In New York City, four hijackers—Robert Shaw as Mr. Blue, Martin Balsam as Mr. Green, Héctor Elizondo as Mr. Grey, and Earl Hindman as Mr. Brown—board the downtown 6 train, Pelham 1-2-3, at different stations and seize eighteen people, including the conductor and an off-duty undercover police officer, as hostages in the front car. Communicating over the radio with New York City Transit Police lieutenant Walter Matthau Garber, Blue demands that a $1 million ransom be delivered within exactly one hour or he will kill a hostage for every minute it is late. Green sneezes periodically, and Garber consistently replies, “Gesundheit,” a running motif that threads through the tense negotiations and exposes the menacing rhythm of the standoff. Garber, Lt. Rico Patrone, and other officers coordinate as they speculate about the hijackers’ escape plan and try to map out a route that might keep the civilians safe.
From their conversations, the hijackers reveal why each man is involved in the scheme. Blue is described as a former British Army colonel who also worked as a mercenary in Africa, while Green is a motorman who lost his job after a drug bust. Grey, who has a reputation for being erratic, has earned Blue’s distrust, and Brown’s loyalty is challenged as the situation hardens. When Grey unexpectedly shoots the transit supervisor Caz Dolowicz who approaches with a Grand Central Grand Plan, the stakes intensify, and the passengers feel the terror more acutely. The ransom carriage, speeding uptown with the money, crashes before it can reach 28th Street, leaving the police to improvise as the clock ticks down.
As the deadline nears, Garber uses a bold bluff, telling Blue that the money is already at the station entrance and must be walked down the tunnel to the train. Simultaneously, a police motorcycle arrives with what appears to be the ransom, and two patrolmen carry it toward the tunnel. In the ensuing exchange of gunfire, Brown is killed by a sniper, and the hijackers retaliate by opening fire on the officers. The money is delivered and then divided among the hijackers, while Blue gives orders to restore power and set the signals to green all the way to South Ferry, clearing the stations along the route for an orderly getaway. Yet Green moves the train farther south, revealing Blue’s intention to create more space between the hijackers and the pursuing police.
The hijackers override the dead man’s switch, allowing the train to run without anyone at the controls. Garber joins Inspector Daniels above ground to coordinate the pursuit as the train begins to move on its own, leaving the hijackers to slip away into disguises and hide their weapons. A tense chase unfolds as the train surges through the tunnel, and the undercover officer narrowly avoids capture, ultimately jumping off the train and hiding between the rails. Below ground, Garber and Daniels move in step, pursuing the logic of a possible escape route, while the car hurtles toward the South Ferry loop at dangerous speeds.
In the final confrontation, Grey is killed by Blue after a standoff, and Green escapes through an emergency exit onto the street. The police continue to fire in a bid to halt the runaway car, and Brown falls in the crossfire as the train roars along. Garber, pondering the train’s last, anomalous movements, suspects that the hijackers have bypassed the dead man’s switch and gone off course. He returns to the emergency exit and confronts Blue just as he is about to kill the undercover officer. With no escape in sight, Blue places his foot on the third rail and electrocutes himself, ending his perilous presence.
Pelham 1-2-3 roars through the southbound tunnel and enters the South Ferry loop, where automatic safeties seize control and bring the train to a screeching halt. The hostages emerge bruised but unharmed, and the immediate crisis gives way to a brutal, methodical postmortem as investigators review the chain of events that led to the climax. Garber, certain that the trio of dead hijackers were not former motormen, concludes that the lone survivor must be among recently discharged motormen. A careful checklist leads them to Harold Longman, who denies involvement but lets them in with a bluster that hides a precious stash. Longman’s sneer is interrupted by a sudden, almost comic sneeze, prompting Garber to utter, once more, “Gesundheit,” before he resumes the interrogation with a wary, penetrating stare.
