9 things to know about Martin Scorsese's landmark film 'Taxi Driver,' which turns 50 this month

As classic American films go, Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” is surely one of the darkest. Starring Robert De Niro as New York City cabbie Travis Bickle and Jodie Foster as an underage prostitute named Iris, the 1976 film painted a portrait of urban decay, societal breakdown and personal despair that not only captured an era but actually keeps doing so, decade after decade. The film’s most famous line, “You talkin’ to me?,” remains a useful quote to suggest a man on the verge of madness. As “Taxi Driver” turns 50 this month, here are nine things worth knowing about its making and its legacy:

It’s the film debut of Albert Brooks. On set, the young comedian pestered Scorsese during lunch breaks, Brooks said during an interview at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, asking repeatedly, “Do you think this movie’s going to be a big deal for me?” Brooks’ next film would be his directorial debut, the 1979 mockumentary “Real Life.”

Jodie Foster had to see a psychiatrist before playing Iris. The Board of Education balked at giving 12-year-old Foster a work permit to play a prostitute, she has explained in interviews, so she underwent a psychological assessment to allay any concerns. “The guy just asked me a bunch of questions, like: What food do you like?” Foster told NPR host Terry Gross recently. “I was like: Chinese.” The young star went on to earn her first Oscar nomination for her performance.

The movie was inspired by an assassination attempt. Screenwriter Paul Schrader has said that he wrote the screenplay shortly after 21-year-old Arthur Bremer shot and paralyzed presidential candidate George Wallace in 1972. Schrader also told The Associated Press that Bickle could have been any of “500 other potential kids walking around.”

And the movie itself inspired an assassination attempt. After seeing “Taxi Driver,” a frustrated songwriter named John Hinckley Jr. developed an obsession with Foster and — as part of a deluded plan to impress her — shot President Ronald Reagan in March 1981. On hearing the news, Schrader told the AP, “I just turned to somebody and said, 'It's another one of those "Taxi Driver" kids.’ ”

De Niro’s Mohawk was fake. The look was inspired by a photo of an Army soldier sporting the haircut, De Niro told GQ in a video interview. But because the actor was about to shoot “The Last Tycoon” with director Elia Kazan, a real head-shave was out of the question. Instead, makeup artist Dick Smith (later an Oscar winner for “Amadeus”) created a latex cap with a hair strip, then stuck pieces of stubble to the sides. The cap is on display at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens.

The score was Bernard Herrmann’s last. As Scorsese recalled at a cast reunion at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2016, the legendary composer behind “Citizen Kane” and “Psycho” initially turned the project down, snapping, “I don’t do films about cabbies!” But an odd detail in the script — Bickle pouring peach brandy over his breakfast cereal — changed the composer’s mind, according to Scorsese. Herrmann finished recording his ominous score on Dec. 23, 1975, according to information from The Bernard Herrmann Society, then died in his sleep overnight, on the 24th. “Taxi Driver” is dedicated to him.

The Oscars snubbed the movie. It earned four nominations — for leading actor De Niro, supporting actress Foster, original score and best picture — but lost in all categories. The best picture Oscar went to the movie’s polar opposite, Sylvester Stallone’s “Rocky.”

The movie is enduringly influential. Even today, you’ll see it everywhere: It served as a subtle joke in the 2012 film “Seven Psychopaths,” informed Todd Phillips’ 2019 thriller “Joker,” showed up in at least one episode of “The Simpsons” and even popped up in a 1998 episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond” in which Peter Boyle, as the irascible Frank Barone, reprises his “Another guy dies. Another guy gets well ..." monologue from the film, where he played a veteran cabbie nicknamed "Wizard."

A sequel has been suggested. For years, De Niro has expressed interest in a follow-up. In 2010, Variety reported that Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier (“Dogville") would be involved in a remake, but it has yet to materialize. Schrader once gathered with De Niro and Scorsese to discourage any sequel talk, the writer said in a 2024 interview with IndieWire. “So we had dinner at Bob’s restaurant,” Schrader recalled, “and Bob was talking about it. I said, ‘Wow, that’s the worst ... idea I’ve ever heard.’ ”

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com