Marathon Man (film)

Marathon Man is a 1976 suspense/thriller film directed by John Schlesinger. It was adapted by William Goldman from his 1974 novel of the same name and stars Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, William Devane and Marthe Keller. The music score was composed by Michael Small.

The film was a critical and box office success, with Olivier earning a Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination for his role as the film's antagonist.

Plot

Thomas "Babe" Levy (Dustin Hoffman) is a history Ph.D. candidate and avid runner. Levy is researching the same field as his father, who committed suicide after the Communist witch hunts of the Joseph McCarthy era ruined his reputation. Babe's brother Henry (Roy Scheider), known as "Doc", presents himself as an oil company executive but is really a government agent, involved in an elaborate network of couriers who transport diamonds stolen during World War II from wealthy Jews seeking to flee Germany, which are then sold on world markets for the secret benefit of fugitive Nazi war criminal Dr. Christian Szell (Laurence Olivier). Szell, a dentist who tortured Jews in a concentration camp, escaped capture and is now living off the diamond sales as a fugitive in South America (echoing real life Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele).

Marathon Man

Marathon Man may refer to:

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See also

Marathon Man (novel)

Marathon Man is a 1974 conspiracy thriller novel by William Goldman. It was Goldman's most successful thriller novel, and his second suspense novel.

In 1976 it was made into a film of the same name, with screenplay by Goldman, starring Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, and Roy Scheider and directed by John Schlesinger.

Plot synopsis

A former Nazi SS dentist at Auschwitz, Dr. Christian Szell, now residing in Paraguay, aims to smuggle many diamonds out of the United States after the accidental death of his brother in New York City. This involves a secret intelligence agency named "The Division".

Meanwhile, at Columbia University, Thomas Babington "Babe" Levy (the first and middle names are a reference to Thomas Babington Macaulay, and the nickname is a reference to Babe Ruth) is a postgraduate student in history and an aspiring marathon runner. He is haunted by the suicide of his brilliant academic father, H.V. Levy, provoked by the activities of Senator McCarthy when Tom/Babe was ten. Tom's PhD dissertation aims to clear his father's name of alleged Communist affiliations. Unbeknown to Babe, his elder brother by ten years (and best friend), 'Doc', works in The Division.