Marathon Man (film)
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| Marathon Man | |
|---|---|
 Marathon Man film poster |
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| Directed by | John Schlesinger |
| Produced by | Sidney Beckerman Robert Evans |
| Written by | William Goldman (novel and screenplay) |
| Starring | Dustin Hoffman Laurence Olivier William Devane Roy Scheider Marthe Keller |
| Music by | Michael Small |
| Cinematography | Conrad Hall |
| Editing by | Jim Clark |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 6, 1976 (USA) |
| Running time | 125 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Marathon Man is a 1976 film based on the novel of the same name by William Goldman. The film was directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman as the protagonist, Thomas "Babe" Levy, and Laurence Olivier as Nazi dentist and war criminal, Dr. Christian Szell. The original music score was composed by Michael Small.
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[edit] Overview
Olivier was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and he won a Golden Globe in the same category. Dr. Szell was ranked as villain #34 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains" list. The film itself was ranked #50 on the "100 Years...100 Thrills" list. The film is nearly identical to the novel because William Goldman also wrote the screenplay (although the film and the novel have different endings). Legendary Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi was referenced in the 1974 novel Marathon Man, as the idol of the protagonist. The movie adaptation replaced Nurmi with Ethiopian Olympian Abebe Bikila. However, in the film, Nurmi's runner picture can be seen on Babe's wall.
Both the novel and the film contain a graphic depiction in which Szell tortures Babe by drilling into his teeth, without anesthetic, and repeatedly asking the question, "Is it safe?" Babe does not know what the question means nor the identity of his inquisitor. The dentist offers him oil of cloves as positive inducement to cooperate. The quote "Is it safe?" was ranked #70 on the "100 Years...100 Movie Quotes" list.
Although the film was not the first feature film production to use the Steadicam (the distinction going to Bound for Glory), it was earliest feature released which used it, predating both Bound for Glory and Rocky.
[edit] Plot summary
Thomas Levy (Dustin Hoffman), nicknamed "Babe" in the film, is a history Ph.D. candidate researching the same field as his father, who committed suicide after being accused in the McCarthy Communist hunt. His brother, Henry (Roy Scheider), better known as "Doc", poses as an oil company executive, but in fact he is a U.S. Government agent working for an agency headed up by Director Peter Janeway (William Devane). Doc is often supposedly out of the country on business for extended periods of time but comes to New York under the guise of a visit to Thomas. The brother of a Nazi war criminal possessed a safety deposit box key, but is killed in a traffic accident. Doc suspects that the criminal, Dr. Christian Szell (Laurence Olivier) will be arriving to retrieve an extremely valuable diamond collection.
Babe soon enters into a relationship with a young woman named Elsa Opel, who claims to be from Switzerland. One night while out on a date Elsa and Babe are seemingly mugged in a park by two men dressed in suits. Some time later, Doc takes the couple to dinner, where he tricks Elsa into revealing that she has been lying to Babe about being Swiss. Doc suspects she may have some connection to Szell, but there is also a possibility that she is simply seeking an American husband so that she can become a citizen of the United States.
Doc meets with Szell and flatly states that the former Nazi is not welcome in the country. Szell casually accepts the pronouncement, but then swiftly knifes the spy, wounding him severely. Doc is able to make it back to his brother's apartment, but collapses and dies in Babe's arms without telling him anything. The police interrogate Babe for hours, until Government agents led by Peter Janeway arrive. Babe is highly uncooperative with Janeway, who is trying to find out what Doc told Babe before he died. Babe continually insists that his brother did not tell him anything, but Janeway feels that Doc struggled all the way to Babe's apartment to give him vital information of some kind.
Babe is later abducted by Szell and his subordinates (the two men from the park). In an infamous sequence, Babe is tortured by Szell, a skilled dentist, and continually asked "Is it safe?". Confused by the question, Babe denies any knowledge, but is tortured until Szell is satisfied. Babe is then rescued by Janeway, who kills Szell's bodyguards and takes Babe from Szell's hideout in a car. Janeway also continually asks Babe what he knows and what Doc told him that night, but Babe again states that he has no information. In a twist, Janeway returns Babe to Szell's supposedly dead bodyguards: the rogue government agent has been working with the Nazi criminal all along. It transpires Szell is one of Janeway's highest level informants, and had informed on other Nazi war criminals in return for immunity.
