''Escape from Zahrain'' is a 1962 American

Panavision Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company founded in 1953 specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses dur ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, ani ...

directed by Ronald Neame and starring

Yul Brynner Yuliy Borisovich Briner (russian: link=no, Юлий Борисович Бринер; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985), known professionally as Yul Brynner, was a Russian-born actor. He was best known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in th ...

. The film is based on the novel ''Appointment in Zahrain'' by Michael Barrett (1960).

Plot

The film is set in the fictional state of Zahrain, located in the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...

. An officer in the security service of a despotic regime arranges to murder a jailed revolutionary leader (Brynner) while he is being transferred between prisons. The leader's supporters stage a rescue, intending to subsequently flee across the desert to the Protectorate of Aden. In the chaos of the rescue two condemned prisoners, a common criminal with no interest in politics (Caruso) and an American oil worker (Warden), join the leader and the mastermind of the breakout (Mineo) in getting away. Later they encounter an educated nurse (Rhue) who they are compelled to take along, and a jaded British intelligence agent (

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...

) who they are confident will not reveal their whereabouts. Together they provide different perspectives on the Middle East of the early 1960s.

Cast

as Sharif * Sal Mineo as Ahmed *

Jack Warden Jack Warden (born John Warden Lebzelter Jr.; September 18, 1920July 19, 2006) was an American character actor of film and television. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for ''Shampoo'' (1975) and '' Heaven Can Wait' ...

as Huston * Madlyn Rhue as Laila * Anthony Caruso as Tahar *

Leonard Strong Leonard Alfred George Strong (8 March 1896 – 17 August 1958) was a popular English novelist, critic, historian, and poet, and published under the name L. A. G. Strong. He served as a director of the publishers Methuen Ltd. from 1938 to 1958. ...

as Ambulance Driver * Jay Novello as Hassan

Production

The film was based on the novel ''Appointment in Zahrain'' which was published in 1960. Paramount bought the novel prior to publication and gave the job to adapting the script to

Dudley Nichols Dudley Nichols (April 6, 1895 – January 4, 1960) was an American screenwriter and film director. He was the first person to decline an Academy Award, as part of a boycott to gain recognition for the Screen Writers Guild; he would later accept ...

. In October 1960 Paramount's then-chairman Jack Karp announced

Richard Matheson Richard Burton Matheson (February 20, 1926 – June 23, 2013) was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is best known as the author of '' I Am Legend'', a 1954 science fictio ...

was doing a script and

Edward Dmytryk Edward Dmytryk (September 4, 1908 – July 1, 1999) was an American film director. He was known for his 1940s noir films and received an Oscar nomination for Best Director for '' Crossfire'' (1947). In 1947, he was named as one of the Hollywoo ...

was going to direct the film. By May 1961

was attached as star, with Ronald Neame to produce and direct and Sal Mineo to co star. Robin Estridge wrote the script. Filming began June 1961.

References

External links

* {{Dudley Nichols 1962 films 1960s action adventure films Films directed by Ronald Neame Films set in Asia Films set in a fictional country Films set in the Arabian Peninsula Films produced by Ronald Neame Films scored by Lyn Murray Films with screenplays by Dudley Nichols Films set in deserts Films based on Australian novels American action adventure films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films English-language action adventure films