Schlesinger made a great action-suspense film and married it to the artistry of unique talents
Hoffman was, by then, a dynamic, young and incredibly versatile film actor with three Academy Award nominations already under his belt for "The Graduate," "Midnight Cowboy," and "Lenny."
But the key to "Marathon Man" was the chemistry between its stars
Perhaps one of the most gut-wrenching and most memorable scenes in the film comes when Hoffman is captured and tortured by Olivier who plays the role of a mean and vicious and sadistic Nazi war criminal, Christian Szell
Olivier's performance resulted in a 1976 Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor
In 1945, Szell ran the experimental camp at Auschwitz where they called him the White Angel
He was a dentist and could provide escape for any Jew who was willing to pay the price
He started out with gold, naturally, but very quickly worked his way up to diamonds
As Szell saw the end early, he sneaked his brother into America with the diamonds
And they were right here, in New York, in a safe deposit-box until Szell's brother got killed in a head-on collision with an oil truck
Uniquely built, and with a marvelous, rugged face, Roy Scheider, well known for his strong performances in "The French Connection," "Klute," and "Jaws," came on board as Hoffman's mysterious businessman brother, getting the rare chance to play a character that's both hero and villain
Doc is a fascinating guy because he chooses to work out his problems in a much different way than Dustin's character does
He was very touched and very moved by his father's death, but he abandoned all his hopes for whatever he intended to do and he became a spy, a killer, a very jaded personality
In doing something truly suspenseful, Schlesinger accomplished a film that's largely about fear and it's about pain and the infliction of pain because of fear
The thrilling sensation of great expectations came on the 47th Street in the diamond district in New York, where Schlesinger gets the best of it
