Joseph Sargent The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Joseph Sargent (born Giuseppe Danielle Sorgente, 1925–2014) directed The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) after a long career in television, including the Emmy-nominated The Marcus-Nelson Murders (1973), the TV movie that launched Kojak. He came to the film reluctantly and faced resistance from the New York–based production team that had wanted a different director.
Sargent didn't want to make another caper film
Sargent arrived at the project already frustrated with the genre. He had been working steadily in Hollywood television and saw Pelham as a step backward.
"At the time I was dreadfully unhappy with the fact that I was going to be doing another, a caper movie, you know, a feature that U.A. wanted me to do." — Joseph Sargent, DGA Visual History Interview
The East Coast production team made things worse. Producer Edgar Scherick and the crew had preferred a local director, and Sargent ��� a New Yorker by birth who had been working in Los Angeles — was treated as an outsider from the start.
"It then moved from there and trickled down to the crew, which had resentment to this smart-ass director being sent from Hollywood to show them how to make movies." — Joseph Sargent, DGA Visual History Interview
The actors made the difference
What turned the experience around was the cast. Sargent found the performances gave the film a texture that the genre material alone could not have supplied.
"Thank god for the actors, because from Walter Matthau down, it was a joy." — Joseph Sargent, DGA Visual History Interview
Owen Roizman, who had not worked with Sargent before, signed on after watching The Marcus-Nelson Murders on television. He came away impressed enough with Sargent's visual instincts to commit to a production that would require eight weeks of shooting in subway tunnels.
"I hadn't worked with Joe before, but I saw The Marcus-Nelson Murders on television, and was very impressed with the look and the feelings that it evoked." — Owen Roizman, ICG Magazine
Sargent took the Transit Authority's copycat fears seriously
The Transit Authority's initial refusal to cooperate stemmed from a fear that the film would inspire real hijackings. Sargent understood the concern and agreed to modify the script so it would not function as a realistic manual — see Production History (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three) for the full negotiation.
"We're making a movie, not a handbook on subway hijacking. It's important that we don't be too plausible. We're counting on the film's style and charm and comedy to say, subliminally at least, 'Don't take us too seriously.'" — Joseph Sargent, Los Angeles Times (1974)
He acknowledged the Transit Authority's position even when he found their specific demands absurd — like insisting that the subway cars appear graffiti-free, a condition that bore no relationship to the New York that audiences would recognize outside the theater.
"New Yorkers are going to hoot when they see our spotless subway cars. But the TA was adamant on that score. They said to show graffiti would be to glorify it. We argued that it was artistically expressive. But we got nowhere. They said the graffiti fad would be dead by the time the movie got out. I really doubt that." — Joseph Sargent, Los Angeles Times (1974)
"I must admit the seriousness of Pelham never occurred to me until we got the initial TA reaction. They thought it potentially a stimulant -- not to hardened professional criminals like the ones in our movie, but to kooks... Any responsible filmmaker would [agree to modify the film] if he stumbled onto something that could spread into a new form of madness." — Joseph Sargent, Los Angeles Times (1974)