The Taking of Pelham One Two Three Soundtrack (1974)

Synopsis

In New York City, four heavily armed men with code names (Mr. Blue, Mr. Green, Mr. Grey, and Mr. Brown), wearing disguises of eyeglasses, fedora hats, and fake mustaches, board at different station stops (the Green Line at 59th Street, Grey Line at 51st Street, Brown Line at Grand Central, and finally Blue Line at 28th Street) on the Pelham 123 subway train run of the 6 Lexington Avenue Local service. The men take the train, securing a group of hostages, whom they isolate in one car of the train, then disconnect this car from the rest of the train.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau), a cynical and curmudgeonly yet light-hearted New York City Transit Authority police lieutenant, begins his day by leading four visiting Tokyo Metro directors on a tour of New York's subway command-center. This is interrupted by Blue's radio announcement to the command center that "your train has been taken." Blue (Robert Shaw), the British-accented leader of the hijackers, tells Garber they are demanding a ransom of one million dollars, to be delivered to them within one hour; otherwise they will kill one passenger per minute, starting when the hour has passed.

Garber, the sarcastic Lieutenant Rico Patrone (Jerry Stiller), and other transit workers cooperate while trying to guess how the criminals intend to escape the subway tunnel and get away. Various clues soon surface for Garber to figure out, first with his hearing Blue's very distinctive English accent over the radio. It later turns out that Blue was a ruthless British mercenary, and Green (Martin Balsam) is a former transit worker who from time to time sneezes over the radio and is heard by Garber, who responds by saying "Gesundheit." Garber also learns that one of the hostages is an undercover police officer.

The mayor finally agrees to pay the ransom at the urging of his deputy mayor. The police dispatch a squad car carrying the ransom money. When the car is wrecked in a collision, Garber daringly bluffs to buy some time, telling the takers that the money already has been delivered to the 28th Street Station and only the walk down the tunnel is delaying it. A reluctant Blue agrees to the delay.

A police motorcycle completes the trip from the scene of the collision to the subway station and two unarmed officers are sent down the track on foot to deliver the money to the hijackers. With the money finally in hand, the hijackers demand that electric power be restored to the subway line, and that all signals in the path of the train be turned green from 28th Street to the South Ferry station, both of these being necessary for the car to move. Having overridden the subway car's dead-man's switch, which would otherwise ensure its stopping unless someone remained at the throttle, the hijackers get off the train and set it in motion. As the train starts to move, the undercover officer also jumps off the train and hides between the rails. The car begins to travel faster and faster, since no one is controlling its speed.

Outside the tunnel, Garber and Inspector Daniels are convinced that the runaway train is a diversion and that the hijackers must have left the train.

The hijackers divide the ransom money, discard their disguises, and start their escape into the tunnel's emergency exit; however, Grey refuses to leave his gun behind as agreed and is shot dead by Blue. The undercover officer, still hiding in the tracks, manages to kill Brown with one shot. Green escapes onto the street.

Garber arrives after Green has gotten away and, drawing on Blue, orders him to surrender just as Blue is about to shoot the undercover officer. Blue asks Garber if the death penalty is available in the state of New York anymore. Told that it is not, Blue responds, "Pity", then promptly electrocutes himself by stepping onto the third rail while a horrified Garber watches.

Entering the South Ferry Loop, the runaway car finally encounters a red signal. The car's emergency brakes are tripped and it grinds to a halt; the remaining hostages are all safe.

Green, the only hijacker to escape, has left as a clue only Garber's surmise that one of the hijackers must be an ex-motorman of the New York Transit Authority (owing to the hijackers' knowledge of the car's operation). With the dead three all identified, Garber realizes that the hijacker still at large must be the former transit employee. Garber and Patrone, working their way through a list of former motormen "discharged for cause" (and, by implication, disgruntled), pay a visit to Harold Longman. Longman, known to the audience as Mr. Green, is shown rolling in the packs of ransom money on the bed in his seedy efficiency apartment when Garber and Patrone knock on his door. He hides the money quickly, then opens to the officers and bluffs his way through their questioning. The officers find Longman's alibi weak, but start out the door, until Longman sneezes and Garber says "Gesundheit." Garber then re-opens the door, the expression on his face in the door opening (the film's final frame) telling the audience that he knows he has just found the final hijacker.

