Discover
-
Joseph Sargent
Director -
Carey Loftin
Stunt Driver -
John Godey
Novel -
Peter Stone
Screenplay -
Michael Haley
Second Assistant Director -
Cynthia Scheider
Assistant Editor -
Gene Rudolf
Art Direction -
Burtt Harris
Second Unit
-
CinemaSerf 1/18/2024 8:09:33 AM
Robert Shaw is great in this tensely presented heist thriller with a difference. Allied with Martin Balsam's "Green", Hector Elizondo as "Grey" and Earl Hindman's "Brown" they meticulously hijack a subway train and hold the city to ransom for $1 million. It falls to grizzled transit cop "Garber" (Walter Matthau) to try and second-guess their plans before they start killing one passenger per minute! What adds suspence to this mystery is their potential escape route? Stuck in well mapped and monitored tunnels fifty food beneath street level, how are they planning on getting their loot to Cuba? Joesph Sargent gets loads from an established cast of players here who develop the sense of peril and excitement well - especially the master of less-is-more that is Robert Shaw. It's good to see Matthau demonstrate he's not just about whacky comedy and as the plot reaches it's duplicitous, nerve-wracking denouement with even some space for a delicious irony at the end. The photography captures well the dark and claustrophobically dingy subterranean environment as well as the increasingly frenetic command centre where "Garber" is being wound up by track manager "Correll" (Dick O'Neill) whilst facing increasingly pressure from the hapless mayor (Lee Wallace). Pay them or have your electorate slaughtered? What would you do...?
Walter Matthau
Lt. GarberHector Elizondo
GreyDoris Roberts
Mayor's WifeBill Cobbs
Man on PlatformRobert Shaw
BlueJerry Stiller
Lt. Rico PatroneTony Roberts
Warren LaSalleMartin Balsam
Green