Evening In Byzantium
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''Evening in Byzantium'' is a 1978 American two-part, four-hour
made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
produced by Glen A. Larson Productions and
Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predeces ...
, and directed by
Jerry London Jerry London (born January 21, 1947) is an American television director and producer. Life and career London has directed more than forty television movies including Emmy Award nominated '' Chiefs''. London won best director for James Clavell ...
, about the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
being overtaken by terrorists. It stars
Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton "Glenn" Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006) was a Canadian-American actor who often portrayed ordinary men in unusual circumstances. Ford was most prominent during Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age as ...
,
Vince Edwards Vince Edwards (born Vincent Edward Zoine; July 9, 1928 – March 11, 1996) was an American actor and director. He was best known for his TV role as doctor Ben Casey and as Major Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film '' The Devil's Brigade''. Ear ...
,
Shirley Jones Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as ''Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel'' (1956), and ''The M ...
,
Eddie Albert Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 – May 26, 2005) was an American actor and activist. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; the first nomination came in 1954 for his performance in ''Roman Holiday'', ...
and
Erin Gray Erin Gray (born January 7, 1950) is an American model, casting agent, and actress whose roles include Colonel Wilma Deering in the science fiction television series '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'' and Kate Summers-Stratton in the situation ...
, with
Edward James Olmos Edward James Olmos (born February 24, 1947) is an American actor, director, producer, and activist. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo in ''Miami Vice'' (1984–1989), ''American Me'' (1992) (which he also dir ...
in a small role. The film is loosely based on the novel of the same name by
Irwin Shaw Irwin Shaw (February 27, 1913 – May 16, 1984) was an American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story author whose written works have sold more than 14 million copies. He is best known for two of his novels: ''The Young Lions'' ( ...
."Evening in Byzantium – Credits."
''AMC Movie Guide'', October 31, 2011.


Plot

Famous motion picture producer and writer Jesse Craig (
Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton "Glenn" Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006) was a Canadian-American actor who often portrayed ordinary men in unusual circumstances. Ford was most prominent during Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age as ...
) attends a film festival on the French Riviera. He has not been 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 Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 – May 26, 2005) was an American actor and activist. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; the first nomination came in 1954 for his performance in ''Roman Holiday'', ...
) who is attending the festival. The screenplay is a cautionary tale about terrorists attacking major cities in the United States using hijacked commercial airliners containing nuclear bombs as the attack vehicles. No one knows the content of the script or its author who Craig claims is a new writer by the name of Malcolm Hart. Bret Easton (
Vince Edwards Vince Edwards (born Vincent Edward Zoine; July 9, 1928 – March 11, 1996) was an American actor and director. He was best known for his TV role as doctor Ben Casey and as Major Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film '' The Devil's Brigade''. Ear ...
) 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 Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as ''Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel'' (1956), and ''The M ...
) 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 Joseph Sierra (January 25, 1937 – January 4, 2021) was an American actor known for his roles as Detective Sergeant Chano Amengual on ''Barney Miller'', Julio Fuentes, the Puerto Rican neighbor of Fred G. Sanford on ''Sanford and Son'' ...
) 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. After 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 (born January 7, 1950) is an American model, casting agent, and actress whose roles include Colonel Wilma Deering in the science fiction television series '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'' and Kate Summers-Stratton in the situation ...
) 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, U.S. Air Force Major General Jerry Olson (
Harry Guardino Harry Guardino (December 23, 1925 – July 17, 1995) was an American actor whose career spanned from the early 1950s to the early 1990s. Biography Guardino was born to an Italian family on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and raised in Bro ...
), who commands the nearby
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
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, D.C., New York City, and Miami, Florida. Bombs have been planted on three flying commercial airliners and set to detonate in flight so the terrorist-controlled jets can impersonate the legitimate 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 of 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.


