Escape to Athena
| Escape to Athena | |
|---|---|
 Escape to Athena release poster | |
| Directed by | George P. Cosmatos |
| Written by | George P. Cosmatos (story) Edward Anhalt (screenplay) Richard Lochte (screenplay & story) |
| Produced by | Lew Grade David Niven Jr. Jack Wiener |
| Starring | Roger Moore Telly Savalas David Niven Stefanie Powers Claudia Cardinale Richard Roundtree Sonny Bono and Elliott Gould |
| Cinematography | Gil Taylor |
| Music by | Barry Blue & Rod Temperton (song, "Keep Tomorrow For Me") Lalo Schifrin |
| Distributed by | Associated Film Distribution |
Release date | June 6, 1979 |
Running time | 125 min. (Sweden: 119 min.) (Argentina: 120 min. (US: 101 minutes) |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
Escape to Athena is a British adventure war film (with elements of comedy) released in 1979, directed by George Pan Cosmatos and produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment. The international cast included many well-known actors of the 1970s.
Plot
The film is set during the Second World War on a German-occupied Greek island. It is filmed on the island of Rhodes according to the credits at the end of the film. There is a small town on the island where the Greek resistance movement is strong. The presence of various Ottoman Turkish buildings, and structures and even a mosque with beautifully adorned minaret (where a German sniper was perched) is noteworthy.
On the same island there is a POW camp. The commandant of the camp is an antiques-loving Austrian, Major Otto Hecht (Roger Moore). The prisoners, living quite a comfortable life, are doing archaeological work and the commandant is sending valuable works of art to his sister living in Switzerland.
Meanwhile, the Greek resistance movement is preparing for the landing of the Allies. The overtaking of the camp is a part of this plan. Another task is to destroy the missile launching pad (located in a monastery).
Cast
- Roger Moore - Major Otto Hecht - the commandant of the POW camp
- Telly Savalas - Zeno - the head of the local resistance movement
- David Niven - Professor Blake - an archaeologist, prisoner in the camp
- Stefanie Powers - Dottie Del Mar - an American artist (in fact, stripper), who was shot down with Charlie and detained in the POW camp.
- Elliott Gould - Charlie - a comedian, a partner of Dottie.
- Claudia Cardinale - Eleana - a local madame, girlfriend of Zeno
- Richard Roundtree - Nat Judson - a magician, POW
- Sonny Bono - Bruno Rotelli - an Italian chef, POW
- Anthony Valentine - SS Major Volkmann
- Siegfried Rauch - Braun, a German officer
- Michael Sheard - Sergeant Mann
