The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
Walter Matthau is a particular favorite of mine. The greatest curmudgeon in movies (with the possible exception of W.C. Fields), Matthau brought his gruff wit to comedy classics like The Bad News Bears, The Odd Couple, and the highly underrated A New Leaf, but was equally at home in thrillers like Charade, Fail-Safe and the excellent Charley Varrick. His sense of timing is without equal, his vocal control is amazing, and his reactions are works of art - I’ve never seen such subtle double (and triple!) takes as the ones peppered throughout A New Leaf; Matthau can create meaning with the slightest motion of his eyes. And what a face!
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three finds Matthau in thriller mode, playing Lieutenant Zachary Garber of the New York City Transit Police. As the film opens, Garber is leading a group of apparently uncomprehending Tokyo Subway chiefs on a somewhat comical tour of Transit Authority headquarters. When a color-coded group of thugs (think Reservoir Dogs) hijacks the lead car of a downtown 6 train at 28th Street and demands a ransom of one million dollars, Garber sends his guests packing and takes over the subway command center. In addition to the train there are 17 hostages in the mix (perfect New Yorkers, each), and the threat of one dead for every minute past one hour that the ransom fails to arrive. To resolve the crisis, Matthau basically has to wield the entire apparatus of city government from a glorified switchboard.
The movie is great, and much of its greatness comes from its lovingly detailed portrayal of New York City, specifically its subway system. This is a movie The Wire’s David Simon would love: the scope is amazing - the layers of bureaucracy that are peeled away and shown the light of day; the cooperation and competition between those layers; the intimate knowledge of the actual work involved, right down to the conductor’s controls - it just feels right, as if the city is for once shown entire - no small feat for a quickie thriller that runs 104 minutes. Even the title is a wonderful bureaucratic detail, referring to the 6 train that leaves Pelham Bay Park at 1:23PM.
The performances are pitch perfect across the board: some stand-outs include Dick O’Neill as Frank Correll, the man in charge of the subway system, put so out-of-whack by the renegade train; Robert Shaw as Mr. Blue, the man responsible for the hijacking, so aware of his superior position, voice so cold; Lee Wallace as the flu-addled Ed Koch look-alike Mayor, deathly afraid of his voters, frozen in the face of decision; and Tom Pedi as Caz Dolowicz (great name, that), the supervisor of the Grand Central Tower, who captures for me what New York is (was?) at its greatest. Matthau is, of course, excellent - check out that last reaction shot!
