ABC SUNDAY NIGHT MOVIE: THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1-2-3 {ONE TWO THREE} (TV)
Summary
This made-for-television production, based on the novel by John Godey, is about the hijacking of a New York subway train and the efforts to rescue passengers being held for ransom. The program begins with Mr. Grey, Mr. Blue, Mr. Green, and Mr. Brown setting up in the subway and station before hijacking a 1-2-3 train at 28th Street. With Mr. Blue's aid, Mr. Green drives the hijacked train into the tunnel and immobilizes it between stations. Mr. Green walks back through the cars to meet with Mr. Brown -- actually a female -- who helps him acquire the keys of transit operator Babs Cardoza. Meanwhile, the command center is confused as to why the local train is "laying down" between the 23rd and 28th street stations. Mr. Green splits the train before joining his cohorts and taking off in the front part. Meanwhile, Mr. Blue goes into the passenger sections with a firearm, explaining the situation. Mr. Blue takes the train operator and sends him to the back section of the train to return those passengers to the 28th street station. Mr. Blue refuses to let any passengers exit the front section. Meanwhile, Mr. Green goes into the tunnel and shuts off the electricity, scaring the hostages. Mr. Green also sets up a motion detector there.
Mr. Blue finally calls the command center to confirm the hijacking and explain the hostage situation. Detective Anthony Piscotti hears Mr. Blue and is immediately concerned. Piscotti calls Detective Inez Ray, telling her to head to the command center. Mr. Blue tells Piscotti the hijackers' ransom demands, wanting five million dollars within the hour lest they start executing the fourteen hostages. Meanwhile, line superintendent Caz Hollowitz angrily enters the tunnel to rescue his train. Officer Artis Washington is sent after him by his superiors. Cardoza tries to convince Mr. Brown to let the two child hostages leave. Mr. Grey harasses a female passenger that he nicknames "Shaky" and Mr. Blue is forced to intervene. Mr. Blue asks Piscotti if he yet has authorization from the mayor's office to pay the five million. At the same time, Mr. Green struggles with a nagging cold, as his sneezes are heard over the command center radio. Later, when a young passenger has to urinate, Cardoza finds herself questioning Mr. Brown about her role in the crime. Meanwhile, Prescotti and Ray meet with the deputy mayor, who claims that they will not pay the ransom to "crazies." Then, Ray learns Hollowitz is now in the tunnel, and that Washington can act as the control room's "eyes." However, the hijackers' motion sensors identify the two men. Mr. Grey shoots Caz dead. However, Mr. Green notices that there is still another blip on their screen, wondering who it could be. Mr. Green is furious that Mr. Grey shot Caz, insisting that no one was supposed to be hurt. The command center is distraught to hear that Hollowitz is dead.
Meanwhile, Cardoza continues working on Mr. Brown, trying to get her to stop the situation from escalating. Piscotti contacts Mr. Green, angered at the hijackers for shooting Hollowitz and breaking their "agreement." Mr. Green excoriates Piscotti about the transit authority's "arrogance," making Piscotti wonder about Mr. Green's motivations. Piscotti and Ray are then told that one of the hostages is an undercover cop. Later, Mr. Green tells Mr. Blue that he actually worked with Hollowitz when they were both employed by the transit system. Piscotti comes up with a strategy for getting to the hijackers after finding out about thirty exits from the subway over a ten-block area. Then, Mr. Green notices a team coming after the stalled train, though Mr. Blue is not surprised. Mr. Blue maintains that they will receive the ransom. Mr. Green claims he was "framed" back when he was a train driver, leading to his being unjustly fired. Meanwhile, Piscotti and Ray listen to the audio recordings and try to figure out the hijackers' identities. Piscotti and Ray deduce that Mr. Green is a former train operator. Piscotti wants to use sharpshooters to take down the hijackers but Ray disagrees. Meanwhile, the deputy mayor questions if a rescue could win points for the mayor on the evening news. Eventually, Mr. Brown gets angered by some nervous hostages and explodes, with Mr. Grey managing to calm her down. Piscotti calls Mr. Blue, telling him that the city is willing to pay their ransom. Mr. Blue gives Piscotti further instructions on how to proceed. Mr. Blue also explains that he will be taking the hostages with him to a waiting plane, scheduled for an international trip. The ransom arrives at city hall and is counted as SWAT teams move into place. En route to the scene, the patrol car carrying the money crashes and motorcycle cops are forced to finish transporting it. Mr. Blue is angered by Piscotti and with one minute to the deadline, he decides it is time to kill someone.
Meanwhile, a TV camera crew sneaks near the train. Then, the camera crew gets near Washington in the tunnel and accidentally turns on its lights, causing the snipers to begin shooting. Mr. Brown is shot and Cardoza tends to her. Then, Mr. Blue taps Cardoza to be killed in retribution for Mr. Brown being wounded. Mr. Brown tries to stop him, to no avail. Mr. Blue sends Cardoza off the train and, once she is in the tunnel, shoots her in the back. Then, Mr. Grey takes the two youths to the back of the train. Mr. Blue gets police officers to throw the two bags of money onto the train, after which the boys drag the bags to him and empty them. Meanwhile, Ray looks at all the former subway employees that may have become embittered enough to stage the heist. Mr. Blue gives final instructions to Piscotti, telling him to clear the tracks and turn all signals to green. With a slight change of plans, Mr. Green starts navigating the train down the tracks, stopping again in another tunnel. Then, Mr. Green and Mr. Blue set up an apparatus on the train to subvert the handle's "dead man's feature," ensuring that the train will run without a driver. The four hijackers get off the train and then release it with the hostages still on board. The undercover police officer -- a woman who has kept her identity a secret from the hijackers -- pursues the escaping quartet but hurts her leg when jumping from the moving train.
