UNDERGROUND HI-JACK is a title United Artists used in the newspaper ads for THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE when the film opened in Kansas City, MO on January 25, 1975.
Under this title, the film returned to KC on February 3, 1976 as the third feature to WIPEOUT! and RIPPED OFF, two Italian imports from Cinema Shares.
WIPEOUT! is Fernando Di Leo's THE BOSS, starring Henry Silva, Richard Conte and Gianni Garko. Based on Peter McCurtin's novel Mafioso, it was filmed in 1972 but first released in the U.S. in 1975. RIPPED OFF (a.k.a. THE BOXER) was shot in Albuquerque in 1971 as TOUGH GUY but released in Italy as UN UOMO DALLA PELLE DURA (A MAN WITH THICK SKIN). Another stateside '75 release, it stars Robert Blake, Catherine Spaak, Ernest Borgnine, Gabriele Ferzetti, and Tomas Milian.
I remember "The Taking of..." as a relatively mainstream, big-budget picture - not the sort of thing to get a an exploitation-style retitle. Was that more common than we remember?
ReplyDeleteKind of an odd move with 'Pelham 1-2-3', as the whole hi-jack "craze" was a few years earlier. Guess they were trying to make it look more grindhouse-y?
ReplyDeleteAlso, the 'Herbie'/'Gods' double bill is amazing.
UNDERGROUND HI-JACK would be the second retitling for THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE. It received a semi-large resolicitation under the title THE MASTERMIND, complete with alternate trailers and posters circulated by NSS.
ReplyDeleteUA did a similar reissue for THE MECHANIC, under the new title KILLER OF KILLERS, though that may have been for the UK only.
It that first ad, "Underground Hi-Jack" looks like more of a tag line that it does a re-titling. The original title of the film is presented directly below.
ReplyDelete