![]() The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is classic criminal suspense, the threats don’t just come from the robbers, but the mayor, downtown traffic, and pissed-off native New Yorkers. Grey (Hector Elizondo) is an ex-mafia killer, and the sole known motivation is Green’s anger at being fired. The only background we get is a hint that Mr. Blue ( Jaws‘ Robert Shaw), gives the transit cops one hour to deliver $1 million before he starts executing hostages.ĭirector Joseph Sargent gives no backstory. Green (Martin Balsam), a motorman fired for corruption, uncouples it from the rest of the train. Using color-coded aliases (inspiring Quentin Taratino’s Reservoir Dogs), disguised robbers hijack a New York City subway car loaded with passengers. Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau) asks the mastermind behind The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. “Why didn’t you go grab a goddamn airplane like everybody else?” Transit Authority Police Lt. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) ![]() ![]() The claustrophobic suspense, where a gang out for revenge surrounds the skeleton crew of the film’s titular, decommissioned police station, is criminally relentless. Here are some crime and gangster masterpieces which should be given another look: Photo Credit: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Imagesīesides Napoleon Wilson (Darwin Joston), a prisoner being shuttled to death row who counts his days like lovers, Assault on Precinct 13 contains no sentimentality: a little girl gets blown away for questioning flavors at an ice cream truck window, and the trapped cops and criminals-in-transit get no clue about the backstory. Sorry for what I missed, hope it’s not a hanging offense. Whether they cross the pond as The Long Good Friday (1980), or hop the D-train as The Warriors (1979), they just want to come out and play. But there are less-known nuggets, and there are always new gangs waiting to expand their turf. Tony Montana’s fall into the fountain in Brian De Palma’s Scarface (1983) showed how to exceed success. Martin Scorsese opened the books for low-level street hoods in Mean Streets (1973), and pointed his cameras at the mid-level working capos in Goodfellas (1990). Occasionally The Godfather: Part II (1974) beats it in the ranking. Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Mario Puzo’s bestselling novel The Godfather (1972) is considered one of the greatest films ever made, in any genre, if not number one. High Sierra (1941) and White Heat (1949) are recognized for blowing up the horizon. Wellman’s The Public Enemy (1931), and Howard Hawks’ Scarface (1932), get a lot of credit for breaking ground in topics beyond criminality, shattering sexual taboos as well as the boundaries of acceptable visual violence. Mervyn LeRoy’s Little Caesar (1931), William A. The gangster and crime genre produced some of the most influential films in cinema history. Today that might be Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Wesley Snipes, and James Gandolfini. Robinson, and George Raft were the faces over the title. Every Friday night, a local NYC station ran old crime flicks on a slot called “Tough Guys.” Bogart, James Cagney, Edward G. But when all is said and done, the full cut of Once Upon a Time in America is one of the top five best gangster movies of all-time.I’ve loved gangster movies since I was four years old and saw Humphrey Bogart and Sylvia Sidney in Dead End (1937) on TV, and Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde (1967) at the movies (My dad pinched a lobby card for me). Some of the content is extremely heavy and pushes the boundary, even for a gangster film. ![]() De Niro gives one of the best performances of his career as a conflicted, opium sick, mobster dreamer. It’s a decades-spanning story of friendship and loyalty in the mob in New York City. It wasn’t until 2012 that the restored 255-minute version was made available to the public - which is a shame because it’s such a terrific film. If the confusion wasn’t enough, the film was further censored for explicit content. The result of the cuts was mass confusion amongst audiences. He conceded to a 229-minute version but the American version was further cut without his permission to 139 minutes. Leone cut it down to 269 minutes but the studio was not satisfied with his attempts at shortening it. He originally wanted the film to be split into two three-hour features but the studio told him he had to cut it into one film. It was the final film of Sergio Leone’s legendary career and the only film he completed in the last thirteen years of his life. Once Upon a Time in America is one of the craziest films ever made. ![]()
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