Babe escapes again, this time on his own, and is able to hide from his pursuers. He phones Elsa, and she agrees to meet him with a car. She takes him to a home in the country that turns out to be owned by Szell. Babe guesses that she has set him up, she confesses, and they wait for the arrival of Szell's men. Janeway and Szell's men arive, but Babe avoids an ambush by taking Elsa hostage. In another twist, Janeway kills Szell's men and tells Babe that he will allow him to have Szell if he can have the diamonds. Babe agrees and is told where to find him. As Babe leaves, Janeway kills Elsa, as she is connected to Szell. Babe in anger, as he still loved Elsa, shoots Janeway, killing him.
Back in New York, Szell attempts to determine the value of his diamonds. Unfortunately, the appraiser he chooses is located in a Hassidic neighborhood; he is recognized by an old woman, whose cries for help are ignored by passerby on the street who believe that she is senile. Szell walks into a diamond retailer owned by a man who was in a German concentration camp, who recognizes Szell; Szell flees the store, and when the man gives chase, Szell slits his throat.
Szell retrieves his diamonds from the bank, but, as he leaves, he is taken hostage by Babe, who inconspicuously forces him into a sewage treatment plant. Babe holds Szell at gunpoint on a scaffold and seizes the diamonds; rather than kill Szell, Babe informs him that he will allow him to live, and keep as many diamonds as he can swallow. Szell initially refuses, prompting Babe to begin throwing the diamonds into the sewage below them. Szell relents, and swallows a diamond, but then pulls a knife and tries to stab Babe. Babe throws the remainder of the diamonds down the scaffold steps towards the sewage; Szell dives for them, but stumbles, and fatally falls on his own knife.
[edit] Significant story changes
The film differs from the book in many ways:
- An 8½ minute sequence was shot of Doc fighting with some men who kill a spy. William Goldman speculates that it was cut because it was violent, but that it was a "grievous" cut to the detriment of the film.[1] With the sequence missing, Doc's character seems to be less flawed than he really is.[2]
- The ending was rewritten, according to Goldman, because Hoffman was unhappy with it.[3] Goldman wasn't sure who wrote it, but told an interviewer he thought the new ending was "shit" because it left out two important plot clarifications.[4]
- The character Doc, was originally homosexual. This aspect is only hinted at in the film, a change Goldman himself made.[5]
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- The song "Assimilate" by Skinny Puppy uses a sound bite of the infamous "is it safe" quote.
- This film was #66 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
- In the 2004 science fiction film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, ace mechanic Dex (Giovanni Ribisi) disables the holographic image of Laurence Olivier as the supervillian Dr. Totenkopf, prompting Sky Captain (Jude Law) to ask, "Is it safe?" This is an ironic homage to Olivier who repeatedly spoke this line of dialogue in Marathon Man. Jude Law had suggested Olivier as the film's villain to director Kerry Conran.[6]
- Two years later, Olivier played a turnabout role as a Nazi-hunter in The Boys From Brazil.
- During the filming of the movie, Hoffman, a dedicated Method actor, allegedly stayed up for two nights in order to more accurately portray Babe's exhaustion after being tortured by Szell. A bemused Olivier reportedly retorted, "Try acting... it's much easier!" After denying the story for years, Hoffman eventually admitted that he had been up all night partying, and Olivier was referring to his lifestyle rather than his acting technique.
[edit] Notes
- ^ John Bradey, "The craft of the screenwriter", 1981. Page 162
- ^ John Bradey, "The craft of the screenwriter", 1981. Page 162
- ^ John Bradey, "The craft of the screenwriter", 1981. Page 166
- ^ John Bradey, "The craft of the screenwriter", 1981. Page 166
- ^ John Bradey, "The craft of the screenwriter", 1981. Page 163-64
- ^ Trivia for Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - Internet Movie Database
