Watched Terror in the Aisles and have a question..

[loyal1]

There were two movies I did not recognize.  The one with Dustin Hoffman and the man who was torturing him by drilling his teeth and kept asking "Is it safe?"

The other in know I saw at a drive in when I was a kid and my mother kept telling me to go to sleep...lol (yeah right!).  There was a woman in a blonde wig, coat, and sun glasses.  I remember one scene when she killed some guy in an elevator and his toe was caught in the door.  Can't remember much else about it.

Can anyone help me out?  Thanks!

[Yaddo 42]

The Dustin Hoffman film film is the 1976 thriller "Marathon Man". Great film, probably a little slow paced by today's hyped up standards, but still a classic thriller. The driller was Lawrence Olivier as a former Nazi concentration camp doctor/dentist wanted for war crimes. Highly recommended.

The second film sounds like the Brian De Palma thriller "Dressed to Kill" starring Angie Dickinson and Michael Caine. I'm not a fan of most of De Palma's work, but the few I like I like a lot. To tell the truth, I've never seen all of this one, can never stay focused on it long enough to finish it. I know it has a notorious sex scene with Dickinson in the back of a moving car, but I remember little else about it.

[odinn7]

The first one is Marathon Man, can't help you with the other.
I had my wisdom teeth removed last Friday and while I was sitting there waiting for the torture to begin, I couldn't help but chuckle somewhat as I kept waiting for the dentist to ask me if it was safe.

[Mr_Vindictive]

The first one is without a doubt Marathon Man as the others have made you aware.

I first saw a clip of it in Terror In The Aisles like yourself and eventually sought it out.  As Yaddo said, it would be considered "slow" by todays standards, but the film is fantastic.  It is taught, smart and a overall great movie.  

On a side note, if anyone has ever seen "The Kid Stays In The Picture", the documentary made about Robert Evans life; be sure to watch the scene with Dustin Hoffman doing his Evans impression while on the set of Marathon Man.  It's spot on and shows some of the early genius that we would later see in Hoffman.



Post Edited (10-06-04 07:46)

[Yaddo 42]

I saw "Kid" (which I liked) and considered buying a copy just for Hoffman and Scheider doing their Evans impressions, what a hoot. Especially when Hoffman "explains" as Evans that his wife has the penis and he gives birth to the babies. Makes Hoffman's more direct "take" on Evans in "Wag the Dog" look tame by comparison.

I used to do the "Is it safe?" line on friends and family whenever anyone complained of having a toothache. Apparently I was pretty good at it, a guy I used to work with would get freaked out, even though he barely remembered the movie.

[Vermin Boy]

When I saw Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow, I think I was the only one in the theater to get it when Sky Captain asked "Is it safe?" after seeing the Olivier hologram. :)

[Mr_Vindictive]

The "Is It Safe" line is usually lost on most people I know.

It amazes me how few good films people have actually seen.

[Yaddo 42]

Yeah, I've gotten blank looks from plenty of people when I've used it outside of people I know fairly well. I guess MM is a film buff's film now, which is a damn shame. Just the "Is it safe?" scene is unnerving on it own and can make you squirm. Olivier in a very creepy performance that should be more widely remembered.

[loyal1]

Thanks!  I will surely rent Marathon Man next.  I really didn't even recognize that the driller was Olivier!  Which is odd, because I have seen him in many movies.  I am a big fan of the classics and it would be impossible not to come across Sir Lawrence in your viewings.

[The Burgomaster]

A bit off the subject, but I saw TERROR IN THE AISLES during it's original theatrical release and the one lingering memory I have of it is that they cut nearly every scene they showed right at the point where the big scare or shock was supposed to happen.  It drove me crazy.  They would show a scene right up until about 1 second before the big pay-off and then cut away to something else.

And, yes, MARATHON MAN is a great movie.  I also recommend that you read the novel.  The descriptions of the tooth drilling in the book were far more excruciating than the way the scenes appeared in the movie.

[reagan]

Yes Marathon Man - which I have not seen - but every knows "Is it safe?" The other sounds like (forgive me if already mentioned) 'Dressed to kill' with Michael Caine.