Meanwhile, the hostages' train careens out of control. At the same time, Mr. Blue is angered by Mr. Grey's insolence and kills him. Piscotti and Ray head to the scene to investigate. Meanwhile, the injured undercover cop is able to crawl near the hijackers, then kills Mr. Brown. Mr. Blue goes after the officer. As he's about to shoot her, Mr. Blue is wounded by the just-arrived Piscotti. With the electricity, and thus the third rail, turned back on, Mr. Blue opts to electrocute himself. Back in the control room, the runaway train is finally stopped before hitting a dangerous loop. Afterward, Piscotti and Ray go to talk with MTA employees to find the final hijacker. The two detectives eventually make it to Mr. Green's apartment, where he is counting his money. Hiding it under his bed before answering the door, Mr. Green allows Piscotti and Ray to question him. Though he appears suspicious, Mr. Green throws the pair from his apartment as they have no concrete proof. However, his subsequent sneeze gives him away, as Piscotti and Ray manage a quick re-entry. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: February 1, 1998 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:55:21
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:52076
- GENRE: Drama, action/adventure
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, action/adventure; Drama, mystery/suspense; Subways; Hostage negotiations; New York City
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV, 1998
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - "Palmetto" motion picture
- TV - Commercials - Ace Hardware stores
- TV - Commercials - Advil pain reliever
- TV - Commercials - Boston Market restaurants
- TV - Commercials - Bud Light beer
- TV - Commercials - Burger King restaurants
- TV - Commercials - Carnival cruise lines
- TV - Commercials - Century 21 realtors
- TV - Commercials - Chevrolet automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Children First Mentoring Hotline
- TV - Commercials - Clairol hair color
- TV - Commercials - Coldwell Banker realtors
- TV - Commercials - Comtrex cold relief
- TV - Commercials - Dial soap
- TV - Commercials - Dirt Devil vacuums
- TV - Commercials - Duracell batteries
- TV - Commercials - Education Excellence Partnership for "Big League Parents"
- TV - Commercials - Ford automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Garnier hair color
- TV - Commercials - Gateway computers
- TV - Commercials - General Mills Chex cereal
- TV - Commercials - L'Oreal hair color
- TV - Commercials - LensCrafters eyewear
- TV - Commercials - Little Caesars pizza
- TV - Commercials - National Cattlemen's Beef Assn. and Beef Board
- TV - Commercials - Nissan automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Partnership for a Drug-Free America
- TV - Commercials - Paul Mitchell hair care
- TV - Commercials - Ponds clear pore strips
- TV - Commercials - Pontiac automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Qualcomm phones
- TV - Commercials - Quilted Northern toilet tissue
- TV - Commercials - Red Lobster restaurants
- TV - Commercials - Robitussin cold relief
- TV - Commercials - Saab automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Sprint calling plans
- TV - Commercials - Taco Bell restaurants
- TV - Commercials - Three Musketeers candy bars
- TV - Commercials - Toyota automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Tylenol pain relief
- TV - Promos - "20/20"
- TV - Promos - "America's Funniest Videos"
- TV - Promos - "Bad as I Wanna Be: The Dennis Rodman Story"
- TV - Promos - "Dharma & Greg"
- TV - Promos - "Ellen"
- TV - Promos - "Eyewitness News"
- TV - Promos - "Good Morning America"
- TV - Promos - "Greed with John Stossel"
- TV - Promos - "Motown 40: The Music Is Forever"
- TV - Promos - "Primetime Live"
- TV - Promos - "Soul Man"
- TV - Promos - "Spin City"
- TV - Promos - "Target Earth"
- TV - Promos - "The Drew Carey Show"
- TV - Promos - "The Practice"
- TV - Promos - Oprah Winfrey Presents "The Wedding"
CREDITS
- John Watson … Executive Producer
- Richard Barton Lewis … Executive Producer
- Pen Densham … Executive Producer
- Karen Moore … Producer
- Felix Enriquez Alcala … Director
- April Smith … Writer
- Peter Stone … Based on the screenplay by
- John Godey … Based on the novel by
- Stewart Copeland … Music by
- Edward James Olmos … Cast, Anthony Piscotti
- Vincent D'Onofrio … Cast, Mr. Blue
- Donnie Wahlberg … Cast, Mr. Grey
- Richard Schiff … Cast, Mr. Green
- Lisa Vidal … Cast, Babs Cardoza
- Tara Rosling … Cast, Mr. Brown
- Kenneth Welsh … Cast, Caz Hollowitz
- Lorraine Bracco … Cast, Inez Ray
- Ben Cook … Cast, Older Boy
- Bobby Borriello … Cast, Younger Brother
- Black Katt … Cast, Homeboy
- Ingrid Veninger … Cast, Graduate Student
- Alisa Wiegers … Cast, Office Worker
- Peter Boretski … Cast, Old Man
- Stuart Clow … Cast, Jogger
- Silvio Oliviero … Cast, Denny Alcala
- Sandi Ross … Cast, Ms. Jenkins
- Del Grande, Louis … Cast, Frank Stonehouse
- Gary Reineke … Cast, Deputy Mayor
- Richard Fitzpatrick … Cast, Borough Commander
- Roy Lewis … Cast, Officer Artis Washington
- Philip Akin … Cast, ESU Lieutenant
- Judah Katz … Cast, TV Reporter
- Catherine Blythe … Cast, Video Camerawoman
- John Nelles … Cast, Officer Wentworth
- Philip Williams … Cast, Officer Ricci
- Kathryn Albertson … Cast, Subway Rider
- Frank Nakashima … Cast, Tourist
- Merv Pryhitko … Cast, Fired MTA Worker