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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, including Roger Moore, Telly Savalas and Elliott Gould.

The film is set during the Second World War on a German-occupied Greek island. It was filmed on the island of Rhodes according to the credits at the end of the film. The presence of various Ottoman Turkish buildings, and structures and even a mosque with beautifully adorned minaret (where a German sniper was perched in one scene) is noteworthy.

Plot summary

Set on an anonymous Greek island during the last year of the war, 1944, Allied POWs in a remote POW camp are forced to work for the Germans by digging up ancient Greek archaeological artifacts. The camp Commandant, Major Otto Hecht (Roger Moore), was an Austrian antiques dealer before the war. Unknown to Hecht's superiors is the fact that he's withholding the more valuable finds for his own personal gain, and sending them to his sister living in Switzerland. Hecht is far from the dutiful army officer, the total opposite of the nearest town's Commandant, Gestapo Major Volkmann (Anthony Valentine). Volkmann and his Lieutenants (Siegfried Rauch and Richard Wren) rule the town's population 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 and therefore liberate the town from the Germans and also secure a U-Boat refuelling depot. Using two captured USO artists Charlie (Elliott Gould) and Dottie (Stephanie Powers) to perform a concert as cover, the prisoners and Zeno's resistance take over the camp. With the choice of helping the resistance or being killed by Zeno, Hecht joins forces with the allies and helps them eradicate Volkmann's troops as well as capturing the fuel depot.

With Volkmann dead and the Germans in town no longer a threat, Charlie asks Zeno to lead him and two other prisoners (Roundtree and Bono) up to the monastery on Mount Athena to steal Byzantine treasures being kept by the monks. Zeno agrees, to everyone's surprise, but insists they take weapons and explosives as there's a German garrison up there. In reality, Zeno has been ordered to destroy the garrison and its V2 rockets that would be capable of hindering a proposed Allied invasion, and knows Charley wouldn't go if he knew of the Germans' presence.

As Zeno completes his mission of destroying the Nazi's missile base, Charlie finds a set of plates, but not the plates he had expected to find, actually being a set of tin plates, adorned with Hitler's face.

During the victory celebration in the village, Hecht, Charlie, and Dottie make plans to acquire more treasures, while Professor Blake (David Niven) finds out, from one of the other monks, that the plates are safe, having hidden them in the brothel, which, in the final scene of the film, is displayed for all present day visitors to see in the front windows of the brothel.

The film features a memorable motorcycle chase scene.

Cast

Roger Moore as Major Otto Hecht – the Wehrmacht commandant of the POW camp who opposes his government's ideology
Telly Savalas as Zeno – the head of the local resistance movement
David Niven as Professor Blake – an archaeologist, prisoner in the camp
Stefanie Powers as Dottie Del Mar – an American artist (in fact, stripper), who was shot down with Charlie and detained in the POW camp.
Elliott Gould as Charlie – a comedian, partner of Dottie.
Claudia Cardinale as Eleana – a local madame, girlfriend of Zeno
Richard Roundtree as Nat Judson – a magician, POW
Sonny Bono as Bruno Rotelli – an Italian chef, POW
Anthony Valentine as Sturmbannführer Volkmann – the ruthless Gestapo chief and Hecht's rival
Siegfried Rauch as Obersturmführer Braun –
Richard Wren as SS Obersturmfuhrer Reistoffer;Volkmann's adjutant

Michael Sheard as Feldwebel Mann – Hecht's senior NCO

Cameo

William Holden, who was in a relationship with Stefanie Powers at the time of filming, makes a cameo in the film as a POW. Elliot Gould's character passes by Holden leaning against the POW barracks, looks at him and asks, "Are you still here?" This is in reference to Holden's Oscar-winning performance in Billy Wilder's World War II/POW film Stalag 17 as Sgt. J.J. Sefton, who actually escapes at the end of that film.