The Incident

The Incident was a film that got great critical notices when it came out then seemed to disappear. I was waiting more than 50 years to see it and it was worth the wait.

A bunch of familiar players pair off in twos mostly some married, some not and at least one gay guy looking to hook up in those pre-Stonewall days. They're all quite absorbed with their selves and significant others not to notice a pair of deadly hoodlums, Tony Musante and Martin Sheen board the train. These two are quite deadly and they are the first we meet. And when we do meet them we see how deadly they are.

As our dramatis personae gather on the subway after we see bits of their lives, Musante and Sheen start to terrorize the occupants of the subway car. All of them so self absorbed in their own situations they don't make any kind of move. The men humiliated, the women degraded.

I'd love to know where the transit cops were? This was in the Lindsay years and back then the big campaign was to advertise New York as Fun City.

Some of the more memorable couples were Jan Sterling and Michael Kellin, Thelma Ritter, and Jack Gilford, Ed McMahon and Diane VanderVlis, Brock Peters and Ruby Dee.

The Incident is a film testament to New Yorkers legendary code of non-involvement. When rescue comes, it comes at the hands of the only non-New Yorker on the train.

After 50 years The Incident with its many fine performances packs a wallop.

I loved the way this film captured the essence of the 60s. Some people today think the 60s was the decade of long hair and flower power, but for the masses, that was really the 70s. The 60s, and most passengers on the ill-fated train car, were represented by tight clothes, businessmen who still wore hats and nondescript overcoats, and young women with straight, glossy hair. The two thugs who take over the train look like they might have come from a Beatles concert. I liked the realistic gritty look of the interior of the streetcar, with litter on the floor, and a design that seemed to come from about World War I. The outdoor scenes of the train passing by are very grainy, and in their black and white simplicity create an appropriate feel.

The movie is a bit heavy handed, though, in its morality lesson. It's as if the screenwriter had a framed copy of the German missive on the Nazi takeover above his desk: "First they came for the Jews, but I didn't speak out because I was not a Jew, then they came for the communists, but I didn't speak out because....." I simply can't believe that so many people could be so cowardly. The mod guy who freezes up while a bully strokes his girlfriend's hair is too much. And the fact that the bullies essentially insult everyone on the car in turn while everyone looks away doesn't wash either. You know you're next, so why not try to put a stop to it now? The black guy who was so eager to punch a white could have pummeled them both as soon as they let his wife/hostage go. Where did all his anger go? And the gay guy who tried to get off meekly returned when the weaker of the two bullies merely said, "go to your room". He was inches from freedom, and was much larger than Martin Sheen's character.

This movie is worth seeing for its cast alone. It's fun to see such a young Beau Bridges, and to see TV's Ed McMahon in a serious role. Virtually every cast member was known to me, if only as a familiar face from countless other movies from the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

Oh, and I burst out laughing at a scene which probably was originally intended to be very poignant and thought provoking. Blame my recent addiction to Dave Chapelle's comedy. When the police finally come and see the carnage, they immediately try to cuff the black guy, without asking any questions.

With its flaws noted, I recommend this movie as a great time capsule of the 60s, and a study of how cowardice can lead to worse and worse situations.

a truly excellent film with remarkable performances from all of the cast. The film explores a theme of the uncaring New Yorkers which was very much a dominating force here in the mid and late 1960s. Two boys terrorize and essentially hold hostage about a dozen people on a subway car in the early morning hours. The passengers represent a crossection of New York society. It is a film about ones fears in confronting terror...in allowing evil to happen to all around you and doing nothing to stop it. It ends when finally an outsider in that subway car has reached his breaking point. Yet he too is eventually abandonded.

as a New Yorker and a subway buff i really enjoyed the exteriors of the number 4 train although the cars early on are pre 1960 and later on the exteriors are the post 1964 cars...but this is a continuity error that someone like myself would look for.

Along with a very young Martin Sheen...look for Donna Mills as a late teenage virgin..the veteran Great THELMA RITTER and a surprise appearance in a dramatic role by Johnny Carson's sidekick ED MCMAHON

"The Incident" is a dark story, drama and crime picture set in New York City. Much of the story takes places on a late night subway ride when two hooligans run roughshod over the people in the last car of the train. This is hardly an entertaining film, and not very good as a mystery or crime film. It's a social film with a picture of inner city hooligans abusing people and threatening them with violence. It's also a good picture of how people can be cowered by fear.

The acting is very good by all of the cast, which includes some prominent names of the day. Among them are Jack Gilford, Thelma Ritter, Gary Merrill, Beau Bridges, and a young Ed McMahon. It's one of the first movies, outside of TV, for Martin Sheen. He co-stars as Artie Connors in the lead roles with Tony Musante as Joe Ferrone.

This isn't a film for families or anyone who wants some laughs or mystery. But, if one is training or interested in civil order or handling rowdy characters who threaten people or the peace, this might be a good film to watch. Those who live in the big city who watch this film will likely not be taking any late night subway rides.

I remember seeing this film in the movie theaters when it came out in 1967. I had gone with a couple of friends to see it. This movie so infuriated all three of us (there was my friend's wife too) at first of all the passivity of all the passengers and how nobody cared to help anyone else and then there were the two hooligans (Musante and Sheen) and their arrogance and their not respecting other people's space or privacy. With this film, you get to see how each and every person works in a terrifying situation.

I was so happy this film was finally released on video. I have been waiting for over 30 years to see it again to see if my opinions had changed--and they hadn't.