The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974 film)

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is a 1974 American thriller film directed by Joseph Sargent. Peter Stone adapted the screenplay from the 1973 novel of the same name written by Morton Freedgood under the pen name John Godey. It was remade in 1998 as a television film and again in 2009 as a theatrical film.

About The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974 film) in brief

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is a 1974 American thriller film directed by Joseph Sargent. Peter Stone adapted the screenplay from the 1973 novel of the same name written by Morton Freedgood under the pen name John Godey. The film received critical acclaim and holds a rating of 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 38 reviews. Several critics called it one of 1974’s finest films, and it was a box office success. As in the novel, the film follows a group of criminals taking the passengers hostage inside a New York City Subway car for ransom. It was remade in 1998 as a television film and again in 2009 as a theatrical film. The plot involves four men wearing similar disguises and carrying concealed weapons who board the same downtown 6 train, Pelham 1-2-3, at different stations. They take 18 people, including the conductor and an undercover police officer, hostage in the first car. The hijackers override the dead-man’s switch so that the train will run without anyone at the controls. Since none of the three hijackers was a motorman, Garber surmises that the lone survivor must be a recently discharged motorman who discharged himself through their way through a list of recently discharged members of the motormouths. It is revealed that Blue is a former British Army Colonel and was a mercenary in Africa. Blue orders Garber to restore power to the subway line, set the signals to green all the way to South Ferry, and clear the police from stations along the route. The money is delivered and divided among the hijackers.

The ransom is transported uptown in a speeding police car that crashes well before it reaches 28th Street. As the deadline is reached, Blue tells Garber that the money has reached the station and just has to be walked down the tunnel to the train. As they make their way to the tunnel’s emergency exit, the undercover officer jumps off the train and hides between the rails. Garber, his co-worker Lt. Rico Patrone, and others cooperate while speculating about the hijacker’s escape plan. With no one on the train, the train gains speed. When it enters the South Ferry loop, its speed triggers the automatic safeties to a halt, leaving the hostages safe but bruised but safe. The undercover officer shoots and kills Brown, and exchanges fire with Blue while Green escapes through the emergency exit onto the street. He returns to where the train had stopped, enters the same street level, and confronts Blue as he is about to kill the undercover. Blue deliberately places his foot against the third rail and electrocutes himself. He explains that he wanted more distance from the police inside the tunnel. When Garber becomes alarmed, he tells him he wanted to kill Blue, who shoots him dead. Blue explains that Blue was a former motorman caught in a drug bust; and Blue does not trust Grey, who was ousted from the mafia for being too violent. Just then, Grey shoot and kills a supervisor from Grand Central sent to investigate the stalled train.

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