Marathon Man

1976

2h 5m

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

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Thriller

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

Directors

John Schlesinger

Writers

William Goldman(novel by)

William Goldman(screenplay by)

Stars

Dustin Hoffman

Laurence Olivier

Roy Scheider

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Watch Marathon Man (1976) Original Trailer
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Watch Marathon Man - Trailer

Top cast

Babe

Szell

Doc

Janeway

Elsa

Professor Biesenthal

Karl

Erhard

Babe's Father

Melendez

Szell's Brother

Rosenbaum

LeClerc

Chen

Nicole

Old Lady on 47th Street

Lionel Pina

Street Gang

Church

Street Gang

Directors

John Schlesinger

Writers

William Goldman(novel by)

William Goldman(screenplay by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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.

Geronimo196702 Jul, 2022