Evening in Byzantium
Encyclopedia
Evening in Byzantium is a 1978 television movie
produced by Glen A. Larson
Productions and Universal Television
, and directed by Jerry London, about the Cannes Film Festival
being overtaken by terrorists. It stars Glenn Ford
, Vince Edwards
, Shirley Jones
, Eddie Albert
and Erin Gray
, with Edward James Olmos
in a bit role. The film is loosely based on the novel of the same name by Irwin Shaw
.
) attends a film festival on the French Riviera. He has not been actively making films for a few years and some in the film industry think he has retired, but he comes to the Riviera with a new screenplay to show it to his friend and film/literary agent Brian Murphy (Eddie Albert
) who is attending the festival. The screenplay is a cautionary tale about terrorists attacking major cities in the United States using high jacked commercial airliners containing nuclear bombs as the attack vehicles. No one knows the content of the script or its author who Craig claims in a new writer by the name of Malcolm Hart.
Bret Easton (Vince Edwards
) is a popular american film actor, director and producer who lives and makes films in Europe. His most recent film is about a revolution and uprising in a third world country in which he portrays the leader of the revolutionaries in the film. He secretly arranges to get a copy of Craig's script by sending several women to Murphy's hotel suite. While Murphy is otherwise occupied one of the women takes the script downstairs to the copier machine in the hotel offices.
Craig meets a former love, Constance Dobson (Shirley Jones
) and they decide to travel into the countryside together to a small inn. Meanwhile Easton has read Craig's script at his riviera mansion and is deeply troubled. His underling, Fabricio (Gregory Sierra
) asks him what he wishes to be done. Easton replies, we'll have to kill Mr. Craig. Later that evening Fabricio secretly enters Craig's room at the inn where Craig and Constance are staying and plants a bomb among Craig's clothing. The bomb is a string of plastic explosives concealed within the belt of Craig's bathrobe. When the ends of the belt are drawn together it closes the circuit setting off the electrical detonator of the bomb. When Craig enters the room he goes to the bathroom to shower. Constance undresses to surprise Craig when he emerges from the bathroom. She puts on Craig's robe and unknowingly detonates the bomb when she ties the belt. The bomb blast kills Constance and injures Craig who is taken to a local hospital. The police inform Craig that he was the intended target of the bomb and the type of bomb that was used is the trademark of an assassin who works for a terrorist group that has been staging attacks across Europe.
Craig starts his own investigation in an attempt to avenge Constance's murder. He meets a reporter, Gail McKinnon (Erin Gray
) who wants to interview him. She ends up assisting him with his inquiries. Craig also contacts an old friend who he had served with in the war, Major General Jerry Olson U.S. Air Force, who commands the nearby NATO Air Force Base, for help in gathering intelligence about this terrorist group.
After many plot twists and harrowing experiences Jesse and Gail uncover the fact that Bret Easton is one of the leaders of the terrorist group and the reason he tried to murder Jesse was that Jesse's screenplay, of which Jesse is the real author, comes very close to describing the terrorists' latest attack plan. Meanwhile the terrorists have secretly taken control of three airliners and have landed them on remote and desolate airfields that have been prepared in advance to off load and imprison the airliners' passengers and then quickly retrofit the planes to each transport and drop a nuclear bomb on three cities in the United States. These cities are Washington, DC, New York City, and Miami, FL. Bombs have been planted on three flying commercial airliners and set to detonate in flight so the terrorist controlled jets can impersonate the legitmate commercial flights.
Jesse Craig and Gail confront Easton on Easton's yacht which is at sea several miles off the coast. Easton confirms Craig's suspicions while boasting about his grand plans and then tries to murder him. A violent brawl ensues and Easton tries to stab Craig with a small sharpened boat anchor. Craig gets a hold a revolver that he had taken off a dead terrorist before he boarded the yacht and shoots Easton dead.
Jesse and Gail use the radio-telephone on the yacht to contact General Olson. It turns out that General Olsen is flying on one of the targeted jetliners and he is onboard speaking with Jesse via cockpit radio when the bomb onboard explodes. Realizing that General Olson is dead, Jesse contacts General Olson's executive officer at the NATO base and informs him of events. The Air Force is able to identify and shoot down the three terrorist controlled airliners just minutes before their attack runs on the cities take place.
Evening in Byzantium was one of the many TV movies, miniseries and other shows syndicated to local independent television stations in the USA as part of a project known as Operation Prime Time, in an effort to compete with the major broadcast networks.
