Victory at Entebbe | |
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Genre |
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Written by | Ernest Kinoy |
Directed by | Marvin J. Chomsky |
Starring | |
Theme music composer | Charles Fox |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producer | David L. Wolper |
Producer | Robert Guenette |
Production locations | Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California |
Cinematography | Jim Kilgore |
Editors |
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Running time | 119 min. |
Production company | David L. Wolper Productions |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | December 13, 1976 |
Victory at Entebbe is a 1976 American made-for-television action-drama film for broadcast on ABC, directed by Marvin J. Chomsky. The film starred Helmut Berger, Linda Blair, Anthony Hopkins, Burt Lancaster, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Dreyfuss, and Kirk Douglas. Julius Harris portrayed Idi Amin, following the fatal heart attack suffered by the actor originally cast in the role, Godfrey Cambridge. [1] [Note 1] The film was theatrically released in Europe.
Victory at Entebbe is based on the actual event Operation Entebbe, the raid on Entebbe Airport (now Entebbe International Airport) in Uganda and the freeing of Israeli hostages on July 4, 1976. It was the first of three films made in the 1970s based on the Entebbe Raid. The other two, Raid on Entebbe (1977) and Operation Thunderbolt (1977, Israel) soon followed. [3] A fourth film, Entebbe (titled 7 Days in Entebbe in the U.S.) was released over four decades later in 2018.
On June 27, 1976, four terrorists belonging to a splinter group of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine under the orders of Wadie Haddad boarded and hijacked an Air France Airbus A300 in Athens, Greece.
With the permission of President Idi Amin (Julius Harris), the terrorists divert the airliner and its hostages to Entebbe Airport in Uganda. [Note 2] After identifying Israeli passengers, the non-Jewish passengers are freed while a series of demands are made, including the release of 40 Palestinian militants held in Israel, in exchange for the hostages.
The Cabinet of Israel, led by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (Anthony Hopkins), unwilling to give in to terrorist demands, plans a top-secret military raid. This commando operation, military code name: "Operation Thunderbolt", will be carried out over 2,500 miles (4,000 km) from home and will take place on the Jewish Sabbath.
While still negotiating with the terrorists, who now numbered seven individuals, the Israeli military prepared two Lockheed C-130 Hercules transports for the raid. The transports refuelled in Kenya before landing at Entebbe Airport under the cover of darkness. The commandos led by Brigadier General Dan Shomron (Harris Yulin) had to contend with a large armed Ugandan military detachment and used a ruse to overcome the defenses. A black Mercedes limousine had been carried on board and was used to fool sentries that it was the official car which President Amin used on an impromptu visit to the airport.
Nearly complete surprise was achieved but a firefight resulted, ending with all seven terrorists and 45 Ugandan soldiers killed. The hostages were gathered together and most were quickly put on the idling C-130 aircraft. During the raid, one commando (the breach unit commander Yonatan Netanyahu (Richard Dreyfuss), brother of future Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), and three of the hostages died. [Note 3]
With 102 hostages aboard and on their way to freedom, a group of Israeli commandos remained behind to destroy the Ugandan Air Force MiG-17 and MiG-21 fighters to prevent a retaliation. All the survivors of the attack force then joined in flying back to Israel via Nairobi and Sharm El Sheikh.
In alphabetical order:
Victory at Entebbe was filmed on videotape at Burbank Studios in California and later transferred to film for distribution around the world, giving the film the slightly stilted visual style of a studio-bound TV drama, but with a film-like look, and big Hollywood names in the cast. Shooting on video shortened the production time, allowing the film to be ready for television less than six months after the event that inspired it. [4]
Although both telefilms Victory at Entebbe and Raid on Entebbe relied on their star-studded casts, neither were able to make much of an impact with audiences (Victory is generally considered the weaker of the two). The portrayal of the heroic Israeli military in Victory at Entebbe, however, led to radical pro-Palestinian terrorists placing bombs in Germany and Italy, alleging that the film was Zionist propaganda.[ citation needed ]
Victory at Entebbe was recognized at the 29th Primetime Emmy Awards, where screenwriter Ernest Kinoy received an Emmy Award nomination for his teleplay. [5]
The Entebbe raid or Operation Entebbe, officially codenamed Operation Thunderbolt, was a 1976 Israeli counter-terrorist mission in Uganda. It was launched in response to the hijacking of an international civilian passenger flight operated by Air France between the cities of Tel Aviv and Paris. During a stopover in Athens, the aircraft was hijacked by two Palestinian PFLP–EO terrorists and two German RZ terrorists, who diverted the flight to Libya and then to Uganda, where they landed at Entebbe International Airport to be joined by other terrorists. Once in Uganda, the group enjoyed support from Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.
Idi Amin Dada Oumee was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern world history.
General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, more commonly known as Sayeret Matkal, is the special reconnaissance unit (sayeret) of Israel's General Staff (matkal). It is considered one of the premier special forces units of Israel.
