers! What the hell did they expect for their lousy 35 cents—to live forever?”
-Correll

* I’ll start off by acknowledging the obvious: it is now 2025, and this film technically celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. So, what gives? Well, simply put, we ran out of time to feature this gem in 2024, but it’s so damn good that we had to include it in our 1974 Cinematic Semicentennial Series—albeit a few weeks later.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three comes in hot, with a bold, brassy, banger of a theme that suggests this film is not messing around. If I had to think of a quintessential New York movie—both in theme and pace—this would be among my top choices. So get ready for a wild ride and stand clear of the closing doors.

The hostages of Pelham One Two Three

All Aboard

Our opening sequence features four men making their way onto the downtown 6 line of the New York City subway. Each of the men is wearing similar overcoats, hats, and thick glasses, and they each carry a briefcase. Their destination? One train in particular: “Pelham One Two Three,” named after its radio call sign, which includes the original/departing terminal: Pelham Bay Park Station in the Bronx and scheduled departure time of 1:23.

Our mystery men, each of whom we will soon come to know by color-coded aliases, board the train from different stations; Mr. Green (Martin Balsam) at 59th Street, Mr. Grey (Hector Elizondo) at 51st Street, Mr. Brown (Earl Hindman) at 42nd Street, and finally Mr. Blue (Robert Shaw) at 28th Street.

Mr. Blue holds the motorman by gun point, informing him of his plan to “take” the train. Through a bit of ingenuity, precision timing, and a great deal of ruthless efficiency, Blue and his associates manage to disconnect the front car from the rest of the train, holding its 17 passengers and the conductor hostage. Turns out those briefcases were housing sub machine guns.

The hostages represent a wide swath of NYC commuters, including a mom with two unruly school-aged boys, a sage older gentleman, a prostitute, a couple of young women, and other individuals of assorted ages, races, and ethnicities.  

What do we know about our hijackers?

The short answer is: not a whole lot. In fact, we come to understand that they were strangers to each other coming into this job.

We do know that Shaw’s Mr. Blue is a former British Army colonel and mercenary who had previously been contracting for big money in Africa. Blue, clearly the ringleader and mastermind of this brazen and unique heist, is methodical, cold, calm, and calculating.

Mr. Green is a former subway motorman for the transit authority who was fired for some kind of misconduct, which may have involved helping a gang transport drugs via the subway system. While he denies the allegations (there was seemingly not enough evidence to get him put behind bars), we are led to believe that he is very much guilty. Green, however, is an integral part of the plan because of his knowledge of the subway system’s technologies and protocols.

Then there is Mr. Grey, an obnoxious hothead and loose cannon who was booted from his former profession as muscle man for the mob. Mr. Blue clearly regrets having Grey on his team as he is often having to chide him for unnecessarily threatening and abusing passengers.  

Lastly, we have Mr. Brown, who cuts an imposing figure but, unlike Mr. Grey, is a team player and seems to be in sync with Mr. Blue. Other than that, we know virtually nothing of his back story.

Blue places his first call to the bustling transit authority headquarters and has his first of many exchanges with Lt. Zachary Garber, Head of the New York Transit Authority Police. Garber is played by the incomparable Walter Matthau. It’s here that Mr. Blue states his demands: the city is to deliver one million dollars in cash to Pelham One Two Three within one hour. For every minute past the hour that the cash does not arrive, the hijackers will kill one hostage. They will also kill hostages upon any sign of interference by police or other transit personnel.

Blue and Garber

Garber on the radio

Walter Matthau’s world-weary and sardonic Garber is a wonderful foil to the no nonsense, near humorless (he does crack a smile on occasion) Mr. Blue. Garber has that “I’ve seen it all” countenance that suggests that he is jaded and might not up to the task of negotiating with the uncompromising Mr. Blue. Garber pleads for more time as city officials decide on whether to pay the ransom, but Blue is unmoved.

Meanwhile transit authority headquarters is buzzing with activity as personnel are grappling with both the impact of the hijacking and the routine business of running the largest transit system in the world. Garber regularly spars with lead subway dispatcher Frank Correll (Dick O’Neil), whose primary concern is keeping the trains running; Garber’s priority remains the lives of the passengers on Pelham One Two Three.