Edward James Olmos
- Angelo
Eddie Albert - Brian Murphy
Patrick Macnee - Ian Wadleigh
Vince Edwards - Bret Easton
Glenn Ford
- Jess Craig
Gloria de Haven - Sonia Murphy
Shirley Jones
- Constance Dobson
Gregory Sierra - Fabricio
Harry Guardino
- Jerry Olson
Simon Oakland
- Walter Klein
James Booth - Jack Conrad
Sid Haig - Asied Len Birman Leonardo
Erin Gray
- Gail McKinnon
Christian Marquand - Insp. DuBois
George Lazenby
- Roger Tory
George Skaff - Moustapha Kamel
Chris Winfield - Michael Ruddy
Michael Cole - Danny
Carol Baxter - Sybil
Lee Bergere - M. Carroll
Byron Morrow - Judge
Ben Frommer - Sine
William Dozier - William Bast
Nick Dyrenforth - Sen. Kennedy
Cynthia Ford - Penny Craig
Anthony Costello - John Macklin
Marcel Hillaire - Insp. LeDioux
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
produced by Glen A. Larson
Glen A. Larson
Glen Albert Larson is an American television producer and writer best known as the creator of Battlestar Galactica, The Fall Guy, Magnum, P.I. and Knight Rider.-Career:...
Productions and Universal Television
Universal Television
Universal Television is the television production arm of the NBCUniversal Television Group, and by extension, the NBC television network...
, and directed by Jerry London, about the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
being overtaken by terrorists. It stars Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...
, Vince Edwards
Vince Edwards
Vince Edwards was an American actor, director, and singer, best known for the roles of TV doctor "Ben Casey", and Maj. Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film The Devil's Brigade.-Early life:...
, Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. In her six decades of television, she starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma! , Carousel , and The Music Man...
, Eddie Albert
Eddie Albert
Edward Albert Heimberger , known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing...
and Erin Gray
Erin Gray
Erin Gray is an American actress, perhaps best known for her roles as Kate Summers in the situation comedy Silver Spoons and as Colonel Wilma Deering in the science fiction television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century....
, with Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos is an American actor and director. Among his most memorable roles are William Adama in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, Lt...
in a bit role. The film is loosely based on the novel of the same name by Irwin Shaw
Irwin Shaw
Irwin Shaw was a prolific American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story author whose written works have sold more than 14 million copies. He is best-known for his novel, The Young Lions about the fate of three soldiers during World War II that was made into a film starring Marlon...
.
PLOT
Famous motion picture producer and writer Jesse Craig (Glenn FordGlenn Ford
Glenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...
) attends a film festival on the French Riviera. He has not been actively making films for a few years and some in the film industry think he has retired, but he comes to the Riviera with a new screenplay to show it to his friend and film/literary agent Brian Murphy (Eddie Albert
Eddie Albert
Edward Albert Heimberger , known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing...
) who is attending the festival. The screenplay is a cautionary tale about terrorists attacking major cities in the United States using high jacked commercial airliners containing nuclear bombs as the attack vehicles. No one knows the content of the script or its author who Craig claims in a new writer by the name of Malcolm Hart.
Bret Easton (Vince Edwards
Vince Edwards
Vince Edwards was an American actor, director, and singer, best known for the roles of TV doctor "Ben Casey", and Maj. Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film The Devil's Brigade.-Early life:...
) is a popular american film actor, director and producer who lives and makes films in Europe. His most recent film is about a revolution and uprising in a third world country in which he portrays the leader of the revolutionaries in the film. He secretly arranges to get a copy of Craig's script by sending several women to Murphy's hotel suite. While Murphy is otherwise occupied one of the women takes the script downstairs to the copier machine in the hotel offices.
Craig meets a former love, Constance Dobson (Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. In her six decades of television, she starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma! , Carousel , and The Music Man...
) and they decide to travel into the countryside together to a small inn. Meanwhile Easton has read Craig's script at his riviera mansion and is deeply troubled. His underling, Fabricio (Gregory Sierra
Gregory Sierra
Gregory Sierra is an American actor known for his roles as Detective Sergeant Chano Amenguale on Barney Miller and as Julio Fuentes, the Puerto Rican neighbor of Fred G...
) asks him what he wishes to be done. Easton replies, we'll have to kill Mr. Craig. Later that evening Fabricio secretly enters Craig's room at the inn where Craig and Constance are staying and plants a bomb among Craig's clothing. The bomb is a string of plastic explosives concealed within the belt of Craig's bathrobe. When the ends of the belt are drawn together it closes the circuit setting off the electrical detonator of the bomb. When Craig enters the room he goes to the bathroom to shower. Constance undresses to surprise Craig when he emerges from the bathroom. She puts on Craig's robe and unknowingly detonates the bomb when she ties the belt. The bomb blast kills Constance and injures Craig who is taken to a local hospital. The police inform Craig that he was the intended target of the bomb and the type of bomb that was used is the trademark of an assassin who works for a terrorist group that has been staging attacks across Europe.
