'Taxi Driver' turns 50!5 facts you didn't know about the classic and controversial movie

are you talking to meAnd tell me that "Taxi Driver" is officially 50 years old? Yes, we are talking to you and confirming that the film directed by Martin Scorsese has arrived.

'Taxi Driver' turns 50! 5 facts you didn't know about the classic and controversial film

Will you talk to me?And tell me "Taxi Driver" is officially 50 years old?

Yes, we are talking to you and confirm that the film will be directed by Martin.Scorsese was released in theaters 50 years ago today on February 8, 1976.

"Taxi Driver" stars Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle, a troubled taxi driver whose mental health deteriorates over the course of the film.The film also stars Cybil Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Albert Brooks and Jodie Foster.

It was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor for De Niro, Best Actor for Foster and Best Score, and won the highest award at the Cannes Film Festival, the Palme d'Or.

Check out five interesting facts about the popular film below!

"Are you talking to me?"fixed

Martin Scorsese confirmed that the film's most famous line was uttered by his star.In 2024, while appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Scorsese told the host, “It wasn't in the script, it came from him.

He added that they were "retarded" that day and the producers were "crazy" and practically slammed the door on them to screw up the scene.

But in the end, they captured the true magic of the film, and Scorsese literally lay at De Niro's feet to direct it."There was no video assistant at the time. And I was like, 'Do it again, do it again!' And he does the gun moving thing."

Jodie Foster saw a psychiatrist before filming

Jodie Foster was an experienced actress by the time she was 12, but due to the nature of her role as a prostitute in Taxi Driver, precautions were taken to ensure her mental safety.In 1976, a New York Times story reported that Foster met with a psychologist for a four-hour consultation to make sure he could do the part.

"There was a social worker every day," he told the site at the time, "and he saw the daily rush of all my activities and made sure that I did not stop when Robert De Niro said a dirty word. In fact, I think that the blood that was on the scene of the shooting was the only thing that could affect me. It was very good, although they used sugar to remove Sentum's blood.

"Taxi Driver" was Bernard Herrmann's last film

Bernard Herrmann is the musical genius behind many classic film scores, including "Psycho," "Citizen Kane" and "Cap Fear."Herrmann finished recording on December 23, 1975, and died of a heart attack in his hotel a day later, on Christmas Eve.The latter film was dedicated to him and received an Oscar nomination for best score.

The old streets of the city were real

When “Taxi Driver” was shooting in the summer of 1975, New York was experiencing a heat wave and a garbage strike, among other city problems, that gave the film an ugly feel.

"Obviously, the city looked like it was falling apart, there was trash everywhere, and for someone like Travis, who was from the Midwest, in the mid-'70s, New York would have been hell—[that] must have encouraged images of hell in his mind," Scorsese told Vulture in 2015: "I can tell you something we can't tell the city. Make it hell."

Martin Scorsese should not have been in the movie

In addition to directing duties, Martin Scorsese has a small role in the film as Travis, a taxi passenger who has violent fantasies about hurting his unfaithful wife.But he didn't have to play the part.It was originally intended for George Memmoli, who had starred in Scorsese's earlier film, Mean Streets, but was injured and unable to appear in another film.

"De Niro told me I should do it, and everyone was against it. But I thought it was a labor of love, a film made for us, not a popular film in the sense that we could take a risk and see what happens. If it's worse, we can reshoot it with other actors," Scorsese told The Hollywood Reporter in 2016.

He added that De Niro taught him during the scene, saying, "He was doing some kind of movement in the back of his head, but he encouraged me by not talking to me anymore. And using that uncertainty from the usual tension, I was able to open up and have conversations."