The Cassandra Crossing
| The Cassandra Crossing | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | George Pan Cosmatos |
| Written by | George Pan Cosmatos, Robert Katz |
| Produced by | Lew Grade |
| Starring | Sophia Loren Richard Harris Burt Lancaster Ava Gardner Martin Sheen O.J. Simpson Lee Strasberg |
| Cinematography | Ennio Guarnieri |
| Edited by | Roberto Silvi, Françoise Bonnot |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
| Distributed by | AVCO/Embassy Pictures |
Release date | 1976 |
Running time | 129 Minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Cassandra Crossing is a 1976 British disaster film directed by George Pan Cosmatos. It stars Sophia Loren and Richard Harris, and a supporting cast including Ava Gardner, Martin Sheen, Burt Lancaster, Lee Strasberg and O. J. Simpson.
Plot
A Swedish terrorist is infected with a bacterial plague during an attack on the U.S. mission at the International Health Organization (based on the World Health Organization). The escaping terrorist infects the passengers aboard a European transcontinental train bound from Geneva to Stockholm.
The passengers include Dr. Jonathan Chamberlain, his ex-wife Jennifer Rispoli Chamberlain, and Nicole Dressler, the wife of a German arms dealer. She is embroiled in an affair with her young traveling companion Robby Navarro. Navarro is a heroin trafficker being pursued by FBI agent Haley, who is traveling undercover as a priest.
The passengers become aware of their predicament when they’re re-directed to Nuremberg. There the train is sealed with an enclosed oxygen system and a U.S. Army medical team is placed aboard.
U.S. Colonel Stephen Mackenzie wants to send the train to an abandoned ex-Nazi railroad line to a quarantine camp in Janov, Poland. However the line crosses a dangerously unsound steel arch bridge known as the Cassandra Crossing. Mackenzie understands that the bridge might collapse as the train passes over it.
Dr Chamberlain learns of the risk of the Cassandra Crossing. He also begins to suspect the disease is not as serious as originally thought: few of the passengers have become infected and few of those have actually died. He radios MacKenzie suggesting the infected portion of the train be uncoupled and isolated, but MacKenzie refuses to stop the train.
It becomes apparent MacKenzie has no intention of stopping the train: if the expected Cassandra Crossing collapse occurs it will neatly cover the fact that the U.S has been harboring germ warfare agents in a neutral country. Passengers on the train work alone to stop the train before it reaches the Cassandra Crossing.
Cast
- Sophia Loren as Jennifer Rispoli Chamberlain
- Richard Harris as Dr. Jonathan Chamberlain
- Ava Gardner as Nicole Dressler
- Burt Lancaster as Col. Stephen MacKenzie
- Martin Sheen as Robby Navarro
- Lee Strasberg as Herman Kaplan
- O. J. Simpson as Haley
- Lionel Stander as Max (Train Conductor)
- Ingrid Thulin as Dr. Elena Stradner
- Alida Valli as Mrs. Chadwick
- John Phillip Law as Major Stark
- Ann Turkel as Susan
- Ray Lovelock as Tom
Production
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The bridge depicted in the film is actually the Garabit viaduct in southern France, built from 1880 to 1884 by Gustave Eiffel, who later constructed the famous Eiffel tower.
At the beginning of the film passengers arrive at Geneva railway station to embark on the train. The scenes were shot at Basel central train station. Where Dr. Jonathan Chamberlain enters the station the green coloured trams (belonging to the Basel public transport company BVB), and Basel's Central Station Square can be seen in the background.
The studio artwork shows a typical US diesel locomotive that doesn't resemble anything seen in the film, along with a pantograph for overhead electric wires.