Film of the Day: 64

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

Nowadays, in a major city like Toronto, New York, Paris, Tokyo or London, the best means of transportation is the subway. I myself live in London, and am completely reliant on the tube, same as when I lived in Toronto.

The first alleged subway however was built in London and was called the 'The Tower Subway'. It began construction in 1869 near the Tower of London Bridge under the River Thames and was opened to the public today in 1870.

Although this is believed to be the first subway, it was actually the Metropolitan Railway (MetR) to be the world's first metro system. This was built near King's Cross, London in 1861.

The Tower Subway contained a small cable car in the tunnel and would contain a maximum of 12 passengers from one side of the river to the other. However this service only lasted three months as there were not enough passengers. Yet it is because of this that we have the tube today. Thanks to it's method of construction, it lead to the City & South London Railway in 1890 which was the first London Tube railway.

As for the film industry, by far the best film ever made about the subway has got to be the original Taking of Pelham One Two Three (not the horrible Hollywoodised remake from 2009). It was directed by Joseph Sargent, who was mainly known for his TV movies and directed a few episodes of some great TV shows such as Gunsmoke, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Fugitive. He even directed one of the worst films of all time, Jaws 4.

But in 1974, he directed this powerhouse adaptation of a terrific novel. It also features one of my favourite actors to play a villain, Robert Shaw (who also played a villain in my favourite bond film, From Russia with love).

The story begins when four men take a subway hostage and bring the car to a stop. They then demand one million dollars to be delivered to them, and if it is not delivered to them within the hour, they will begin shooting a hostage one every minute until the money is delivered!

Inside The Tower Subway

Our hero here is Lt. Zachary Garber played by Walter Matthau (who's always fun to watch) who must find a way to save these people. The question was, even if they get their money, how will they escape? Another great thing about this film is that the villains or mainly the mastermind, is a very smart individual but also a very cold one. They also never reveal their names, instead they use colours as names (a technique that Tarantino used in his first feature film Reservoir Dogs).

If only all major thrillers were this well written. It contained a terrific villain, perfect pacing and enough tension to supply three Hollywood thrillers today.

Click here for the trailer