MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Up 1,058 this week

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

7.7
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.7/10 from 18,695 users   Metascore: 68/100
Reviews: 171 user | 71 critic | 4 from Metacritic.com

In New York, armed men hijack a subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers. Even if it's paid, how could they get away?

Director:

Writers:

(novel), (screenplay)
0Check in
0Share...

Watch Now

From $2.99 on Amazon Video

ON DISC

Celebrate IMDb's 25th Anniversary with Photos We Love

IMDb turns 25 on October 17! To celebrate, we put together a gallery of some of our favorite movie, TV, and event photos from the last 25 years.

See the Photos We Love

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 30 titles
created 26 Aug 2011
 
a list of 24 titles
created 04 Dec 2012
 
a list of 26 titles
created 14 Sep 2013
 
a list of 37 titles
created 11 months ago
 
a list of 38 titles
created 4 months ago
 

Related Items

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) on IMDb 7.7/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

User Polls

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Action | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A man, his wife, and their friend, stage a bloody bank robbery, unaware they are stealing money from the Mob.

Director: Don Siegel
Stars: Walter Matthau, Joe Don Baker, Felicia Farr
Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

Two friends try sharing an apartment, but their ideas of housekeeping and lifestyles are as different as night and day.

Director: Gene Saks
Stars: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, John Fiedler
Action | Crime | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X  

Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garber into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime.

Director: Tony Scott
Stars: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, Luis Guzmán
Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

An ambitious reporter gets in way-over-his-head trouble while investigating a senator's assassination which leads to a vast conspiracy involving a multinational corporation behind every event in the worlds headlines.

Director: Alan J. Pakula
Stars: Warren Beatty, Paula Prentiss, William Daniels
Action | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

A pair of NYC cops in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a drug smuggling job with a French connection.

Director: William Friedkin
Stars: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey
Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

A crooked lawyer persuades his brother-in-law to feign a serious injury.

Director: Billy Wilder
Stars: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ron Rich
Action | Crime | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

The lone inhabitants of an abandoned police station are under attack by the overwhelming numbers of a seemingly unstoppable street gang.

Director: John Carpenter
Stars: Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer
The Getaway (1972)
Action | Crime | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A recently released ex-con and his loyal wife go on the run after a heist goes awry.

Director: Sam Peckinpah
Stars: Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw, Ben Johnson
Bullitt (1968)
Action | Crime | Mystery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

An all guts, no glory San Francisco cop becomes determined to find the underworld kingpin that killed the witness in his protection.

Director: Peter Yates
Stars: Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Vaughn
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

As a tabloid newspaper editor tries to prevent his top reporter from retiring, an escaped death row convict shows up at the office trying to convey his innocence.

Director: Billy Wilder
Stars: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Susan Sarandon
The Driver (1978)
Crime | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

"The Driver" is a specialist in a rare business: he drives getaway cars in robberies. His exceptional talent prevented him from being caught yet. After another successful flight from the ... See full summary »

Director: Walter Hill
Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, Isabelle Adjani
Crime | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.1/10 X  

In New York, armed men hijack a subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers. Even if it's paid, how could they get away?

Director: Félix Enríquez Alcalá
Stars: Edward James Olmos, Vincent D'Onofrio, Donnie Wahlberg
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Lee Wallace ...
Al - the Mayor of New York City
Tom Pedi ...
Beatrice Winde ...
...
Nathan George ...
Police Ptl. James
Rudy Bond ...
Phil - Police Commissioner
...
Harry - Borough Commander (as Kenneth Mc Millan)
...
Jessie - the Mayor's Wife
Edit

Storyline

Four seemingly-unrelated men board subway train Pelham 1:23 at successive stations. Mr. Blue, Mr. Green, Mr. Grey and Mr. Brown are heavily armed and overpower the motorman and novice conductor to take control of the train. Between stations they separate the front car from the remainder of the train, setting passengers in the back cars and the motorman free. The four demand $1 million ransom within exactly one hour for the remaining eighteen hostages, including the conductor. If their demands are not met in time or their directions are not followed precisely, they will begin to shoot hostages dead, one every minute the money is late. Wisecracking Lt. Zach Garber of the transit police ends up being the primary communicator between the hijackers and the authorities, which includes transit operations, his own police force, the NYPD, and the unpopular and currently flu ridden mayor who will make the ultimate decision of whether to pay the ransom. Unknown to Garber, what may be working on ... Written by Huggo

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Before this train reaches the next station it will become the scene of the most spectacular hijack ever attempted See more »

Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Certificate:

R | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

|

Release Date:

14 November 1974 (West Germany)  »

Also Known As:

Pelham  »

Box Office

Gross:

SEK 1,003,937 (Sweden)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the subway car can be seen a poster of Iron Eyes Cody, who portrayed the famous "Crying Indian" in the public service announcements from the 1970s. See more »

Goofs

After cutting away the rest of the train, Mr. Green, Mr. Brown and Bud Carmody walk up and climb into the head car. In the next shot, Mr. Green enters the motorman's cab while in the background, Carmody and Mr. Brown can be seen climbing into the car again. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Mr. Mattson: Okay, kid, out loud now so's I can hear what you're sayin'.
Bud Carmody: I'm checkin' the passengers gettin' on and off...
Mr. Mattson: Uh-huh.
Bud Carmody: Front and back. Shuttin' the doors. Rear section first and the first section. And the doors are closed. Now I'm checking my indicator lights to make sure all the doors are locked. I remove my switch key and back out the window for a distance of three car lengths to make sure no one's being dragged. 51st Street next stop; next stop, 51st Street. How'd I do?
See more »

Crazy Credits

Although many of the scenes in this film were taken on transit property, the New York City Transit Authority is not responsible for plot, story and characters portrayed. The Authority did not render technical advice and assistance. See more »

Connections

Referenced in Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Shocking Truth (2000) See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
This was meant to be Carry On At Your Convenience...
20 October 2003 | by (England) – See all my reviews

... Thank Goodness it wasn't!

I switched on me TV last night after an evening out and the opening credits of Pelham was just finishing. Not knowing the name of this film (the Carry On listing was clearly not being shown, perhaps the Producer-dude had a revelation of taste!) I began to watch it half-heartedly, whilst prostrate on the sofa.

By the end of the movie, and that glorious last look from Matthau, I was sitting blot-upright with the biggest grin I've had on my face at 2am for a long time!

What a flick! What a film! How good was this simple, little, under-rated, under-stated movie? Very.

See this film, forgive it for being written in the 70-ties, in fact revel in that non-PC fact (the Chinese/Lady jokes are, retrospectively, quite amusing, in a non-Carry On way).

They just don't make 'um like this anymore. Simple, sweet, suspense.


44 of 49 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Any other decent 70's crime films? jeremy-915-532321
One Million Dollars???? nsavage3-1
Who fired the mystery shot? algsmail
Mayor Koch dadaveallen
Why not run the money up on a motorcycle to begin with? ocgiii
One question ngobleus

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?