Marathon Man (1976)

Director:

John Schlesinger

Writers:

William Goldman (screenplay)
William Goldman (novel)

Release Date:

8 October 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

A thriller.

Plot:

A graduate history student is unwittingly caught in the middle of an international conspiracy involving stolen diamonds, an exiled Nazi war criminal, and a rogue government agent.

Plot Keywords:

War Criminal | Nazi | Diamond | Dentist | Death

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Dustin Hoffman	...	Babe
Laurence Olivier	...	Szell
Roy Scheider	...	Doc
William Devane	...	Janeway
Marthe Keller	...	Elsa
Fritz Weaver	...	Prof. Biesenthal
Richard Bright	...	Karl
Marc Lawrence	...	Erhard
Allen Joseph	...	Babe's Father
Tito Goya	...	Melendez
Ben Dova	...	Szell's Brother
Lou Gilbert	...	Rosenbaum
Jacques Marin	...	LeClerc
James Wing Woo	...	Chen
Nicole Deslauriers	...	Nicole
Lotte Palfi Andor	...	Old Lady on 47th Street (as Lotta Andor-Palfi)
Lionel Pina	...	Street Gang
Church	...	Street Gang
Tricoche	...	Street Gang
Jaime Tirelli	...	Street Gang
Wilfredo Hernández	...	Street Gang (as Wilfredo Hernandez)
Harry Goz	...	Jewelry Salesman
Michael Vale	...	Jewelry Salesman
Fred Stuthman	...	Jewelry Salesman
Lee Steele	...	Jewelry Salesman
William Martel	...	Bank Guard
Glenn Robards	...	Plainclothesman
Ric Carrott	...	Plainclothesman
Alma Beltran	...	Laundress
Daniel Núñez	...	Guard in Uruguay (as Daniel Nunez)
Tony Pena	...	Guard in Uruguay
Chuy Franco	...	Guard in Uruguay
Billy Kearns	...	Tourist Couple
Sally Wilson	...	Tourist Couple
Tom Ellis	...	T.V. Announcer
Bryant Fraser	...	Young Photographer
George Dega	...	Hotel Valet
Gene Bori	...	French Doctor
Annette Claudier	...	Nurse
Roger Etienne	...	Headwaiter
Raymond Serra	...	Truck Driver (as Ray Serra)
John Garson	...	Bystander
Charlott Thyssen	...	Bystander
Estelle Omens	...	Bystander
Madge Kennedy	...	Lady in Bank
Jeff Palladini	...	Young Babe
Scott Price	...	Young Doc
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Abebe Bikila	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
S.C. Dacy	...	Innocent Bystander (uncredited)
Shawn McAllister	...	Mechanic (uncredited)
Irving Metzman	...	Accident Witness (uncredited)
Louis Tanno	...	(uncredited)
Treat Williams	...	Central Park Jogger (uncredited)

Directed by
John Schlesinger

Writing credits
William Goldman		(screenplay)
William Goldman		(novel)

Produced by
Sidney Beckerman	....	producer
Robert Evans	....	producer
George Justin	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Michael Small

Cinematography by
Conrad L. Hall		(director of photography) (as Conrad Hall)

Film Editing by
Jim Clark

Casting by
Jane Feinberg
Mike Fenton

Production Design by
Richard Macdonald		(as Richard MacDonald)

Art Direction by
Jack De Shields

Set Decoration by
George Gaines

Costume Design by
Robert De Mora		(costumes)

Makeup Department
Barbara Lorenz	....	hair stylist
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist
Dick Smith	....	special makeup consultant
Brad Wilder	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Stephen F. Kesten	....	unit production manager
Lindsley Parsons Jr.	....	executive production manager: Paramount (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Everett Creach	....	second unit director
Burtt Harris	....	assistant director
Hawk Koch	....	assistant director (as Howard W. Koch Jr.)
William Saint John	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Bill MacSems	....	property master

