Marathon Man (1976) Directed by John Schlesinger ( Far From the Madding Crowd (1967), Midnight Cowboy (1969), Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), The Day of the Locust (1975)), starring Dustin Hoffman (Midnight Cowboy (1969), Straw Dogs (1971), Straight Time (1978), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Rain Man (1988), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)), Roy Scheider (The French Connection (1971), All That Jazz (1979)) and Laurence Olivier (Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965), Sleuth (1972), The Boys from Brazil (1978), and many, many others, of course). This classic thriller is distinguished by some very good acting on the part of Hoffman, as Babe Levy, an emotionally confused, guilt-ridden and rather annoying history graduate student, and, of course, Laurence Olivier as Dr. Szell, a politely, coldly demonic ex-Nazi, gem-smuggling sadistic dentist. Roy Scheider, as Hoffman’s brother Doc, secretly an agent for a clandestine government agency, is really quite good, as well. Marathon Man is also characterised by an effective use of place: New York, Paris, and very briefly South America, and a sensitivity to lighting, all of which contribute to an overall atmosphere essential to its success. The plot is, shall we say, a bit confused, replete with double-crossing, triple-crossing and perhaps even more, and, in the end, Marathon Man may be a bit weak on logic. But perhaps that’s not really the point, as the tension of scene after scene is more than palpable and the acting so very good. (PR)
See our previous posts on the films Sunday Bloody Sunday directed by John Schlesinger, Straw Dogs and Straight Time starring Dustin Hoffman, and The French Connection with Roy Scheider.
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