Victory at Entebbe
| Victory at Entebbe | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre |
Action Drama History Thriller |
| Written by | Ernest Kinoy |
| Directed by | Marvin J. Chomsky |
| Starring |
Helmut Berger Linda Blair Kirk Douglas Richard Dreyfuss Helen Hayes Anthony Hopkins Burt Lancaster Elizabeth Taylor |
| Theme music composer | Charles Fox |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Robert Guenette |
| Cinematography | Jim Kilgore |
| Editor(s) |
Michael Gavaldon Jim McElroy David Saxon |
| Running time | 119 min. |
| Distributor | ABC |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | December 13, 1976 (USA) |
Victory at Entebbe is a 1976 American made-for-television action-drama film based on an actual event Operation Entebbe and the freeing of Israeli hostages at Entebbe Airport (now Entebbe International Airport) in Uganda. The airport is Uganda's main airport and is situated near the capital city of Kampala, Uganda.
The film starred Anthony Hopkins, Burt Lancaster, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Dreyfuss and Kirk Douglas, and was directed by Marvin J. Chomsky. Julius Harris portrayed Idi Amin, following the fatal heart attack suffered by the actor originally cast in the role, Godfrey Cambridge. At one point, Joseph Olita was also approached to play Amin in this film.[1]
It was filmed on videotape at Burbank Studios in California and later transferred to film for distribution around the world, giving the film the slightly stilted visual style of a studio-bound TV drama, but with a film-like look, and big Hollywood names in the cast. Shooting on video shortened the production time, allowing the film to be ready for television less than six months after the event that inspired it.
Linda Blair and Helmut Berger were dating each other during production.
Cast
- Helmut Berger as Wilfried Böse
- Linda Blair as Chana Vilnofsky
- Kirk Douglas as Hershel Vilnofsky
- Richard Dreyfuss as Col. Yoni Netanyahu
- Helen Hayes as Etta Grossman Wise
- Anthony Hopkins as Yitzhak Rabin
- Burt Lancaster as Shimon Peres
- Elizabeth Taylor as Edra Vilnofsky
- Julius Harris as Idi Amin
- Theodore Bikel as Yakov Shlomo
- Harris Yulin as Gen. Dan Shomron
- Christian Marquand as Captain Dukas
- Jessica Walter as Nomi Haroun
- Stefan Gierasch as Gen. Gur
- David Sheiner as Aaron Olav
- Severn Darden as Moshe Meyer