The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (also known as The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3) is a 1974 American thriller crime drama film directed by Joseph Sargent and starring Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam and Héctor Elizondo. Peter Stone adapted the screenplay from the 1973 novel written by Morton Freedgood under the pen name John Godey.

The film follows a group of criminals who hijack a New York City Subway car and hold the passengers for ransom. The title is derived from the train's radio call sign, which is based on where and when the train began its run; in this case, the train originated at the Pelham Bay Park station in the Bronx at 1:23 p.m. For several years after the film was released, the New York City Transit Authority would not schedule any train to leave Pelham Bay Park station at 1:23.

Several critics called it one of 1974's finest films, and it was a box-office success. The music has been described as "one of the best and most inventive thriller scores of the 1970s". It was remade in 1998 as a television film and in 2009 as a theatrical film.