Ahead of the big-budget remake due out next summer (2008) starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta, I thought I’d profile the terrific original version of the urban hostage thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three  (1974).  The title refers to a New York City subway train, which four men commandeer and hold hostage its occupants, demanding a million dollar ransom from the city.

I’ve written before about the stylish yet gritty realism of many movies from the early 1970s, and this is perhaps the premiere example.  Driven by a jazzy, propulsive David Shire theme, Joseph Sargent’s film depicts the confusion and chaos caused by the gunmen’s act, the understandable disbelief of the police to the situation, the minor little events of everyday life that alter even the best-laid plans, and the terror of the innocent people caught in the cross-fire.  It’s an audacious story, brought to life with visceral intensity, gallows humor and precise artistry.

Walter Matthau is excellent as the transit cop trying to prevent a massacre, but I feel it is the quartet of crooks — Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo and Earl Hindman — who steal the spotlight.  The intricacies of their heirarchy and the emotions that promise to erupt make the stranded subway car with seventeen hostages a very dangerous place to be.

It is also a fact that since the film’s premiere in 1974, no # 6 subway train has left the Pelham station at 01:23 or 13:23.  Trivia or thoughtful prevention?

My rating:  ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2.  (10:2).