Taxi Driver - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Taxi Driver or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Taxi Driver

[marc]

Paul Schrader wrote the part of Travis with Jeff Bridges in mind.

[sophie]

The shooting schedule for Taxi Driver was set at forty days. The shoot went five days over schedule.

[sara]

Washington Post film critic Stephen Hunter speculated that Travis Bickle's character wasn't a Vietnam War veteran at all, and his behavior could indicate a man so disturbed, that he chose a war veteran "look" as a way to somehow connect to the post-war society. However, Martin Scorsese has confirmed in interviews that Bickle was definitely a Vietnam veteran. He said that Bickle's mental instability tied into the nation's feelings after the war ended in 1975, and also that the Mohawk haircut Travis gets before the climatic violent rampage was inspired by soldiers in Vietnam who would have their hair styled that way before major battles.

[frederick]

While filming the movie near Times Square, Martin Scorsese shot footage of protesters throwing smoke bombs at a theater that was screening Coonskin (1975), He sent the footage to Ralph Bakshi, who said of it "I didn't know whether to laugh or cry."

[manuel]

Travia purchases four handguns from Easy Andy. The first is a Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum with a 8 3/8" barrel, the longest factory-made barrel for that model at the time. He pays $350 for it (over $1,600 in 2019). He also purchases a Smith & Wesson Model 36 and a Smith & Wesson Escort .22, which Easy Andy incorrectly refers to as a Colt .25. The final pistol Travis buys is a Astra Constable, which and incorrectly identifies as a .380 Walther.

[veronica]

The cab Travis drove was 1975 Checker. They stopped production after 1982, and the last one in New York City was retired in 1999. De Niro's temporary hack number was: 265216. The official taxicab driver's license issued by New York City had an expiration date of May 31, 1976.

[kenneth]

In an interview with Roger Ebert upon the film's release, Martin Scorsese called it "my feminist film ... because it takes macho to its logical conclusion. The better man is the man who can kill you. This (movie) shows that kind of thinking, shows the kinds of problems some men have, bouncing back and forth between (their perception of women as) goddesses and whores."

[fred]

Norman Matlock, who plays Charlie T., the black taxi driver, later appeared as a character named "Albert Brooks" in Murder in Coweta County (1983), while in this film, Albert Brooks played a major role.

[victoria]

Movie billboards are seen for The Eiger Sanction, Dr. No, and possibly The Wind and the Lion (The billboard advertised Sean Connery).

[violet]

In the coffee and pie scene, Travis orders apple pie with melted cheese. When serial killer Ed Gein was arrested, he asked the police for a slice of apple pie with melted cheese in exchange for a full confession.

[camila]

Steven Prince improvised the list of additional illegal things Easy Andy had for sale after Travis buys the gun.

[elmer]

The girl with whom Martin Scorsese studied in order to prepare for the role of Iris (Jodie Foster) also appeared in the film, as Iris' friend on the street.

[toni]

The record that Travis buys for Betsy is "The Silver Tongued Devil and I" by Kris Kristofferson. In the restaurant they quote from a song on the album, "Pilgrim Chapter 33" ("he's a prophet...").

[kylie]

In the course of the final credits, can be seen a movie theater marquee, announcing the movie 'Mr. Majestyk' (1974) starring Charles Bronson.

[liam]

Robert Deniro actually got a real cab license and worked as a taxi driver for two months to get the feel of it. However the New York Taxi commission Cannot allow actual names of cab drivers to be displayed in films hence the fake chauffeur hack display with "Travis Bickle"

[scarlett]

In the diner scene, 12-year-old Iris adds sugar to her toast which is already covered in jelly. Some viewers interpret this character trait as Iris still being a kid at heart however this was not the intention. The other hooker who walks the streets with Iris in the film was an actual prostitute whom Jodie Foster shadowed to prepare for her role. The prostitute (played by Garth Avery) was also a heroin addict and one way in which she would quell her addiction was to add extra sugar to her meals. Jodie, being a very young but very observant and intuitive young actress, incorporated this character trait into the scene.

[bessie]

John Hinckley's attempt on U.S. President Ronald Reagan's life (Monday, March 30, 1981) was apparently triggered by Robert De Niro's obsessive Travis Bickle, and his plot to assassinate a Presidential candidate. Coincidentally, the assassination attempt caused the 53rd Academy Awards ceremonies to be postponed for one day, until Tuesday, March 31, 1981, when De Niro won his Best Actor Oscar for Raging Bull (1980).

[francisco]

Robert De Niro has said that, despite having won an Oscar for The Godfather: Part II (1974), he was still a relatively unfamiliar face, and was only actually recognized once while driving a New York cab during his research for this film.

[charlie]

Paul Schrader was inspired to write the script after reading the published diary of Arthur Bremer, the man who was convicted of shooting Presidential hopeful George Wallace. Eerily, Bremer was twenty-six-years-old in 1976 (the year the film was released), the same age as Travis Bickle in the film, and Schrader was twenty-six when he first wrote the screenplay, in 1972.