The 35th "Paratroopers" Brigade is an Israeli military airborne infantry brigade. It forms a major part of the Israeli Ground Forces' Infantry Corps, and has a history of carrying out special operations from the 1950s onwards. Soldiers of the brigade wear maroon berets with the Infantry Corps pin and russet boots.
Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu was an Israeli military officer who commanded Sayeret Matkal during the Entebbe raid. The raid was launched in response to the 1976 hijacking of an international civilian passenger flight from Israel to France by Palestinian and German militants, who took control of the aircraft during a stopover in Greece and diverted it to Libya and then to Uganda, where they received support from Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Though Israel's counter-terrorist operation was a success, with 102 of the 106 hostages being rescued, Netanyahu was killed in action – the only Israeli soldier killed during the crisis.
Lieutenant General Daniel Shomron was the 13th Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), from 1987 to 1991.
The Last King of Scotland is a 2006 historical drama film directed by Kevin Macdonald from a screenplay by Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock. Based on Giles Foden's 1998 novel, its plot depicts the dictatorship of Ugandan President Idi Amin through the perspective of Nicholas Garrigan, a fictional Scottish doctor. The film stars Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, Kerry Washington, Simon McBurney, and Gillian Anderson. The title of the film refers to Amin's spurious claim of being the King of Scotland.
Bruce Roy McKenzie EGH was a South African-born Kenyan politician. He was the Minister of Agriculture in Kenya during the presidency of Jomo Kenyatta, to whom he was an adviser. He is alleged to have been an agent for British, South African or Israeli intelligence. He was assassinated on the orders of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.
Raid on Entebbe is a 1977 NBC television film directed by Irvin Kershner. It is based on the Entebbe raid, an Israeli military operation to free hostages at Entebbe Airport in Uganda, on July 4, 1976. The portrayal of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was Peter Finch's final performance; he died five days after the film's release.
Operation Thunderbolt, known in Israel as Mivtsa Yonatan, also called Entebbe: Operation Thunderbolt in the US, is a 1977 Israeli film directed and co-written by Menahem Golan and starring Klaus Kinski, Yehoram Gaon and Sybil Danning. The film is based on an actual event – the hijacking of a flight by terrorists and the freeing of Israeli hostages on July 4, 1976. The operation was known as at Entebbe Airport in Uganda. Operation Thunderbolt follows the events following the flight's takeoff until the hostages' return to Israel. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
The 1971 coup d'état in Uganda was the military overthrow of president Milton Obote's government. The coup was staged by major general Idi Amin Dada, commander of the Uganda Army. The seizure of power occurred on January 25 while Obote was attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Singapore. For various reasons, relations between Obote and Amin—his army commander—had become insidiously strained. Amin's plot was primarily driven by a concern to retain power over the military hence guaranteeing his own personal survival. After the coup's success, Amin installed himself as president; ruling—until 1979—by decree over an impoverished nation. He is often referred to as one of the most brutal dictators in modern political history
Wilfried Bonifatius "Boni" Böse was a founding member of the German organization Revolutionäre Zellen that was described in the early 1980s as one of Germany's most dangerous left-wing terrorist groups by the West German Interior Ministry. He carried out attacks in Germany and in 1976 was involved in the hijacking of Air France Flight 139, that led to his death in Entebbe, Uganda during the Israeli operation to free the hostages.
Brigitte Kuhlmann (1947–1976) was a founding member of the West German left-wing terrorist group Revolutionäre Zellen. She was killed by the Israel Defense Forces in Entebbe, Uganda, during Operation Entebbe.
The history of the Jews in Uganda is connected to some local tribes who have converted to Judaism, such as the Abayudaya, down to the twentieth century when Uganda under British control was offered to the Jews of the world as a "Jewish homeland" under the British Uganda Programme known as the "Uganda Plan" and culminating with the troubled relationship between Ugandan leader Idi Amin with Israel that ended with Operation Entebbe known as the "Entebbe Rescue" or "Entebbe Raid" of 1976.
Israel–Uganda relations refers to the current and historical relationship between Israel and Uganda. Neither country has a resident ambassador. Uganda has a non-resident ambassador in Cairo.
Michel Bacos was a French airline pilot. He was the captain of Air France Flight 139 when it was hijacked on 27 June 1976 by terrorists belonging to the German Revolutionary Cells (RZ) and the Palestinian Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations (PFLP-EO). The hijacking was part of an international campaign of Palestinian terrorism.
Events in the year 1976 in Israel.
Dora Bloch was an Israeli hostage on Air France Flight 139 on 26 June 1976. Taking off from Tel Aviv, Israel, and destined for Paris, France, the plane soon landed in Athens, Greece, for a scheduled stopover and was subsequently hijacked by two Palestinians from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and two Germans from the Revolutionary Cells, who rerouted to Benghazi, Libya, and then to Entebbe, Uganda, where they received support from Ugandan president Idi Amin. Bloch, who had become ill during the flight, was taken to a hospital in Kampala and was therefore not among the 102 hostages who were rescued when Israel executed Operation Thunderbolt aka 'Operation Yonatan' on 4 July 1976.
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