Escape to Athena

During the last years of the Second World War, a German-run prison camp on a Greek island holds Allied soldiers alongside archaeological excavations. The camp's commander, Major Otto Hecht, has little sympathy for the Nazi cause and profits from the antiquities unearthed there, while the prisoners plot their escape and also hope to reach a treasure of ancient relics kept in a mountaintop monastery. Their plans involve Zeno, the leader of the local resistance, whose wife Eleana runs a brothel used as a meeting place for the conspirators. Freedom and the treasure both require the prisoners and the resistance to act together against the German garrison.

George P. Cosmatos directed the film, his second feature after The Cassandra Crossing, from a screenplay by Edward Anhalt and Richard S. Lochte. The international cast mixes action leads and veteran stars: Roger Moore plays Hecht, Telly Savalas is Zeno, and David Niven appears as Professor Blake, with Stefanie Powers, Claudia Cardinale and Richard Roundtree in supporting roles. Produced by ITC Entertainment in the United Kingdom, it runs 125 minutes and blends action, adventure, comedy and war. On TMDB it holds a 5.8 rating from 138 votes, a modest reception for a wide-release ensemble picture of its era.