Download and play the Soundtrack list

Play	Title	Artist
	The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
	Max Dugan Returns	David Shire: Performer
	The Conversation	David Shire: Performer
	Return To Oz	David Shire: Performer
	Raid On Entebbe	David Shire: Performer
	Paris Trout	David Shire: Performer
	All The Presidents Men	David Shire: Performer
	Farewell, My Lovely	David Shire: Performer
	The World According To Garp	David Shire: Performer
	Night Mother	David Shire: Performer
	Bed And Breakfast	David Shire: Performer
	The Taking Of Pelham 1-2-3	David Shire: Performer
	2010	David Shire: Performer
	Last Stand At Saber River	David Shire: Performer
	Straight Time	David Shire: Performer
	Old Boyfreinds	David Shire: Performer
	The Journey Inside (IMAX)	David Shire: Performer
	Monkey Shines	David Shire: Performer
	One Night Stand	David Shire: Performer
	The Hindenburg	David Shire: Performer
	My Antonia	David Shire: Performer
	The Kennedys Of Massachusetts	David Shire: Performer
	Sarah Plain And Tall	David Shire: Performer
	Saturday Night Fever (Manhattan Skyline)	David Shire: Performer
	Norma Rae (It Goes Like It Goes)	David Shire: Performer
	Main Title	David Shire: Performer
	The Taking	David Shire: Performer
	Dolowitz Takes a Look / Dolowitz Gets Killed	David Shire: Performer
	Blue and Green Talk	David Shire: Performer
	Money Montage	David Shire: Performer
	Fifty Seconds / The Money Express	David Shire: Performer
	Conductor Killed / The Money Bag	David Shire: Performer
	The Pelham's-Moving-Again Blues	David Shire: Performer
	I'm A Police Officer / Renewing Disguises	David Shire: Performer
	Goodbye Green, Hello Garber, Goodbye Hippie / Smoking More, Enjoying It Less	David Shire: Performer
	Mini-Manhunt	David Shire: Performer
	End Title	David Shire: Performer
	Blue	David Shire: Performer
	More Taking	David Shire: Performer
	Dolowitz Takes a Look	David Shire: Performer
	Dolowitz Killed	David Shire: Performer
	Blue Green	David Shire: Performer
	Money Montage II	David Shire: Performer
	Fifty Seconds	David Shire: Performer
	The Money Express	David Shire: Performer
	Conductor Killed	David Shire: Performer
	The Money Bag	David Shire: Performer
	I'm a Police Officer	David Shire: Performer
	Renewing Disguises	David Shire: Performer
	Goodbye Green	David Shire: Performer
	Smoking More	David Shire: Performer
	The Pelhams-Moving-Again Blues	David Shire: Performer
	Im A Police Officer / Renewing Disguises / Goodbye Green, Hello Garber, Goodbye Hippie / Smoking More, Enjoying It Less	David Shire: Performer
	Overture to A Bridge Too Far	John Addison: Performer
	Battle of Britain Theme	John Addison: Performer
	Kelly's Heros Theme	John Addison: Performer
	Main Title to 633 Squadron	John Addison: Performer
	Main Title to Alexander The Great	John Addison: Performer
	Zulu Theme from Zulu	John Addison: Performer
	The Great Train Robbery Theme	John Addison: Performer
	Overture from Ice Station Zebra	John Addison: Performer
	Ride to Dubno (from Taras Bulba)	John Addison: Performer
	I Am Hawaii (From Hawaii)	John Addison: Performer
	Suite from Birdman of Alcatraz	John Addison: Performer
	Regnar Returns (from The Vikings)	John Addison: Performer
	North by Northwest Finale Suite	John Addison: Performer
	Main Theme from Elmer Gantry	John Addison: Performer
