A really striking design on this British quad for the release of the original New York subway-based action thriller, The Taking of Pelham 123 (opens in a new tab). Directed by Joseph Sargent (opens in a new tab), whose career seems to have consisted mostly of TV movies, the film stars the late Robert Shaw (opens in a new tab) as the psychotic leader of a gang of criminals who board and hijack a subway train. The gang demand a ransom of $1million and threaten to execute a passenger for every minute over the deadline.

Walter Matthau (opens in a new tab) plays a world-weary New York City Transit Authority (opens in a new tab) police lieutenant who ends up being the chief negotiator between the gang, working to try and foil their plans. Famously the gang have colour-based nicknames, which they use instead of their real names (Robert Shaw is blue, for example). Director Quentin Tarantino would later use this idea for his film debut Reservoir Dogs (opens in a new tab). This film was remade (opens in a new tab) by the late Tony Scott in 2009

This design is unique to the British quad and brilliantly uses the colourful lines of the real New York subway map designed by Massimo Vignelli (opens in a new tab) as the background to the sweeping train made from the title of the film. The front element of the shadowy figure standing in the door is actually taken from the American advance one sheet (opens in a new tab). I’m unsure who is responsible for the design of the quad so if you have any ideas please get in touch.

I had been hunting for a rolled copy of this quad for over a decade after seeing it in the book ‘Film Posters of the 1970s’ (opens in a new tab) and I was thrilled to finally track down a copy as I consider it to be one of the best British posters ever printed.