The Cassandra Crossing

1976 film by George P. Cosmatos

The Cassandra Crossing is a 1976 disaster thriller movie directed by George Pan Cosmatos, produced by Carlo Ponti and starring his wife Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, Ava Gardner, Martin Sheen, Burt Lancaster, Lee Strasberg and O. J. Simpson. The movie is about a disease-infected Swedish terrorist who infects a train's passengers with the pneumonic plague as they travel across Europe and head to a crumbling arch bridge.

The Cassandra Crossing
Directed byGeorge Pan Cosmatos
Screenplay byTom Mankiewicz
Robert Katz
George Pan Cosmatos
Story byRobert Katz
George Pan Cosmatos
Produced byCarlo Ponti
Lew Grade
StarringSophia Loren
Richard Harris
Burt Lancaster
Ava Gardner
Martin Sheen
O. J. Simpson
Lee Strasberg
CinematographyEnnio Guarnieri
Edited byRoberto Silvi
Françoise Bonnot
Music byJerry Goldsmith
Production
companies
  • ITC Entertainment
  • C. Cinematografica Champion s.p.a.
Distributed byAVCO Embassy Pictures
Release date
18 December 1976 (Italy & Japan) / 9 February 1977 (USA) / 31 March 1977 (UK)
Running time
129 Minutes
CountriesItaly
United Kingdom
West Germany
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3 million[1] or $6 million[2]
Box office$15,300,000 (Japan) SEK 152,111 (Sweden)

The reviews from the movie critics were very negative. In the movie-review website Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has a low score of 30% based on ten reviews.[3]

The Cassandra Crossing, however, still made money at the box office, which was more than the movie budget. The producers claimed that they covered the production costs of the movie out of Japan alone.[1][4]

The movie was shot in Switzerland, Czechoslovakia and France.

The Garabit Viaduct railway arch bridge in southern France that was designed by Gustave Eiffel, was used to represent the fictional "Cassandra Crossing" bridge in Poland which collapses.
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References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 Walker 1985, p. 197.
  2. Tuohy, William. "Ava Gardner: Still that certain something." Los Angeles Times, 9 May 1976, p. s1.
  3. "The Cassandra Crossing". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  4. Grade 1987, p. 246.

Other websites

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