Where to watch Taxi Driver (1976)

Trivia & production notes

• Paul Schrader wrote the Taxi Driver screenplay in under two weeks while recovering in a hospital from a stomach ulcer, drawing partly from his own experience of living in his car after a divorce and breakup.
• The character of Travis Bickle was inspired by the solitary hitman from the French film Le Samouraï, and the role was initially offered to that film's star, Alain Delon.
• Dustin Hoffman turned down the role of Travis Bickle because he thought Martin Scorsese was crazy.
• Robert De Niro simultaneously filmed Bernardo Bertolucci's 1900 in Italy while preparing for Taxi Driver, flying between Rome and New York on weekends and driving a taxi during breaks to research the role.
• De Niro lost 35 pounds for the role and repeatedly listened to taped recordings of the diaries of criminal Arthur Bremer to prepare.
• The Travis Bickle mohawk hairstyle was suggested by actor Victor Magnotta, a Vietnam veteran with a small role, who explained that such a cut signified readiness for Special Forces missions in Saigon.
• The opening title sequence was designed by Dan Perri using second unit footage processed through slit-scan to evoke the underbelly of New York City with lurid colors and distorted nocturnal images.
• To capture scenes inside Bickle's taxi, sound technicians crouched in the trunk while Scorsese and cinematographer Michael Chapman lay on the back seat floor using only available light.
• Scorsese de-saturated the colors in the final shootout sequence to obtain an R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America rather than an X rating for violence.
• Twelve-year-old Jodie Foster underwent psychological testing with a UCLA psychiatrist before being cast, as required by California Labor Board regulations to protect child actors.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Taxi Driver, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.