MovieChat Forums > Marathon Man (1976) Discussion > AWFUL, STUPID ending

AWFUL, STUPID ending

posted 9 years ago by bijinius
9 replies | jump to latest

the book has it that Babe shoots Szell in cold blood - which is, to me, yes - an ending that is arguably too coarse, even by the gloomy standards of early/mid-1970's filmmaking. THIS atrocious bit of nonsense - the ruthless, cunning, frightfully sadistic Dr. Szell, undone by his own f--king blade, upon falling down the stairs(!) after leaping off the top step like a friggin' dolt.

that lunacy would be a TIMELESS comedic pratfall, had the previous two hours not been the famously intense thriller that it was.

and i am SORRY, but Babe's refusal to take the remaining diamonds; point!? what is?? i mean...at LEAST gather them up to give them to the police when they break down your ####ing door for your connection in five deaths.

[–] McQueen1980 9 years ago

he probably thought the diamonds were cursed by that stage

[–] lnzbyl 9 years ago

William Goldman has stafed that he hated the ending. Whatever other flaws the movie may have, he can't be blamed for the ending, because he has said the someone else (he believes it was Chinatown writer Robert Towne) actually rewrote his original ending.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (63057267) 9 years ago

Legend has it that on the day of filming the ending Hoffman refused to cooperate, insisting that Babe would never shoot Czell (odd, since Babe had already shot several of Czell's men). Hoffman had a lot of clout by that point and producer Robert Evans didn't fight him about it, probably because they were good friends. Apparently director Schlesinger was enraged but went through with the new climax anyway.

I agree that Czell's demise doesn't play very well, but I disagree that the original ending would have been to harsh; Babe should have shot Czell, in my opinion. Still, a great thriller, and it's nice to see Czell done in by his own greed, if you strain to accept the sub-standard wrap-up.

[–] noveltylibrary 9 years ago

at that point i think it would impossible for anyone to kill Szell 'in cold blood'.

[–] FrankBooth_DeLarge 9 years ago

I agree that the ending was weak compared to the rest of the film, which was intense and brilliant up to that point.

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[–] JCrusher723 8 years ago

According to hoffman he and the character are both jewish and killing a nazi wouldnt be right no matter how evil they were. I didnt hate the end but the original ending would have been much more impactful

[–] ecarle (14979) 5 years ago

Hoffman on one of the "Making of" DVD documentaries indeed says that he was personally responsible for changing the ending, pretty much right on the spot.

He had his reasons, but a lot of us thought that ending was pretty dumb and illogical after so much of the movie had been so well thought out.

The power of a movie star. To wreck his own chance at a classic!

[–] stones78 (426) 3 years ago

The ending was just fine, imo.

[–] Redsfan001 (6146) 2 years ago

Great movie, average ending.

Better ending -

A random police officer should have intervened in the middle of Babes holdup/dialogue with Szell. The police officer would have arrested Babe, figuring it was a holdup. Babes protest go unheard and Dr. Szell, using his gravitas as a upstanding senior citizen, escapes scrutiny. Dr. Szell is later seen boarding a plane to Uruguay with the briefcase. Sitting right behind him on the plane is a probable "Division" employee who Szell spots....(does he later kill him or does "The Division" keep the "relic")The movie closes on a closeup of Dr.Szells concerned look ...the viewer leaves the theater guessing.