I suppose any era when you make the transition from child to adult is a tough one, but the 1970s was when I did, and New York was where. It wasn't a pretty time, with headlines like "Ford To City: Drop Dead" and about Kitty Genovese. At times the City seemed in free fall, and every adult's job consisted of ducking your head, walking into the oncoming storm, and keeping things working until the end of your shift. After that, it was some other adult's problem.
That's why this movie is so good: it captures that moment in the City, when the cleaning was imperfect, adults expressed their frustration freely and profanely, and efforts by film crews to make sure there was no trash on the street when the cameras rolled were doomed to failure. All the men wear ties like they're nooses around their necks, and confronted with a gang of crooks which have taken over a subway train on New York Transit Police Lieutenant Walter Matthau's shift, he's the adult who has to deal with the problem. Joseph Sargent did such a good job, that it's been remade twice; each time, it's been a decent thriller, but little more, a dependable property. This version is the real deal.
That's why this movie is so good: it captures that moment in the City, when the cleaning was imperfect, adults expressed their frustration freely and profanely, and efforts by film crews to make sure there was no trash on the street when the cameras rolled were doomed to failure. All the men wear ties like they're nooses around their necks, and confronted with a gang of crooks which have taken over a subway train on New York Transit Police Lieutenant Walter Matthau's shift, he's the adult who has to deal with the problem. Joseph Sargent did such a good job, that it's been remade twice; each time, it's been a decent thriller, but little more, a dependable property. This version is the real deal.