The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

An evocative crime film set on the grimy, pre-gentrified New York subway. Four men dressed identically and with colour-coded codenames board the IRT Dyre Avenue Line from The Bronx’s Pelham Parkway at different stops. Revealing machine guns, they announce the hijacking and stop the train between stations, demanding $1,000,000 cash or else they start killing hostages. In a race against time, Transit Police Lieutenant Garber (Walter Matthau) attempts to outsmart the criminals. A tense, spry and bracingly no-nonsense film, and a snapshot of midcentury NYC at its most fecund.