Sound Department
David M. Ronne	....	sound mixer (as David Ronne)
Edward L. Sandlin	....	sound editor
Fred Stafford	....	sound editor (as Freddie Stafford)
John Wilkinson	....	sound re-recording mixer (as John K. Wilkinson)
Robert Rogow	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Richard E. Johnson	....	special effects
Charles Spurgeon	....	special effects

Stunts
Everett Creach	....	stunt coordinator
Rock A. Walker	....	stunt driver (uncredired)
Jerry Brutsche	....	stunt driver (uncredited)
Frank Orsatti	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jerry Summers	....	stunt driver (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Holly Bower	....	stills
Garrett Brown	....	special photography
Earl L. Clark	....	assistant camera (as Earl Clark)
Charles Langham	....	best boy
Rick Martens	....	gaffer (as Richard Martens)
Nick McLean	....	camera operator
Robert Moore	....	key grip (as Robert C. Moore)
Peter Sorel	....	stills
Norman Lang	....	electrician (uncredited)

Casting Department
Juliet Taylor	....	casting: New York

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Robert M. Moore	....	wardrobe
Bernie Pollack	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Arthur Schmidt	....	associate editor
Dennis Wooley	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Jack Hayes	....	orchestrator
Patrick Moore	....	music editor
Michael Small	....	conductor

Transportation Department
Kelly Aldrich	....	driver: John Schlesinger (uncredited)

Other crew
Cathy Chazan	....	assistant: Mr. Evans
Michael Childers	....	assistant to producers
Mark Griffiths	....	coordinator: AFI
Roland Meledandri	....	clothes: Roy Scheider
Dan Perri	....	title designer
Nicholas Sgarro	....	script supervisor (as Nick Sgarro)
Karen Hale Wookey	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures (presents)

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1976) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1976) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Cinéma International Corporation (CIC) (1977) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1979) (USA) (TV)
• Fotomat (Drive-Thru Movies) Video (1979) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (1997) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2002) (Italy) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-edited)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1977) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Esselte CIC Video (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Esselte Video (1980s) (Finland) (VHS)
• Esselte Video (????) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Home Box Office (HBO) (1978) (USA) (TV) (first-run television release)
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (Brazil) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment Finland (2002) (Finland) (DVD)
• TV3 (1989) (Finland) (TV)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1998) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Connaught Productions  services
• Decca Records  "Dors, ô cité perverse!" courtesy of (as London and Decca Records)
• Maslansky Koenigsgerg  publicity
• Polydor Records  "Der Neugierige" used by arrangement with (as Polydor Inc.)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | German | Spanish | Yiddish

Colour:

Colour (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Singapore:M18 | Sweden:15 | UK:X (original rating) | Brazil:14 | South Korea:18 | Argentina:18 (original rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:13 (re-rating) | Finland:K-15 (uncut) (2002) | Australia:M | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (1976) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1990) | France:-16 | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM18 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1977) | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

47th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The movie's line "Is it safe?" was voted as the #70 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: At the beginning of the film, the radio announcer notes "unusually" high temperatures, and the owner of the Impala is angry that his a/c does not work. However, he is wearing a sweater, which would suggest a cooler day. Also, the man who is guiding the fuel oil truck into the street before the crash is wearing heavy jacket, which would also suggest a much cooler day. It is later reported that this was Yom Kippur, which occurs at the beginning of fall, when a hot day is still very possible in New York City.

Quotes:

[When Elsa leaves the library, Babe hesitates, and then runs after her. He finds her as she is climbing the stairs to her apartment and makes small talk, trying to prolong the conversation. When she keeps walking away, he bursts into an honest confession]
Babe:Look, I'm sorry I stole your book.
Elsa Opel:What?
Babe:I took your book and put it underneath mine. I, I didn't know how to talk to you, I was embarrassed, so I took your book.
Elsa Opel:Aren't you embarrassed now?
Babe:Yeah. I'm, I'm humiliated.
Elsa Opel:So, why do you pursue people who sit at your library table?
Babe:I don't. It's just that... you're pretty.
Elsa Opel:Ohh!
[She smiles and turns to walk away from him for about the seventh time]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Giant Gila Monster (#5.2)" (1992)

Soundtrack:

Dors, o cité oerverse

"Safe" to say, this is one of the best thrillers of all time...

