#Marathon Man

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June 1977 cover

Artist: Bob Clarke

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Whether it’s true or not- this is still one of my favorite acting stories.

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Laurence Olivier on set of Marathon Man (1976)

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[monstrousgourmandizingcats]

My kitten unbotheredly watches Marathon Man: a compilation

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Marathon Man (John Schlesinger, 1976)

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Laurence Olivier (Szell, Der Weisse Engel)

Marathon Man is a 1976 thriller film directed by John Schlesinger.

It was adapted by William Goldman from his 1974 novel of the same title and stars Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, William Devane and Marthe Keller. In the film, "Babe" Levy, a graduate student, becomes embroiled in a plot by Nazi war criminal Christian Szell to retrieve ill-gotten diamonds from a safe deposit box owned by Szell's dead brother. Babe becomes unwittingly involved due to his brother Doc's dealings with Szell.

The film was a critical and box-office success. Olivier received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Szell, the film's antagonist.

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On October 8, 1976, "Marathon Man" was released.

William Goldman was paid a reported $450,000-500,000 (depending on the source) for the film rights to his novel and to do a screenplay, before the novel had been published.

"The book reads like the movie-movie of all time," said producer Robert Evans. "I regard it as a cheap investment because you don't often find books that translate into film. This is the best thing I've read since 'The Godfather' (1972). It could go all, all the way – if we don't foul it up in the making."

Laurence Olivier was cast early on in the role of Dr. Christian Szell. However he had health problems, and at one stage, it was uncertain whether he would be able to do the film. Richard Widmark auditioned for the part, but Olivier eventually recovered and was able to participate in filming.

"Marathon Man" is famous in acting circles for an often quoted exchange between Hoffman and Olivier concerning a perceived difference in their approaches to acting. In the usual telling of the story Hoffman, a proponent of method acting, prepared for a scene where his character had been awake for three days by doing the same himself. When told of this, Olivier suggested, "Why don't you just try acting?" In an interview on Inside the Actors Studio, Hoffman said that this exchange had been distorted: he had been up all night at the Studio 54 nightclub for personal rather than professional reasons and Olivier, who understood this, was joking.

Director John Schlesinger said that "Marathon Man" was successful not only because it had elements of escapism, but also because the audience easily identified with Hoffman's character Babe Levy. Schlesinger said that he "is definitely someone that you can root for. The film is about his survival in a grim and hostile world. In our present age of anxiety we can all identify with characters who are not trying to get ahead but simply to survive." (Wikipedia)

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[grayjonx]

Sweet orthodontic Jesus: a Nazi AND a dentist? Laurence Olivier oozed menace in this classic '70s tale of SS war criminals, stolen diamonds and, er, dental malpractice. Chilling, terrifying and not an anaesthetist in sight. Definitely not safe.

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Marathon Man (1976, John Schlesinger, USA)

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Book to Movie Comparisons

February 11, 2024

All of this seemed like a great idea at first. I am unfortunately someone who Enjoys reading but can notice every detail within a movie. So I will keep the following comparisons rather simple.

Marathon Man: A movie very close to the book, except for Roy Scheider's character. His character is the same, mind you. It is everything that leads up to him going to meet Dustin Hoffman that differs.

And the book has ending which I really didn't like in comparison. The movie is simply perfect, whereas the book is oversimplified in description.

No Country for Old Men: I enjoyed reading the book more than I did watching the movie, but the movie fills in so many details that Cormac Mccarthy leaves out. The movie is almost verbatim to the book albeit a few scenes.

Fight Club: Very, very close to the book, which I can't help but imagine was very difficult to pull of considering Chuck Palhunuick's style of writing. I did like the ending to the book more

[cupatty]