# The Incident
**The Incident** is a 1967 American drama directed by Larry Peerce in which two young hoodlums terrorize the passengers of a late-night New York City subway train. Written by Nicholas E. Baehr from his own teleplay *Ride with Terror*, it stars Tony Musante and [Martin Sheen](https://www.edgepedia.org/martin-sheen) as the attackers, with [Beau Bridges](https://www.edgepedia.org/beau-bridges), Brock Peters, Ruby Dee, Jack Gilford, Thelma Ritter, and [Ed McMahon](https://www.edgepedia.org/ed-mcmahon) among the trapped passengers.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23811) • [2](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/79169)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 6 November 1967 (AFI); 107 minutes, melodrama[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23811) |
| Source | Baehr's hour-long teleplay *Ride with Terror*, aired 1 December 1963 on NBC's *Dupont Show of the Week*[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23811) |
| Director | Larry Peerce, hired after producers saw an episode of *Felony Squad* he had directed[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23811) |
| Financing | $750,000 raised independently by producers Monroe Sachson and Edward Meadow; Twentieth Century-Fox stepped in after the independent backers withdrew[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23811) |
| Casting milestones | Martin Sheen's feature film acting debut; Ed McMahon's first feature film acting credit[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23811) |
| Running times reported | 107 minutes (AFI); 95 minutes (BBFC, Australian Classification); 98 minutes (Quebec repertoire)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23811) • [3](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-incident-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0ynjq3mzi) • [4](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/incident) |
| Critical standing | 88% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (8 reviews) and 86% on the Popcornmeter (250+ ratings)[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_incident_1967) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
Two young men, Artie Connors (Sheen) and Joe Ferrone (Musante), board a Manhattan-bound subway train in the Bronx late at night and take control of a car full of passengers, preventing them from leaving. The passengers include a soldier (Beau Bridges as Pfc. Felix Teflinger), a loud-talking salesman (Ed McMahon as Bill Wilks), an elderly Jewish couple ([Jack Gilford](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-gilford) and [Thelma Ritter](https://www.edgepedia.org/thelma-ritter) as Sam and Bertha Beckerman), and others, each preoccupied with private concerns. As the ordeal stretches on, the thugs subject the different groups to verbal abuse, humiliation, and occasional rough handling, and the passengers' reluctance to help one another becomes part of the film's subject.[2](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/79169) • [3](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-incident-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0ynjq3mzi) • [6](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-incident/cast/2030124428/)
The violence is concentrated and mostly withheld from view. The [British Board of Film Classification](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-board-of-film-classification)'s advice describes a man mugged and killed with a blow to the head hidden from the camera, a stabbing shown only through a glimpse of blood on a shirt, and repeated threats that are mostly verbal.[3](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-incident-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0ynjq3mzi)
## Production
**From teleplay to feature.** Screen rights to Baehr's teleplay were first acquired by Harold Goldman of Television Enterprises Corp., reported in *Variety* in January 1966, and were later held briefly by David Susskind and David Melnick before reaching producers Monroe Sachson and Edward Meadow, who raised $750,000 in independent financing. They hired Peerce after viewing an episode of the ABC series *Felony Squad* he had directed.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23811)
**Shooting.** [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) was scheduled to begin on 22 May 1967, mostly in the Bronx, with interiors at Biograph Studios. There, production designer Emanuel "Manny" Gerard built a meticulous recreation of an IRT subway car from original blueprints, fitted with a removable roof and a removable wall for camera equipment. The [New York City Transit Authority](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-city-transit-authority) denied the filmmakers' requests to shoot in its facilities, so the crew relied on sets, with rear projection suggesting the movement of the outside world, and snatched a few shots on real platforms with hidden cameras placed across the street.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23811) • [7](https://www.tcm.com/articles/020903/the-incident-1967) • [8](https://mubi.com/en/films/the-incident-1967/critics-reviews)
**Rescue by Fox.** Days into production the independent financiers pulled out and, as Peerce put it, "the checks started bouncing." The script and existing footage were sent to Twentieth Century-Fox executive David Brown, who approved and forwarded them to studio chief Richard Zanuck; production resumed quickly with the entire cast and crew intact. Peerce reported being allowed to continue without studio interference, and Zanuck's single suggestion, moving the alley mugging scene to the front of the film, was one Peerce credited with giving it a stronger structure.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23811) • [7](https://www.tcm.com/articles/020903/the-incident-1967)
Baehr said the entirety of his original teleplay had been incorporated into the screenplay, along with "20 minutes of prior action and two new characters."[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23811)
## Reception and censorship
The film opened to mixed reviews and disappointing box-office returns, but has since been reevaluated as a striking neo-noir and a powerful drama.[7](https://www.tcm.com/articles/020903/the-incident-1967) Roger Ebert, reviewing for the *Chicago Sun-Times*, gave it 3 of 4 stars, writing that although the photography was fuzzy and the characters stereotypes, "the movie works; it delivers the goods" and creates the suspense and fear it aims for.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_incident_1967) Later critics have read it as social commentary in microcosm; a *Starburst* review of the home-video release called it "a vital, confrontational piece of work" whose tension builds with unrelenting intensity through the second half.[9](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/the-incident-1967/)
In Britain, the BBFC judged the submitted 1968 version unsuitable for classification on 19 January 1968; the film was eventually classified on 14 March 2014 with advice for moderate threat, violence, discriminatory language, and sex references, the board noting that "the film as a whole condemns this behaviour."[3](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-incident-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0ynjq3mzi) Australia rated the DVD M for "violence and sustained threat" in 2015.[4](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/incident)
## Legacy
The Incident marked the feature debut of Martin Sheen, who went on to a long film and television career, and the first feature film acting credit of Ed McMahon, then known as co-host of *The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson*.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23811) A restored digital presentation screened at Film Forum in 2017, followed by a question-and-answer session with Peerce, and a home-video release gathered two commentaries, a 2017 Wisconsin Film Festival Q&A with the director, and a reprint of a "survival guide" pamphlet circulated during New York's crime epidemic.[10](https://makeminecriterion.wordpress.com/2017/07/04/the-incident-larry-peerce-1967/) • [9](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/the-incident-1967/) Critics continue to describe the film as topical; Matt Brunson wrote in 2021 that it is "the sort of raw drama that, sad to say, never loses its topicality."[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_incident_1967)
## References
1. [The Incident (1967), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/23811)
2. [The Incident, Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/79169)
3. [The Incident, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-incident-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0ynjq3mzi)
4. [The Incident, Australian Classification](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/incident)
5. [The Incident (1967), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_incident_1967)
6. [The Incident, Full Cast & Crew, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-incident/cast/2030124428/)
7. [The Incident (1967), by Sean Axmaker, Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/020903/the-incident-1967)
8. [The Incident (1967) critic reviews, MUBI](https://mubi.com/en/films/the-incident-1967/critics-reviews)
9. [The Incident (1967), Starburst Magazine](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/the-incident-1967/)
10. [The Incident (Larry Peerce, 1967), Make Mine Criterion!](https://makeminecriterion.wordpress.com/2017/07/04/the-incident-larry-peerce-1967/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 1960s films*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license