Marathon Man

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**Marathon Man**
Author	William Goldman
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Conspiracy thriller novel
Publisher
Released	1974
Media Type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN	ISBN

Marathon Man
Marathon Man film poster
Directed by	John Schlesinger
Produced by	Sidney Beckerman Robert Evans
Written by	William Goldman (novel and screenplay)
Starring	Dustin Hoffman Laurence Olivier Roy Scheider
Music by	Michael Small
Cinematography	Conrad Hall
Editing by	Jim Clark
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	October 6, 1976 (United States)
Running time	125 mins.
Language	English
Budget	N/A
IMDb profile

Marathon Man is a 1974 paranoid thriller novel by William Goldman that was made into a 1976 film directed by John Schlesinger.

[edit] Plot introduction

The story is about a former Nazi SS dentist from Auschwitz, Dr. Christian Szell (presumably modelled, at least in part, on the real-life Josef Mengele), now residing in Uruguay, trying to smuggle a large quantity of diamonds out of the U.S. This involves an ultra-secret intelligence agency called "The Division". The plot revolves around Thomas "Babe" Levy, a history graduate student at Columbia University and runner who is haunted by the suicide of his father, which was caused by the witchhunts of McCarthyism decades earlier. Thomas also has a brother, who unbeknown to him works for this secret governmental body.

[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

In 1976, Marathon Man was made into a film starring Dustin Hoffman as the protagonist, Babe, and Laurence Olivier as Nazi dentist and war criminal, Dr. Szell. Olivier was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and he won a Golden Globe in the same category. The film is nearly identical to the novel because William Goldman also wrote the screenplay (although the film and the novel have different endings). Legendary Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi was referenced in the 1974 novel Marathon Man, as the idol of the protagonist. The movie adaptation replaced Nurmi with Ethiopian Olympian Abebe Bikila.

Is it safe?

Both the novel and the film are known for a graphic scene in which the Nazi dentist tortures Babe by drilling into his teeth, without anesthetic, and repeatedly asking the question, "Is it safe?" Babe does not know what the question means nor the identity of his inquisitor. The dentist offers him oil of cloves as positive inducement to cooperate.