Info & Trivia.

Taxi Driver Info

United States, 1976
Running Length: 113
MPAA Classification: R
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel, Leonard Harris, Cybill Shepherd
Director: Martin Scorsese
Producers: Julia Phillips and Michael Phillips
Screenplay: Paul Schrader
Cinematography: Michael Chapman
Music: Bernard Herrmann
U.S. Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Taxi Driver Trivia

The scene where Travis Bickle is talking to himself in the mirror was completely ad-libbed by Robert De Niro.
Bernard Herrman wasn't going to write the score for this film, but agreed to do it (his last) when he saw the scene where Bickle pours Schnapps on his cereal.
Various studios considered producing this film; one suggested Neil Diamond for the lead role.
Jeff Bridges was also considered for the role of Travis Bickle.
Brian De Palma was also considered to direct but the producers were dragged to a private screening of Mean Streets (1973) (Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese's previous collaboration) before they told Scorsese he could direct, but only if he got De Niro to play the lead.
Harvey Keitel rehearsed with actual pimps to prepare for his role. The scene where his character and Iris dance is improvised, and is the only scene in the film that doesn't focus on Bickle.
Martin Scorsese claims that the most important shot in the movie is when Bickle is on the phone trying to get another date with Betsy. The camera moves to the side slowly and pans down the long, empty hallway next to Bickle, as if to suggest that the phone conversation is too painful and pathetic to bear.
Scorsese stated that Hitchcock's The Wrong Man, starring Henry Fonda, was the basis for his POV shots concerning Travis Bickle.
De Niro worked as a taxi driver as part of his preparation for this role. He also studied mental illness.
De Niro claimed that the final shoot-out scene took particularly long, because of technical problems and the humor which arose from the tension created by the carnage in the scene.
In addition to his role as the irate husband in Bickle's cab, Martin Scorsese makes another cameo. He is sitting down behind Betsy as she walks into the Palantine campaign headquarters in slow-motion.

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