Escape to Athena
| Escape to Athena | |
|---|---|
Escape to Athena release poster
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| Directed by | George P. Cosmatos |
| Produced by |
David Niven Jr. Jack Wiener |
| Screenplay by |
Edward Anhalt Richard S. Lochte |
| Story by | Richard S. Lochte George P. Cosmatos |
| Starring |
Roger Moore Telly Savalas David Niven Stefanie Powers Claudia Cardinale Richard Roundtree Sonny Bono and Elliott Gould |
| Music by | Lalo Schifrin |
| Cinematography | Gil Taylor |
| Edited by | Ralph Kemplen |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Associated Film Distribution |
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Release date
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6 June 1979 |
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Running time
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125 min. (Sweden: 119 min.) (Argentina: 120 min.) (United States: 101 minutes) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Escape to Athena is a 1979 British war adventure film directed by George P. Cosmatos. It starred Roger Moore, Telly Savalas, David Niven, Stefanie Powers, Claudia Cardinale, Richard Roundtree, Sonny Bono and Elliott Gould. The film is set during the Second World War on a German-occupied Greek island. The music was composed by Lalo Schifrin. According to the film's credits, it was filmed on the island of Rhodes.
In 1944 allied POWs, at a remote POW camp on an unnamed island, are forced to excavate ancient Greek artifacts. The camp Commandant, Major Otto Hecht (Roger Moore), who was an Austrian antiques dealer before the war, is sending some of the valuable pieces to his sister living in Switzerland. However the prisoners have discovered they will be sent to other POW camps once the artifacts run out, so they operate a ruse in which they repeatedly "discover" the same pieces.
While Hecht is just content to sit out the war, the SS Commandant of the nearby town, Major Volkmann (Anthony Valentine), is his complete opposite. He and his Lieutenants (Siegfried Rauch and Richard Wren) rule with a sadistic grip, executing the innocent residents just as easily as enemy soldiers.
The only opposition to the Germans is Zeno (Telly Savalas), a former Monk, and his few resistance fighters who use the local brothel as an undercover headquarters. Zeno, who is in contact with Allied Headquarters, is ordered to break the prisoners out of their camp to increase his numbers in order to liberate the town from the Germans and secure a U-Boat refuelling depot.
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