Fortunately, Garber can rely on his right-hand man within the Transit Police, Operations Lt. Rico Patrone, played with humor and just a touch of New York sass by the late Jerry Stiller. The two exhibit the kind of banter and ease with each other that suggests they have worked together for a long time. Patrone also has eyes and ears inside the subway tunnel, as a patrolman named James (Nathan George) has gotten himself inadvertently stuck between the hijackers on Pelham One Two Three on one side and a small army of tactical police and snipers on the other. James has the unenviable task of having to stay crouched down out of sight while whispering reports to Patrone.

Garber and Patrone investigating possible motorman suspects

To pay or not to pay?

We pivot to Gracie Mansion, home to a New York City mayor who is bedridden with the flu. He is played by Lee Wallace, an actor with an uncanny resemblance to former NYC mayor Ed Koch. With the clock ticking, the pouty, unpopular, and quite cranky mayor is forced to confront the issue by his straight-talking deputy mayor Warren, played by the great Tony Robbins. Warren and the mayor talk about finances, train cars, hostages, and votes.

Warren, clearly the one to get things done, calls an emergency meeting of the police commissioner, chairman of the Transit Authority, and the city comptroller. He gives each a few moments to vote on whether the city should pay the ransom. We watch the group weigh fiscal, political, and public safety considerations in a quick and dirty way. Robbins is great in this scene, driving the process with necessary urgency as time is running short. His performance is reminiscent of his earlier portrayal of Bob Blair, the pithy deal maker and friend to Al Pacino’s Frank Serpico in 1973’s Serpico. The mayor’s wife (Doris Roberts) also weighs in with clever insights. The vote is a tie, and the seemingly unpopular mayor votes to pay up.

Meanwhile Garber again appeals to Mr. Blue’s reason, asking for a little grace as one hour is simply not enough time to negotiate the red tape, collect, count, and deliver the cash. Blue again rejects Garber’s requests and calmly returns to his book of crossword puzzles.

With the deadline approaching we shift to the federal reserve bank of New York in lower Manhattan and watch as the money is quickly counted by hand and by machine, then stacked and bound in denominations of $50- and $100-dollar bills. Who knew watching money being counted could be so exciting! The money is then relayed to two cops who peel out in a squad car, hell bent for leather in a tense, hair-raising mission to deliver the money on time. It is a great sequence.

Investigations, X Factors, and Destination Unknown

Garber eventually teams up with Inspector Daniels (Julius Harris) of the NYPD, as the two track our hijackers and try to anticipate their next move. Daniels is the epitome of cool, with a powerful base of a voice and aviators that never seem to leave his face. He and Garber become instant partners as they hit the ground running. Meanwhile, Patrone investigates the identities and backrounds of Blue and his team, including the possibility of a former or current transit motorman being in on the heist. We also learn that one of the hostages is an undercover police officer, whose identity no one is privy to, not even the audience. It’s a fun X factor that will keep us guessing throughout the film.

Will the money be delivered in time? How do the hijackers plan to make their escape, surrounded, inside a subway tunnel? I don’t want to give away much more but will say this: as our story comes barreling to its conclusion, it’s best that you hold onto to something as we approach the last stop with sparks flying off the rails.

A hostage and her children in a moment of panic

My two cents

As you probably already surmised, I think the cast of Taking Pelham One Two Three is phenomenal, with full-blooded performances by all. Even more impressive is the fact that many of the cast interactions are not face-to-face but occur over radio. Robert Shaw delivers a commanding performance as the cold, clinical, and yet proper Mr. Blue. Martin Balsam is convincing as the disgruntled former transit worker turned mildly conflicted criminal Mr. Green. Walter Matthau is an absolute gift as wry, wisecracking, curmudgeonly Garber. Julius Harris gives a super cool performance as the pragmatic and composed Inspector Daniels (must be those aviators that he’s always wearing). Jerry Stiller is a treat as the wisecracking Patrone; he and Matthau have a natural chemistry. And not to be overlooked, the actors playing the hostages also do very well in portraying what feels like authentic New Yorkers we might encounter on any given subway ride.

There are many characters in this film. And while we simply do not have the space to account for them all here, I will say that virtually all of them, major and minor, have moments to shine.

Inspector Daniels coordinating with Garber

I will return one last time to Garber, who is a wonderfully realized character, down to the small details. Beneath his neutral tweed blazer, he dons a colorful plaid shirt and bright yellow tie, suggesting a playfulness (and dare I say joy?) behind his worn-down civil servant exterior. As events unfold, we learn that he is a good bit more clever and engaged than we may have assumed.

