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| Escape from Zahrain | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ronald Neame |
| Screenplay by | Robin Estridge |
| Based on | Appointment in Zahrain by Michael Barrett |
| Produced by | Ronald Neame |
| Starring | Yul Brynner Sal Mineo Jack Warden Madlyn Rhue |
| Cinematography | Ellsworth Fredericks |
| Edited by | Eda Warren |
| Music by | Lyn Murray |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 93 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.4 million (US/Canada)[1] |
Escape from Zahrain is a 1962 AmericanPanavisionadventure film directed byRonald Neame and starringYul Brynner.[2][3] The film is based on the novelAppointment in Zahrain by Michael Barrett (1960)[4][5] and is produced and distributed byParamount Pictures.
The film is set in the fictional state of Zahrain, located in theArabian Peninsula. An officer in the security service of a despotic regime arranges to murder a jailed revolutionary leader (Brynner) while he is being transferred between prisons. The leader's supporters stage a rescue, intending to subsequently flee across the desert to theProtectorate of Aden.
In the chaos of the rescue two condemned prisoners, a common criminal with no interest in politics (Caruso) and an American oil worker (Warden), join the leader and the mastermind of the breakout (Mineo) in getting away. Later they encounter an educated nurse (Rhue) who they are compelled to take along, and a jaded British intelligence agent (James Mason) who they are confident will not reveal their whereabouts. Together they provide different perspectives on the Middle East of the early 1960s.
The film was based on the novelAppointment in Zahrain which was published in 1960.[6] Paramount bought the novel prior to publication and gave the job to adapting the script toDudley Nichols.[7]
In October 1960 Paramount's then-chairman Jack Karp announcedRichard Matheson was doing a script andEdward Dmytryk was going to direct the film.[8]
By May 1961Yul Brynner was attached as star, withRonald Neame to produce and direct and Sal Mineo to co star.[9][10]Robin Estridge wrote the script.
Filming began June 1961.[11]