	Theme from Mutiny on the Bounty	John Addison: Performer
	The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 Main Title	John Addison: Performer
	They Call Me Mr. Tibbs Main Title	John Addison: Performer
	In the Heat of the Night	John Addison: Performer
	Main Title to F.I.S.T.	John Addison: Performer
	Paris Blues	John Addison: Performer
	Some Like It Hot (Instrumental)	John Addison: Performer
	Harlem Love Theme (from Across 100th St.)	John Addison: Performer
	Some Like It Hot (Vocal)	John Addison: Performer
	Disc Time:	John Addison: Performer
	Main Title to The Barefoot Contessa	John Addison: Performer
	Main Title to Ryan's Daughter	John Addison: Performer
	The Tango I Saved For You (from Gaily Gaily)	John Addison: Performer
	Black Stallion Theme Reprise	John Addison: Performer
	Main Title from Carrie	John Addison: Performer
	Women in Love	John Addison: Performer
	Roma Suite (from Fellini's Roma)	John Addison: Performer
	Main Title from Tom Jones	John Addison: Performer
	Uketalia (from After The Fox)	John Addison: Performer
	Love Theme from Ben-Hur	John Addison: Performer
	Theme from The Greatest Story Ever Told	John Addison: Performer
	Theme from King of Kings	John Addison: Performer
	Main Title from Patch of Blue	John Addison: Performer
	Main Title from Inherit the Wind	John Addison: Performer
	Judgement at Nuremberg Suite	John Addison: Performer
	Red River Suite	John Addison: Performer
	The Long Riders	John Addison: Performer
	Wild Rovers Theme	John Addison: Performer
	Goodbye Colonel (from For a Few Dollars More)	John Addison: Performer
	Generique (from Viva Maria)	John Addison: Performer
	Hour of the Gun Main Title	John Addison: Performer
	Crossing the Missouri (from The Missouri Breaks)	John Addison: Performer
	Love Theme from The Missouri Breaks	John Addison: Performer
	"Paris, Paris, Paris" (from Viva Maria) - Brigitte Bardot and Jeanne Moreau	John Addison: Performer
	They Call Me Mr.Tibbs Main Title (King Britt Reinterpretation Instrumental)	Elmer Bernstein: Performer
	The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 Main Title (Phillip Charles' Signs In Mallorca Rewerk)	Elmer Bernstein: Performer
	Fellini's Roma (Bent Remix)	Elmer Bernstein: Performer
	Goodbye Colonel (From For A Few Dollars More)- (Shrift Mix)	Elmer Bernstein: Performer
	Love Theme From Ben Hur (Bombay Dub Orchestra Remix Featuring Sophie Solomon)	Elmer Bernstein: Performer
	The Tango I Saved For You (Zeb's The Tango I Stole From You Remix)	Elmer Bernstein: Performer
	Paris Blues (The Real Tuesday Weld Remix)	Elmer Bernstein: Performer
	Birdman of Alcatraz (Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark Mix)	Elmer Bernstein: Performer
	Hour of the Gun Main Title (Mark De Clive Lowe Remix Featuring Replife)	Elmer Bernstein: Performer
	They Call Me Mr. Tibbs Main Title (King Britt Vocal Reinterpretation Featuring Mr. Lif)	Elmer Bernstein: Performer
	Some Like It Hot (MNO's Some Like It Hotter Remix)	Elmer Bernstein: Performer
	Theme From Carrie (Gaudi Remix)	Elmer Bernstein: Performer
	Love Theme From Ben Hur (Bombay Dub Orchestra Remix Orchestral Verison)	Elmer Bernstein: Performer
	Inherit The Wind Main Title (Tom Middleton Mix)	Elmer Bernstein: Performer

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