There are a few scenes early in the film where Garber is taking the directors of the Tokyo metro police on a tour of the transit authority headquarters and transit police command center. As the guests have not spoken a word, he assumes they do not speak English, which prompts him to drop jokes and cheeky one-liners to the unresponsive group throughout the tour (spoiler alert—they’re fluent in English). This is more than just a throwaway bit of comedy as we get to know Garber, a few of his colleagues, and the workings of the transit system—all leading right up to the first call from Mr. Blue. All in all, this is a very clever and efficient bit of writing.

The David Shire score for The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is central to this film, featuring many variations on its powerful main theme, which is big and bold and booming with brass, percussion, funky bass, and more. The score is infused with elements of jazz and rock, with some discordant tones layered in to keep the audience on their toes. It stands in stark contrast to Shire’s equally effective, if much more subdued score for The Conversation, which we covered a few weeks back. The main theme simply sounds like New York: a bit wonky and unwieldy, exciting, bombastic, and gives off the impression of an unapologetic musical melting pot. Check out the theme toward the bottom of this post.

There is nothing like films that feature on-location shooting in 1970s New York. While the city had its share of struggles during the decade, it still sings on camera. In the case of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, the credit must go, at least in large part, to Cinematographer Owen Roizman. Whether through light, shadow, or dusty silhouettes of the subway tunnels, squad cars racing through the narrow streets of lower Manhattan, or a wide-angle shot of the iconic Union Square Park, New York City comes through strong. As a New Yorker myself (born in Brooklyn and now having been in Queens for twenty years), this film resonates with me on a personal level. Grime, crime, and corruption may be the theme here, but damn New York still inspires awe in this movie.

Also props to the production design in rendering transit police and transit authority command centers, replete with “big board” grids with blinking lights used for monitoring trains, dispatching stations, and assignment desks (with huge over hanging microphones) used to track individual train lines. It all feels very lived-in and utilitarian.

There are several intense stand-offs and action sequences, including the ransom delivery scene referenced earlier. These are not the slow-motion, ballet-style action moments one often finds in John Woo, Zach Snyder, or Michael Bay films. Hell no, New Yorkers ain’t got time for that! These are exciting yet expeditious scenes, quickly moving on to the next thing. You will learn more about 1970s subway technology than you ever thought you would, including all the fascinating details surrounding switches, signals, fail safes, and breaks.

Corell and Garber got at it

The humor in this film, which is often of the gallows or cheeky variety, is delivered in quick, clever, and bite-sized bits sprinkled throughout the film. Director Joseph Sargent doesn’t linger on a joke or clever line. Nope, not in this movie. Similar to the action sequences, humor is presented efficiently.

Another thing I enjoy about this film is the portrayal of New Yorkers, civil servants, administrators, police, and everyday citizens negotiating a crisis amongst the controlled chaos. While it would be easy to write off the characters as stereotypes of New Yorkers being loud, pushy, or callous, that’s ultimately not what we see here. Rather, at the end of the day you see these people as citizens and/or professionals who are trying to survive and get a job done as best they can.

Lastly, and without giving away any details, I will say that this film has an absolutely pitch-perfect ending that will leave you satisfied.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three at 50

It seems hijackings were all the rage in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with events occurring across the globe. Most hijackings involved planes—a train hijacking was unique. So much so that it triggered this little radio exchange between Garber and Patrone:

Lt. Patrone: What's up, Z?
Lt. Garber: You won't believe it.
Lt. Patrone: You know me, I'll believe anything.
Lt. Garber: A train has been hijacked.
Lt. Patrone: I don't believe it.

The idea of employing color-coded aliases for a crew of villains predates Quentin Tarantino’s use of this premise by nearly 18 years. Reservoir Dogs (1992), a great crime thriller and Tarantino’s debut, presents a Mr. White, Mr. Orange, Mr. Blonde, Mr. Pink, Mr. Blue, and Mr. Brown. I think it is a very safe bet that Tarantino knows this film and meant this as an homage to The Taking of Pelham One two Three. In fact, we often see Tarantino referencing genre and exploitations films of the 1970s.

There are several references to the BMT, IRT, and IND subway lines. While New Yorkers of a certain age may recognize these symbols of an earlier time, perhaps with a touch of nostalgia (or not), others may be unfamiliar. They refer to the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT), the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit (BMT) and the Independent Subway (IND). These were three separate transit agencies, each contracted to construct sections of the subway in the early 20th century before the city took over in 1940 and they were consolidated into one system. While those designations changed over time, there were still references to those lines for decades to follow. I am sure it is a long and complicated history, but you can read more about it here.

