Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver (1976)

Timing: 1:54 (114 min)

8.128/10
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7.743/10
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8.2/10
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All about film

Video 18

Photo 261

Actors and characters

Release date

1976-02-09

Country

United States

Production

Columbia Pictures, Italo/Judeo Productions, Bill/Phillips

Genre

Crime, Drama

Budget

$1 900 000

Revenue

$28 579 636

Website

Director

Martin Scorsese

Actors

Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, Albert Brooks, Diahnne Abbott, Frank Adu, Victor Argo
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Paul Schrader

Producer

Julia Phillips, Michael Phillips

Operator

Michael Chapman

Composer

Bernard Herrmann

Artist

Audition

Juliet Taylor

Editing

Tom Rolf, Melvin Shapiro
All team (94)

• Filming period: June-September 1975.
• Sibyll Shepherd accidentally landed the role of Betsy. The producers were looking for an actress who resembled Sibyll in type. Actress Sue Mengers' agent learned about this and asked the producers why they didn't invite Shepherd herself.
• Brian De Palma was going to direct the film.
• Al Pacino turned down the lead role.
• Paul Schrader's screenplay featured several negative characters who were Black. Scorsese believed this could be perceived as racism and demanded that these characters be made white. Schrader agreed.
• Jeff Bridges was offered the role of Travis Bickle.
• Rock Hudson was invited for the role of Senator Charles Palantine, but the actor was busy with the series “McMillan & Wife” at the time.
• Harvey Keitel was initially offered the role of worker Tom. But then that role went to Albert Brooks, and Keitel himself chose the pimp Sport Matthew, although his character says no more than five lines in the script.
• Specifically for the role, Keitel got acquainted with real pimps. He also improvised the dance scene with Jodie Foster. The dance is one of two scenes where the camera's focus is not on Travis.
• For a month, De Niro sat behind the wheel for twelve hours to learn how to drive a taxi. He also specifically studied manifestations of various mental illnesses for the role.
• The scene where Travis talks to his reflection in the mirror was entirely improvised by De Niro. The script simply states “Travis looks in the mirror.”
• Bernard Herrmann didn't want to write music for the film, but after seeing the scene where Travis pours schnapps on bread, he agreed.
• Herrmann died a few hours after the final part of the film's musical score was recorded.
• Due to her young age (13 years old at the time of filming), Jodie Foster was unable to participate in some of the more explicit scenes. Her older sister, Connie Foster, dubbed for her.
• Actor George Memmoli was supposed to play one of Travis's passengers, however, he had an accident on the set of another film, 'The Farmer' (1977), and Martin Scorsese himself had to replace Memmoli.
• The film's phrase “You talkin’ to me?” was ranked 10th on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest movie quotes.
• Robert De Niro's future wife, Diane Abbott, appears in the film in a cameo role as a cinema usher. The couple is now divorced.
• On March 30, 1981, John W. Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan, then President of the United States. He "dedicated" his crime to Iris, a character played by Jodie Foster.
• Bernard Herrmann did not want to write music for the film, but after seeing the scene where Travis pours schnapps on bread, he agreed.
• Hermann passed away a few hours after the final part of the film's musical score was recorded.
• The phrase from the film "You talkin' to me?" was ranked 10th on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest movie quotes.
• On March 30, 1981, John Warnock Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan, then President of the United States. He "dedicated" his crime to Iris, the character played by Jodie Foster.