The Taking of Pelham 123

With The Taking of Pelham 123, Walter Matthau makes a good thriller into a great little movie. As a weary transit cop up against hijackers who take over a New York City subway train, Matthau makes this tense, tightly directed caper well worth the fare.

Matthau plays Lt. Garber, a transit police supervisor more used to dealing with muggings and graffiti on the New York subways, when some very bad men take over a No. 6 train and hold the passengers for ransom. Robert Shaw, known only as "Mr. Blue," is the smooth ringleader matching wits with the canny cop. To say much more would ruin the ingenious plot, but everything turns on the answer to Garber's excellent question: Once you pay ransom to a band of thieves on a subway train, how do they get away with the money?

The Cast of 'The Taking of Pelham 123'

New York City is one of the biggest stars of this film, shot with gritty '70s style on location all over (and under) the streets of Manhattan, with a cast of characters found only in '70s NYC -- ethnic, loud, fearless and funky, from the ditsy Koch-like mayor to the terrified but plucky passengers.

Matthau makes the movie as a shrewd cop who never wanted this day to come, but who's clearly up to the task. Calm under pressure and wryly funny, Matthau underplays perfectly. Shaw's mysterious British bad guy is meticulously controlled and coolly menacing. His band of villains is well played, too, with Hector Elizondo as Mr. Grey, Earl Hindman as Mr. Brown, and Martin Balsam as the sneezy Mr. Green, hijacker with a head cold. They're strangely threatening in their odd disguises - plaid Balmaccans, thick-rimmed glasses, fake mustaches and serious guns.

Jerry Stiller (yes, Seinfeld's TV dad and Ben's real-life father) turns in a nice performance as a trusty transit officer, and Lee Wallace is entertaining as the mayor, along with Tony Roberts as his cynical aide. As with most movies that hold together this tightly, even the minor players are credible and compelling, despite the '70s sensibility that allows characters to be identified only as "the hippie," "the hooker" and "the homosexual."

The movie uses the device of visiting Japanese transit officials allowing Garber to explain the safety systems on the subway, and set up later scenes for suspense. A few of the jokes about Japanese people and a couple of sexist remarks probably wouldn't make it in today, but these are minor flaws.

Quentin Tarantino fans will recognize his homage to The Taking of Pelham 123 in his hyper-violent Reservoir Dogs, where the villains in the caper are also named by colors. (One macho gangster complains bitterly of being "Mr. Pink.")

Although United Artists eventually persuaded the city with a chunk of cash, officials at first didn't want the film to use the real New York subways, fearing a copycat crime. They relented, but nevertheless, since the day the film came out, no train has ever left the Pelham station at 1:23 a.m. or p.m.

'The Taking of Pelham 123' -- The Bottom Line

If you like classic action movies, clever heist films, or Walter Matthau, what are you waiting for? See it. If you like all three, you should own The Taking of Pelham 123.

Year: 1974, Color
Director: Joseph Sargent
Studio: United Artists
Running Time: 104 minutes
Studio: United Artists

If you liked 'The Taking of Pelham 123'

You may like other movies starring Matthau, including Charade, The Fortune Cookie, and The Odd Couple, or other crime/caper films such as Gambit, To Catch a Thief, The Thomas Crowne Affair, Topkapi and Riffifi.