Cast

*
Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton "Glenn" Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006) was a Canadian-American actor who often portrayed ordinary men in unusual circumstances. Ford was most prominent during Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age as ...
as Jesse Craig *
Vince Edwards Vince Edwards (born Vincent Edward Zoine; July 9, 1928 – March 11, 1996) was an American actor and director. He was best known for his TV role as doctor Ben Casey and as Major Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film '' The Devil's Brigade''. Ear ...
as Bret Easton *
Eddie Albert Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 – May 26, 2005) was an American actor and activist. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; the first nomination came in 1954 for his performance in ''Roman Holiday'', ...
as Brian Murphy *
Patrick Macnee Daniel Patrick Macnee (6 February 1922 – 25 June 2015) was a British film and television actor. After serving in the Royal Navy during World War II, he began his acting career in Canada. Despite having some small film roles, Macnee spent much ...
as Ian Wadleigh *
Shirley Jones Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as ''Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel'' (1956), and ''The M ...
as Constance Dobson *
Gregory Sierra Gregory Joseph Sierra (January 25, 1937 – January 4, 2021) was an American actor known for his roles as Detective Sergeant Chano Amengual on ''Barney Miller'', Julio Fuentes, the Puerto Rican neighbor of Fred G. Sanford on ''Sanford and Son'' ...
as Fabricio *
Harry Guardino Harry Guardino (December 23, 1925 – July 17, 1995) was an American actor whose career spanned from the early 1950s to the early 1990s. Biography Guardino was born to an Italian family on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and raised in Bro ...
as Jerry Olson *
Simon Oakland Simon Oakland (August 28, 1915 – August 29, 1983) was an American actor of stage, screen, and television. During his career, Oakland performed primarily on television, appearing in over 130 series and made-for-television movies between ...
as Walter Klein *
Gloria DeHaven Gloria Mildred DeHaven (July 23, 1925 – July 30, 2016) was an American actress and singer who was a contract star for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Early life DeHaven was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actor-director Carter De ...
as Sonia Murphy *
Christian Marquand Christian Marquand (15 March 1927 – 22 November 2000) was a French actor, screenwriter and film director. Born in Marseille, he was born to a Spanish father and an Arab mother, and his sister was film director Nadine Trintignant. He was often cas ...
as Insp. DuBois * Michael Cole as Danny *
Erin Gray Erin Gray (born January 7, 1950) is an American model, casting agent, and actress whose roles include Colonel Wilma Deering in the science fiction television series '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'' and Kate Summers-Stratton in the situation ...
as Gail McKinnon *
George Lazenby George Robert Lazenby (; born 5 September 1939) is an Australian actor. He was the second actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in '' On Her Majesty's Secret Service ...
as Roger Tory *
James Booth James Booth (born David Noel Geeves; 19 December 1927 – 11 August 2005) was an English film, stage and television actor and screenwriter. Though considered handsome enough to play leading roles, and versatile enough to play a wide variety ...
as Jack Conrad *
Marcel Hillaire Marcel Hillaire (born Erwin Ottmar Hiller; April 23, 1908 – January 1, 1988) was a German-born character actor who had a lengthy career, appearing on stage, in films and on television. Hillaire was recognizable by his gaunt appearance and his a ...
as Inspector LeDioux *
Lee Bergere Lee Bergere (born Solomon Bergelson; April 10, 1918 – January 31, 2007) was an American actor, known for his role as Joseph Anders in the 1980s television series ''Dynasty''. Stage Born in Brooklyn, New York, Bergere began his career in ...
as M. Carroll *
Len Birman Leonard Birman (born September 28, 1932) is a Canadian American actor, who began his career in Montreal. In his 45 years on stage, screen and radio, he has portrayed a wide variety of characters, including some choice roles in classical and conte ...
as Leonardo *
Sid Haig Sidney Eddie Mosesian (July 14, 1939 – September 21, 2019), known professionally as Sid Haig, was an American actor, film producer, and musician. He was known for his roles in several of Jack Hill's blaxploitation films from the 1970s, as well ...
as Asted *
Edward James Olmos Edward James Olmos (born February 24, 1947) is an American actor, director, producer, and activist. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo in ''Miami Vice'' (1984–1989), ''American Me'' (1992) (which he also dir ...
as Angelo * George Skaff as Moustapha Kamel * Chris Winfield s Michael Ruddy * Carol Baxter as Sybil * Byron Morrow as Judge * Ben Frommer as Sine * William Dozier as William Bast * Nick Dyrenforth as Senator Kennedy * Cynthia Ford as Penny Craig * Anthony Costello as John Macklin


Production

''Evening in Byzantium'' was one of the many TV movies, miniseries and other shows syndicated to local independent television stations in the US in the late 1970s as part of a project known as
Operation Prime Time Operation Prime Time (OPT) was a consortium of American independent television stations to develop prime time programming for independent stations. OPT and its spin-off syndication company, Television Program Enterprises (TPE), were formed by A ...
, in an effort to compete with the three major broadcast networks.


Reception

''Evening in Byzantium'', received the typical reviews for a made-for-television program, with reviewers noting: "It's all very silly, though played very sincerely by most of the cast, and none of the plot described is less plausible than the notion that Glenn Ford and Erin Gray could ignore the 36-year difference in their ages." Today, the film takes on a more significant meaning. "A piece of made-for-television hack work that suddenly became sort of topical 23 years later, with the attacks on the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001".Eder, Bruce
"Synoposis: Evening in Byzantium (1978)."
''Allmovie''. Retrieved: December 30, 2014.


References


External links

* * * {{Operation Prime Time American drama television films 1978 drama films Films based on American novels Films directed by Jerry London 1978 television films 1978 films Operation Prime Time American aviation films Films about aviation accidents or incidents Films set on airplanes Films about terrorism 1970s English-language films 1970s American films English-language drama films