Have you ever gone to a dentist before? Of course you have. (Unless you're British!) And that's why the torture scene in "Marathon Man" is arguably the most famous of all mainstream torture scenes. Even the infamous ear segment in "Reservoir Dogs" fails to relate to people around the world the same way as this does. Not everyone has had his or her ear chopped off.

Anyone who has gone to a dentist before can relate to the fear and excruciating pain that Babe (Dustin Hoffman) experiences when he is asked, "Is it safe?" and has no idea what his interrogator is talking about, then finds himself being given a root canal without any Novocain.

The interrogator is Szell (Laurence Olivier), a dreaded German murderer who carried out awful deeds during World War II and offered Jews a free ticket out--for a hefty price.

Szell's question ("Is it safe?") exists because he needs to know whether or not it is safe to withdraw diamonds he stole from Jews during World War II from a safety deposit box. As the film opens, Szell's brother dies in a car crash, which sets up this entire aspect of the plot, since his brother had the key to the vault.

Babe's brother, Doc (Roy Scheider, "JAWS"), comes to visit him in New York City, but turns up at his apartment with stab wounds. Babe soon finds out that Doc was part of a secret "Division" (CIA black-ops stuff) that was on Svell's trail. Believing that Doc may have spilled the beans to Babe, Svell kidnaps the college graduate and this is where the famous torture scene starts. "Is it safe? Is it safe? Is...it...safe...?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Marathon Man" is often considered a classic of the thriller genre, and it certainly is. It has its flaws, and sometimes it seems a bit average from a technical viewpoint, but it set the stage for many gritty, coarse thrillers that would follow in later years. It is still arguably one of the greatest of them all.

The title comes from the fact that Hoffman's character, Babe, is a marathon jogger. He runs every single day, and so when he finally manages to escape from Szell's grasp, you can imagine what a hard time they have chasing after him. In retrospect, the title takes on two different (and ironic) indications.

The well-known story about Olivier's advice to Hoffman on the set of the film has been referenced many times (even by Steve Martin in "Saturday Night Live"), so it almost seems pointless to divulge into it. Basically, in the words of Steve Martin, "Hoffman came to the set one day looking absolutely wretched, and Sir Larry said, 'Dusty, you look absolutely wretched!', and it turns out that he had been awake for twenty-four hours, because at this point in the movie, his character had been, so Larry replied, 'Oh, Dusty, why don't you just try acting?', and the American retorted, 'Act on this, you British fag,' and Larry replied, 'I asked for a meal, not a snack!'"

So perhaps Steve Martin made up the end of that story, but the beginning is true. Dustin was a true "method actor," and by the end of the film, it's clearly evident that Dustin is indeed quite tired, both mentally and physically. I doubt whether acting could unleash the same sort of deadness that shines through in Babe had Hoffman simply tried "acting."

Another arguable fact is that this is Laurence Olivier's most famous role. It's certainly his most villainous. It's a career highlight; in a role that many critics called Olivier's finest hour, and I think should certainly be remembered as his most devilish. "Is it safe? Is it safe?" Every time it's spoken it sends a shiver down my spine.

Two very important films of Dustin Hoffman's career came out in 1976: "All the President's Men" and, of course, "Marathon Man." They are both universally regarded as some of his best work, and it's not a surprising fact, really, since it's true that they really *are* some of his best work. (Quite incidentally, the renowned William Goldman wrote both screenplays, and the latter of the two titles was based on his own novel.)

Thrillers of such striking power and ferocity are rarely made nowadays in Hollywood. "Marathon Man" is cold, hard, gritty and dirty, and one of the best of the genre. It's a modern-day masterpiece, perhaps barely short of greatness, but a masterpiece nonetheless. You may never want to go to the dentist again.

It's "safe" to say that "Marathon Man" is a terrific movie.

4.5/5 stars.

- John Ulmer