Victory at Entebbe (1976) (TV)

Director:

Marvin J. Chomsky

Writer:

Ernest Kinoy (writer)

Release Date:

13 December 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | Thriller

Plot:

An Air France airplane is hijacked by the PLO due the large number of Israeli and Jewish passengers...

Plot Keywords:

Airplane | Jewish | Captain | Hotel | Boyfriend Girlfriend Relationship

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Helmut Berger	...	German Terrorist
Theodore Bikel	...	Yakov Shlomo
Linda Blair	...	Chana Vilnofsky
Kirk Douglas	...	Hershel Vilnofsky
Richard Dreyfuss	...	Colonel Yonatan 'Yonni' Netanyahu
Stefan Gierasch	...	General Mordecai Gur
David Groh	...	Benjamin Wise
Julius Harris	...	President Idi Amin
Helen Hayes	...	Etta Grossman-Wise
Anthony Hopkins	...	Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
Burt Lancaster	...	Shimon Peres
Christian Marquand	...	Captain Dukas
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Edra Vilnofsky
Jessica Walter	...	Nomi Haroun
Harris Yulin	...	General Dan Shomron

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | West Germany:12 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

David L. Wolper Productions

Trivia:

It was in production at about the same time as Raid on Entebbe (1976) (TV), another TV production about the same incident. The shows aired on American TV less than a month apart.

Goofs:

Continuity: The footage used to depict flight 139 on the ground shows a plane with the test color scheme Air France adopted only on its Airbus A300 (light blue line under the windows). All the other scenes show the older Air France colors (navy cheat-line on the windows).

Quotes:

[at Entebbe Airport, as he sees a blue car and some men approaching the plane]
Aaron Olav: [excited] They're Israelis! They're going to get us out of here!
Benjamin Wise: I don't think they're Israelis.
Aaron Olav: No, they're Jews! You can tell! I'm telling you! It's alright!
[the female terrorists runs to the men and hugs them]
Benjamin Wise: I don't think they're Jews.
Aaron Olav: [surprised] Oh. Where do they come from?
Benjamin Wise: Probably Kampala. It's about 30 kilometers from here.
Nathan Haroun: Well, they're...
Aaron Olav: Arabs. Arabs... You can tell... Arabs.

Movie Connections:

Version of Mivtsa Yonatan (1977)

Not the best account of the incident but worth watching.

If one is a history buff and enjoys reading about and viewing films made about historic events then they will read and view everything they can find on the subject. This film is an account of the Israeli commando rescue of Jewish hostages who were hi-jacked in July of 1976 and flown to Idi Amins Uganda. While this film which boasted an all star cast is clearly inferior to the one which came out a year later and starred Peter Finch and Charles Bronson it still makes for good viewing. It also makes one wonder with the talented cast had more time and perhaps more money been spent on making this version it might have been the best of the lot.