Staff Pick: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (35mm)

Ezzy’s Staff Pick!

Nerve-demolishing suspense delivered at an intoxicating pace as merciless hijackers led by cold-blooded Robert Shaw take over a NYC subway and demand $1,000,000 in ransom. Hardboiled action thrillers just don’t get much better, with some of the most profanely entertaining, hard-nosed dialogue of any 1970s fare. The sterling cast includes Walter Matthau, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo and Jerry Stiller.

“Walter Matthau is gruff, shaggy and sardonic as a Transit Authority lieutenant; Robert Shaw is clipped and cruel, and the supporting performances are allowed to grow and take on personality. These aren’t machine-made genre characters, but individuals (and, more specifically, New Yorkers with gallows humor, paranoia, warmth and resiliency).” – Roger Ebert