CLASSIC MOVIE CORNER: 'Marathon Man' (1977)

Laurence Olivier
in 'Marathon Man'“Marathon Man” (1977)

MPAA Rating: R
Directed by: John Schlesinger
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, Marthe Keller

The Gist: A spy thriller that sends tingles up your spine — and teeth.

The Story: In 1970’s New York, an elderly German immigrant is killed in a brutal road rage encounter. In Paris, an American operative is slain at the opera. Back in the U.S., Tom Levy (Hoffman) is a graduate student who will unwillingly discover the connection between these disparate murders. But first, Tom will see his older brother (Scheider) bleed to death, fall in love with a Swiss double agent (Keller), and suffer the wrath of a sadistic Nazi dentist (Olivier). Before his ordeal is through, the formerly mild-mannered Tom will try to force feed an old man a suitcase full of diamonds at gunpoint. As far as getting his history thesis finished on time, fuhgeddaboutit. Tom’s having a bad week all around.

The Review: Paramount Pictures was the home of the paranoid thriller in the ’70s. “Marathon Man” is one several nail-biters overseen by producer Robert Evans. It starred Hoffman in the kind of role he had been perfecting for a decade: the harried underdog. Among the film’s many charms is the way Hoffman, a method actor, spars with Olivier, an old-school stage acting legend. Another delight is the way “Marathon Man” really makes you work at fitting together its puzzle pieces.