Marathon Man

"One man's dangerous attempts to clear his father's name"

1976 2h 6m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 1,282

ThrillerCrimeDrama

Synopsis

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A graduate student and obsessive runner in New York is drawn into a mysterious plot involving his brother, a member of the secretive Division.

“One man's dangerous attempts to clear his father's name”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Dustin Hoffman
Thomas 'Babe' Levy
Laurence Olivier
Dr. Christian Szell
Roy Scheider
Henry 'Doc' Levy
William Devane
Janeway
Marthe Keller
Elsa Opel
Fritz Weaver
Professor Biesenthal
Richard Bright
Karl
Marc Lawrence
Erhard

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Schlesinger
Writers: William Goldman
Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Yiddish
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.3× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

50 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 6 languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Yiddish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Schlesinger, shot by Conrad Hall. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Michael Small. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jim Clark shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier and Roy Scheider carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "One man's dangerous attempts to clear his father's name".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Schlesinger directs. Conrad Hall behind the camera. Michael Small scores. Jim Clark cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Yiddish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.3× over at the box office.
250 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 6 languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Yiddish.
4Directed by John Schlesinger, shot by Conrad Hall. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Michael Small. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Jim Clark shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier and Roy Scheider carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "One man's dangerous attempts to clear his father's name".
9IMDB entry: tt0074860 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 18 themes, including "new york city", "government", "based on novel or book", "nazi".
11Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Conrad Hall
Original score: Michael Small
Editing: Jim Clark
Production design: Richard Macdonald
Costume design: Robert De Mora
Makeup / hair: Barbara Lorenz
Runtime: 126 min · 2h 6m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $6,500,000
Box office: $21,709,020
Return: 334% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Marathon Man (1976)

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John Schlesinger

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-07-02
★ 7/10
As a man who quite literally loathes the very idea of a dentist, let alone actually going to visit one - this film adds an extra dimension of ghastliness to the already fairly hideous underlying premiss. That centres around "Babe" (Dustin Hoffman). He is an ordinary history student who is horrified when his older brother is brutally murdered. Why? Well, he sets out to investigate and before long is embroiled in a nazi-hunting plot to track down "Szell" (Sir Laurence Olivier) who is, himself, trying to stay one step ahead of some government agents whilst he tries to track down an huge cache of diamonds. It turns out that this evil creature thought the now deceased brother knew the location of the gems, and of course that puts "Babe" in quite considerable peril and so soon, he is next on the interrogation list. This torture gives the idea of getting a drilling an whole new meaning, as the sound of the dental whirring does more than enough to compensate for the lack of actual visuals. Though the ending is fitting, I found it all just a bit too convenient, but Hoffman is superb here, as are Sir Laurence and an international cast that add depth to this really quite disturbing plot. Even now, when we are so much more used to graphic violence and gore on screen, this is potently gruesome and effective.

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