Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1542625
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 6 I 6 1 ยป TIME BOMB: Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle gets his rap down with Director Martin Scorsese in Taxi Driver (1976). Talkin' to Me? A N N I V E R S A R Y February 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of the release of Martin Scorsese's DGA Award-nominated feature, Taxi Driver. The fi lm follows Vietnam vet Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro), a disturbed loner suffering from insomnia who takes a job as a New York City night-shift cabbie where his rage and paranoia put him at odds with reality. Haunting the streets, Bickle grows increasingly detached as he dreams of cleaning up the fi lthy city. After he meets pretty campaign worker Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), he becomes obsessed with the idea of saving the world, fi rst plotting to assassinate a presidential candidate, then turning his attentions toward rescuing 12-year-old prostitute Iris (Jodie Foster). Considered one of the greatest fi lms ever made upon its release Taxi Driver was a box-offi ce success and received signifi cant attention from critics. In addition to Scorsese's DGA Award nomination, the fi lm earned Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role for De Niro, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Foster, and Best Music, Original Score for the fi nal work of legendary composer Bernard Herrmann, who fi nished mere hours before his death, and to whom the fi lm is dedicated. In 1994, the Library of Congress selected the fi lm for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically signifi cant." F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 6 I 6 1