The 70s: What the hell did they expect for their lousy 35 cents - to live forever?

We used to travel into New York City on occasion when I was in high school as well as for a few years afterward – to see Yankees games, concerts and go to record stores.

Back then, New York seemed so gritty and grimy. And dangerous. Graffiti everywhere. Times Square was seedy, rife with XXX-rated movie theaters and hookers. One evening, a couple of scantily-clad women swarmed around one of my buddies and me, grabbing my belt loop and promising some carnal adventures if I had the cash. I was too shy and shocked to even speak to them, let alone do anything else.

I once went into Bleecker Bob’s record store, and the guy behind the counter asked me if I wanted to buy any drugs. Every time I walked through Washington Square Park, a dealer approached me.

Did that happen to everyone, or was it just my looks?

On a slightly different scale, that’s the New York depicted In “The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three.” Full of precisely that grit, if not sexuality and drugs, this 1974 feature was loaded with dirt and danger, and you could almost smell the grime. The subway depiction may be the most accurate ever on film, and the tension felt real. Casting and acting was sublime, and in a similar fashion to “High Noon,” the action unfolded in almost real time.

I love everything about this movie, especially the performances of Walter Matthau, Jerry Stiller and Robert Shaw, who is the epitome of a cold-blooded domestic terrorist/assassin. And David Shire’s score adds much to the atmosphere without intruding.

I am told that they did a remake of this a few years ago. Well, that certainly was unnecessary; you can’t improve on near perfection.

There are a few movies that I cannot turn off when I stumble on them on TV. This is one of them.

 One of the great movies of the 70s.