The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) on Netflix
R19741h 44mActionCrimeThriller
Calling themselves Mr. Blue, Mr. Green, Mr. Grey and Mr. Brown, four armed men seize a New York subway car and take eighteen hostages. Lieutenant Zach Garber handles the ransom demand.
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- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb7.6/1041,934 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
Four armed men board the downtown 6 train, Pelham 1-2-3, at separate stations, traveling under the names Mr. Blue, Mr. Green, Mr. Grey and Mr. Brown. In the front car they hold eighteen people, the train's conductor among them. By radio, Blue tells transit police lieutenant Zach Garber that one million dollars is due in exactly one hour; after that, a hostage dies for every minute of delay. Green keeps sneezing from a cold, and Garber answers every sneeze with a Gesundheit. Garber and lieutenant Rico Patrone coordinate transit operations, the police and the mayor while they wonder how the hijackers mean to get out of a tunnel with a train that needs a hand at the controls.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- After eight weeks of negotiations and pressure through Mayor John Lindsay, the New York City Transit Authority let the filmmakers use its subway, but required them to take out $20 million in insurance, including special "kook coverage" in case the movie inspired a real-life hijacking, on top of a $250,000 fee.
- While rehearsing the scene in which Robert Shaw's hijacker steps on the third rail, Shaw accidentally stubbed his toe and sparks flew everywhere from his special-effects boot; director Joseph Sargent said Shaw turned white as a sheet and that the crew had eight weeks of it.
- For several years after the 1974 film came out, the New York City Transit Authority would not schedule any train to leave Pelham Bay Park station at 1:23 p.m., the time and place used to name the hijacked train in the title.
- The New York City Transit Authority insisted no graffiti appear on the film's subway cars; Joseph Sargent said the TA told him that showing graffiti would be to glorify it, and rejected the filmmakers' argument that it was artistically expressive.
- The tunnel scenes were shot over eight weeks at Brooklyn's abandoned Court Street station, closed to the public in 1946 and later home to the New York Transit Museum; the station had also been used for The French Connection and Death Wish.
- Quentin Tarantino deliberately used color-coded thieves' names in Reservoir Dogs as an homage to The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.
- Composer David Shire's then-wife, Talia Shire, suggested he end the score with a more traditional ode to New York, and the end titles carry a more expansive arrangement of the theme as a result.
