Synopsis
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) is Joseph Sargent's lean New York thriller you can watch online on iFILM. Four armed men stop a subway car beneath Manhattan and hold its riders hostage for a one-million-dollar ransom.
Their demand comes with a clock: pay within the hour, or a passenger dies every sixty seconds. Robert Shaw plays the ringleader, code-named Mr. Blue, all clipped British calm. On the other end of the radio sits Walter Matthau as Lieutenant Garber, a rumpled transit cop sweating it out in a control room while City Hall haggles over the cash and the streets above grind to a halt.
What carries it is the rhythm: sharp cutting, grimy 1970s New York, and dialogue where even the crooks crack wise. The payoff lands on a single throwaway moment, a sneeze, still studied as a masterclass in ending a caper on one beat. Martin Balsam and Hector Elizondo round out the cast. Stream The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) online on iFILM.
Starring
Comments 0