Craig starts his own investigation in an attempt to avenge Constance's murder. He meets a reporter, Gail McKinnon (Erin Gray
Erin Gray
Erin Gray is an American actress, perhaps best known for her roles as Kate Summers in the situation comedy Silver Spoons and as Colonel Wilma Deering in the science fiction television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century....
) who wants to interview him. She ends up assisting him with his inquiries. Craig also contacts an old friend who he had served with in the war, Major General Jerry Olson U.S. Air Force, who commands the nearby NATO Air Force Base, for help in gathering intelligence about this terrorist group.
After many plot twists and harrowing experiences Jesse and Gail uncover the fact that Bret Easton is one of the leaders of the terrorist group and the reason he tried to murder Jesse was that Jesse's screenplay, of which Jesse is the real author, comes very close to describing the terrorists' latest attack plan. Meanwhile the terrorists have secretly taken control of three airliners and have landed them on remote and desolate airfields that have been prepared in advance to off load and imprison the airliners' passengers and then quickly retrofit the planes to each transport and drop a nuclear bomb on three cities in the United States. These cities are Washington, DC, New York City, and Miami, FL. Bombs have been planted on three flying commercial airliners and set to detonate in flight so the terrorist controlled jets can impersonate the legitmate commercial flights.
Jesse Craig and Gail confront Easton on Easton's yacht which is at sea several miles off the coast. Easton confirms Craig's suspicions while boasting about his grand plans and then tries to murder him. A violent brawl ensues and Easton tries to stab Craig with a small sharpened boat anchor. Craig gets a hold a revolver that he had taken off a dead terrorist before he boarded the yacht and shoots Easton dead.
Jesse and Gail use the radio-telephone on the yacht to contact General Olson. It turns out that General Olsen is flying on one of the targeted jetliners and he is onboard speaking with Jesse via cockpit radio when the bomb onboard explodes. Realizing that General Olson is dead, Jesse contacts General Olson's executive officer at the NATO base and informs him of events. The Air Force is able to identify and shoot down the three terrorist controlled airliners just minutes before their attack runs on the cities take place.
Evening in Byzantium was one of the many TV movies, miniseries and other shows syndicated to local independent television stations in the USA as part of a project known as Operation Prime Time, in an effort to compete with the major broadcast networks.
CAST
List Of Actors:Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos is an American actor and director. Among his most memorable roles are William Adama in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, Lt...
- Angelo
Eddie Albert - Brian Murphy
Patrick Macnee - Ian Wadleigh
Vince Edwards - Bret Easton
Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...
- Jess Craig
Gloria de Haven - Sonia Murphy
Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. In her six decades of television, she starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma! , Carousel , and The Music Man...
- Constance Dobson
Gregory Sierra - Fabricio
Harry Guardino
Harry Guardino
Harry Guardino was an American actor whose career spanned from the early 1950s to the early 1990s. In 1964, he was cast in a short-lived CBS series entitled The Reporter, a drama about a hard-hitting investigative journalist named Danny Taylor. His principal co-star was Gary Merrill as city...
- Jerry Olson
Simon Oakland
Simon Oakland
Simon Oakland was an American actor of stage, screen, and television.-Early life and career:Oakland was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He began his performing arts career as a musician . He began his acting career in the late 1940s...
- Walter Klein
James Booth - Jack Conrad
Sid Haig - Asied Len Birman Leonardo
Erin Gray
Erin Gray
Erin Gray is an American actress, perhaps best known for her roles as Kate Summers in the situation comedy Silver Spoons and as Colonel Wilma Deering in the science fiction television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century....
- Gail McKinnon
Christian Marquand - Insp. DuBois
George Lazenby
George Lazenby
George Robert Lazenby is an Australian actor and former model, best known for portraying James Bond in the 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service.-Early life:...
- Roger Tory
George Skaff - Moustapha Kamel
Chris Winfield - Michael Ruddy
Michael Cole - Danny
Carol Baxter - Sybil
Lee Bergere - M. Carroll
Byron Morrow - Judge
Ben Frommer - Sine
William Dozier - William Bast
Nick Dyrenforth - Sen. Kennedy
Cynthia Ford - Penny Craig
Anthony Costello - John Macklin
Marcel Hillaire - Insp. LeDioux