IMDb > Marathon Man (1976)
Marathon Man
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Marathon Man (1976) More at IMDbPro »

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Marathon Man (1976) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)
Marathon Man (1976) -- MattTrailer.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   16,793 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
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Director:
John Schlesinger
Writers:
William Goldman (screenplay)
William Goldman (novel)
Contact:
View company contact information for Marathon Man on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
8 October 1976 (USA) more
Genre:
Crime | Drama | Thriller more
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. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 9 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(17 articles)
AFI's 100 Years ...100 Movie Quotes
 (From Extra. 4 November 2009, 4:45 AM, PST)

Columbia Pictures Greenlights Ghosts In The Slammer Pic SuperMax
 (From SciFiCool.com. 29 September 2009, 4:34 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
A prime example of the way highly styled entertainment should be… more (117 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

Runtime:
125 min
Country:
USA
Color:
Color (Metrocolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono | Stereo

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Outtakes reveal a couple of things. First, Laurence Olivier had trouble using the large switchblade made for his character. Often, he would try to activate it and the blade would not come out. Second, several actors enjoyed imitating the unique speech patterns of producer Robert Evans. Years later, Dustin Hoffman used that imitation for his performance in Wag the Dog (1997). more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Doc is having his hand bandaged, the length of his cigarette changes between shots. more
Quotes:
Christian Szell: I envy you your school days. Enjoy them fully. It's the last time in your life no one expects anything of you. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Revelations (#3.7)" (1998) more
Soundtrack:
Le Tram more

FAQ

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23 out of 25 people found the following comment useful.
A prime example of the way highly styled entertainment should be…, 1 September 2007
8/10

Schlesinger made a great action-suspense film and married it to the artistry of unique talents… Hoffman was, by then, a dynamic, young and incredibly versatile film actor with three Academy Award nominations already under his belt for "The Graduate," "Midnight Cowboy," and "Lenny."

But the key to "Marathon Man" was the chemistry between its stars… Perhaps one of the most gut-wrenching and most memorable scenes in the film comes when Hoffman is captured and tortured by Olivier who plays the role of a mean and vicious and sadistic Nazi war criminal, Christian Szell… Olivier's performance resulted in a 1976 Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor…

In 1945, Szell ran the experimental camp at Auschwitz where they called him the White Angel… He was a dentist and could provide escape for any Jew who was willing to pay the price… He started out with gold, naturally, but very quickly worked his way up to diamonds…

As Szell saw the end early, he sneaked his brother into America with the diamonds… And they were right here, in New York, in a safe deposit-box until Szell's brother got killed in a head-on collision with an oil truck…

Uniquely built, and with a marvelous, rugged face, Roy Scheider, well known for his strong performances in "The French Connection," "Klute," and "Jaws," came on board as Hoffman's mysterious businessman brother, getting the rare chance to play a character that's both hero and villain… Doc is a fascinating guy because he chooses to work out his problems in a much different way than Dustin's character does… He was very touched and very moved by his father's death, but he abandoned all his hopes for whatever he intended to do and he became a spy, a killer, a very jaded personality…

In doing something truly suspenseful, Schlesinger accomplished a film that's largely about fear and it's about pain and the infliction of pain because of fear… The thrilling sensation of great expectations came on the 47th Street in the diamond district in New York, where Schlesinger gets the best of it…

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