Marathon Man
- Director: John Schlesinger
- Writer: William Goldman
- Producer: Sidney Beckerman; Robert Evans
CGiii Comment
As accomplished a thriller as you can get...
Still taut, still gripping, still painful to watch (that torture scene!).
Olivier is genteel...tinged with camp...and, as malignant as a cancerous tumour. He was nominated for the Oscar...but, lost out to Jason Robards! Explain that one Academy!?!
Basically, this film won no significant awards...explain that one award-givers!?!
A classic.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
In New York, marathon runner Thomas "Babe" Levy is a graduate student who researches history as his father, who committed suicide after being investigated in the Communist witch hunts of the McCarthy era. His brother Henry James "Doc" Levy appears out of the blue from time to time because his family never knows where he is, working as a government agent. One of his charges is an infamous Nazi war criminal who he has just told is no longer welcome in the United States. Dr. Christian Szell has a fortune hidden in a safe deposit box and is convinced that Babe knows whether or not it is safe to go to pick it up and will stop at nothing to find out.
Cast & Characters
Dustin Hoffman as Babe;
Laurence Olivier as Szell;
Roy Scheider as Doc;
William Devane as Janeway;
Marthe Keller as Elsa;
Fritz Weaver as Prof. Biesenthal;
Richard Bright as Karl;
Marc Lawrence as Erhard;
Allen Joseph as Babe's Father;
Tito Goya as Melendez