Most people seem to be aware of the 2009 remake of the film. It was directed by Tony Scott and stars Denzel Washington as Garber and John Travolta as our lead heist man. There was also a made-for-TV version that premiered earlier in 1998, starring Edward James Olmos, Lorraine Bracco, and Vincent D'Onofrio, among others. In reference to these remakes, my wife, a big fan of the original film, simply said: “How dare they.” I guess she won’t be watching either one.

This film takes its place in the pantheon of crime dramas and thrillers based in New York City and with a good deal of on-location shooting. These include The French Connection (1971), Shaft (1971) Across 110th Street (1972), Serpico (1973), Mean Streets (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), and Taxi Driver (1976). And let’s not forget that other film that stars the NYC subway, a cult (and personal) favorite, The Warriors (1979).

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three was released in U.S. theaters on October 2, 1974. The film was a box office success and was well received by critics.

I certainly wouldn’t call l the film obscure as any search of 1970s New York crime thrillers, a subgenre of its own, will bring up the film and copious praise from fans and critics. That said, if you have not seen this one I highly recommend it. It is an absolute blast! And good luck getting that musical theme out of your head . . . not that you would want to.

Cast (abridged)
Walter Matthau – Lt. Zachary Garber
Robert Shaw – Blue
Martin Balsam – Green
Hector Elizondo – Grey
Earl Hindman – Brown
Julius Harris – Inspector Daniels
Lee Wallace – NYC Mayor
Dick O’Neil – Correll
James Broderick – Denny Doyle
Jerry Stiller – Lt. Rico Patrone
Nathan George – Ptl. James
Tom Pedi – Caz Dolowicz
Dorris Roberts – Mayor’s wife

Crew (abridged)
Director – Joseph Sargent
Music – David Shire
Cinematographer – Owen Roizman
Costume Designer – Anna Hill Johnstone
Producers – Gabriel Katzka and Edgar J. Scherick
Production Company – Palladium Productions; Palomar Pictures International, Ltd.
Distribution Company – United Artists Corp.

How did I watch?
Kino Lorber 4K UHD

Running Time: 1h 44m

Rating: R

Did you know?

The film is based on the 1973 book The Taking of Pelham One Two Three by John Godey.

As I mentioned in the synopsis, Lee Wallace bears a near uncanny resemblance to Ed Koch, NYC mayor from 1978-1989 and best known for his catch phrase “How'm I doin’?” While he became mayor four years after this film was released, he served as a U.S. Congressman from New York from 1969 to 1977.

The motorman of the titular train is played by James Broderick, father to actor Matthew Broderick.

Most of the subway station scenes were filmed at the abandoned Court Street Station in downtown Brooklyn. It was eventually repurposed to house The New York Transit Museum, a fun and fascinating museum that I highly recommend checking out!

The film features a couple of future Stars of 1990s and 2000s television, Dorris Roberts and Jerry Stiller, both best known for their TV work. Stiller played Frank Costanza in Seinfeld and Arthur Spooner in King of Queens (two nearly identical roles). Roberts played Ray’s overbearing mother Marie Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond.

Cinematographer Owen Roizman served as director of photography on The French Connection (1971), The Exorcist (1973), The Stepford Wives (1975), Three Days of The Condor (1975), Network (1976), and Tootsie (1982). See the supplements for a great tribute to Roizman upon his passing in 2023.

Robert Shaw would soon be seen again the following year in 1975’s JAWS (maybe you’ve heard of it?).

End title for The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

Recommendations based on The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
The French Connection (1971)
Serpico (1973)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Die Hard (1988)

Supplements

Interview with Director Joseph Sargent

In Memoriam Owen Roizman, ACS 1936-2023 (American Cinematographer)

Hector Elizondo (Mr. Grey) on "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three"

Wasn’t there more in 1974?

The answer is yes, a lot more! Alas we ran out of real estate on the 2024 calendar year so we couldn’t fit all the films we wanted in the 1974 Cinematic Semicentennial Series. But rest assured we will be getting to the following films at a later date:

It’s Alive
Young Frankenstein
Phase IV
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Foxy Brown
Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla

Next Up - We will take a break from the Cinematic Semicentennial Series for a little something different. Stay tuned for more.