Marathon Man (1976)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

John Schlesinger

Writers:

William Goldman (screenplay)
William Goldman (novel)

Release Date:

8 October 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | 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:

Jewish Americans | Eiffel Tower Paris | Dental Instruments | Government Agent | Restaurant

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Dustin Hoffman	...	Thomas 'Babe' Levy
Laurence Olivier	...	Dr. Christian Szell
Roy Scheider	...	Henry 'Doc' Levy
William Devane	...	Peter Janeway
Marthe Keller	...	Elsa Opel
Fritz Weaver	...	Professor Biesenthal
Richard Bright	...	Karl
Marc Lawrence	...	Erhard
Allen Joseph	...	Babe's Father
Tito Goya	...	Melendez
Ben Dova	...	Klaus Szell
Lou Gilbert	...	Rosenbaum
Jacques Marin	...	LeClerc
James Wing Woo	...	Chen
Nicole Deslauriers	...	Nicole

Also Known As:

Marathon-Mann, Der (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Anthropokynigito (Greece) [el]
Coureur de marathon, Le (Canada: French title) [fr]
Homem da Maratona, O (Portugal) [pt]
Ish Ha-Maraton (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Maratón de la muerte, La (Venezuela) [es]
Marathon Man (Spain) [es]
Marathon Man (France) [fr]
Marathon Mann, Der (West Germany) [de]
Maraton életre-halálra (Hungary) [hu]
Maratona da Morte (Brazil) [pt]
Maratonac (Serbia) [sr]
Maratonczyk (Poland) [pl]
Maratoneta, Il (Italy) [it]
Maratonmannen (Sweden) [sv]
Maratoonari (Finland) [fi]
Vahsi kosu (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | German | Spanish

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo | Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Singapore:M18 | Sweden:15 | UK:X (original rating) | Brazil:14 | Australia:M | Finland:K-15 (re-rating) (2003) (uncut version) | Finland:K-16 (1988) (cut version) | 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:

Gelderse Maatschappij N.V.

Trivia:

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

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Chen is attempting to garrote Doc in his Paris hotel room, the blood pack attached the back of Roy Scheider's hand is clearly visible.

Quotes:

Babe: Listen, I want you to rob my apartment.
Melendez: [laughs] Why?
Babe: There are some guys out there after me, I got a gun in my desk drawer, and I want you to get me some clothes.
Melendez: What's in there for me, man?
Babe: I got a TV set, I got a hi-fi, you can take it all. Do it.
Melendez: What's the catch?
Babe: The catch is it's dangerous. Please do it.
Melendez: That ain't the catch. It's the fun.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Maple Palm (2006)

Soundtrack:

Dors, O Cite Perverse

"No, you can keep them. You can keep as many as you can swallow. " - Babe (Dustin Hoffman)

John Schlesinger's 1976 classic about a graduate student in New York City who becomes the center of a mean old ex-Nazi war criminal dentist and the government's objective to throw him over. Dustin Hoffman provides us with an excellent performance as the 'Marathon Man'. He was almost forty when he played the role and with his acting skills he makes us believe he is actually a graduate student. Roy Scheider is perfect as Hoffman's crafty and slick older brother who works for the C.I.A. Scheider really does a lot with his role making him perhaps even the coolest character in the movie. Veteran Shakespearan actor Laurence Olivier gives an incredible performance as the evil ex-Nazi that rightfully earned him a Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actor. John Schlesinger provides incendiary direction, and the screenplay is consistently engrossing and full of twists. If you are looking for one hell of a suspense flick with a lot of action you should definitely check out 'Marathon Man' at your local videostore. 'Marathon Man' should have earned Oscar nominations for -- Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role - Dustin Hoffman, Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Laurence Olivier, Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Roy Scheider, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing. Watch out for the creepy 'dentist' scene. Grade: B+