Black Sunday (1977)

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writers:

Thomas Harris (by)
Ernest Lehman (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

11 March 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

There has never been a motion picture adventure like...

Plot:

An Israeli anti-terrorist agent must stop a disgruntled Vietnam vet cooperating in a plot to commit a terrorist plot at the Super Bowl.

Plot Keywords:

Blimp | Day In Title | Smuggling | Female Terrorist | Spy

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Robert Shaw	...	Ma. David Kabakov
Bruce Dern	...	Michael Lander
Marthe Keller	...	Dahlia Iyad
Fritz Weaver	...	FBI Agent Sam Corley
Steven Keats	...	Moshevsky
Bekim Fehmiu	...	Fasil
Michael V. Gazzo	...	Muzi
William Daniels	...	Pugh
Walter Gotell	...	Colonel Riat
Victor Campos	...	Nageeb
Joseph Robbie	...	Joseph Robbie
Robert J. Wussler	...	Robert Wussler (as Robert Wussler)
Pat Summerall	...	Pat Summerall
Tom Brookshier	...	Tom Brookshier
Walter Brooke	...	Fowler
James Jeter	...	Watchman
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Freighter Captain
Tom McFadden	...	Farley
Robert Patten	...	Vickers
Than Wyenn	...	Israeli Ambassador
Jack Rader	...	Pearson
Nick Nickolary	...	Simmons (as Nick Nicolary)
Michael Joseph Reynolds	...	Jackson
Hunter von Leer	...	T.V. Cameraman
Sarah Fankboner	...	V.A. Receptionist
Kathy Thornton	...	Head Nurse
Frank Logan	...	Lansing
Frank Man	...	Desk Clerk - Miami
Kenneth I. Harms	...	S.W.A.T. Captain
Kim Nicholas	...	Girl Hostage
Bert Madrid	...	Bellhop
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kristy McNichol	...	(scenes deleted)
Sherman 'Big Train' Bergman	...	Football Fan (uncredited)
Terry Bradshaw	...	Himself (uncredited)
Ian Bulloch	...	Secret Service Agent (uncredited)
Paul Fahrenkopf	...	Spectator (uncredited)
John Frankenheimer	...	TV Director (uncredited)
Robert Ito	...	Japanese Man (uncredited)
January L'Angelle	...	Young Football Fan (uncredited)
Jim Robertson	...	Football Stadium Fan (uncredited)

Directed by
John Frankenheimer

Writing credits
Thomas Harris		(by)
Ernest Lehman		(screenplay) &
Kenneth Ross		(screenplay) and
Ivan Moffat		(screenplay)

Produced by
Robert Evans	....	producer
Alan Levine	....	associate producer
Robert L. Rosen	....	executive producer

Original Music by
John Williams

Cinematography by
John A. Alonzo

Film Editing by
Tom Rolf

Casting by
Lynn Stalmaster

Art Direction by
Walter H. Tyler		(as Walter Tyler)

Set Decoration by
Jerry Wunderlich

Costume Design by
Ray Summers

Makeup Department
Sugar Blymyer	....	hair stylist
Robert Dawn	....	makeup artist (as Bob Dawn)
Brad Wilder	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Jerry Ziesmer	....	unit production manager
Lindsley Parsons Jr.	....	executive production manager: Paramount (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Larry J. Franco	....	second assistant director (as Larry Franco)
Marc Monnet	....	second unit director
Jerry Ziesmer	....	assistant director

Art Department
Nikita Knatz	....	production illustrator
Ray Mercer Jr.	....	property master (as Ray Mercer)

Sound Department
Howard Beals	....	sound effects editor
Gene S. Cantamessa	....	sound mixer (as Gene Cantamessa)
John Wilkinson	....	re-recording mixer (as John K. Wilkinson)

Special Effects by
Logan Frazee	....	special effects man

Visual Effects by
Bill Hansard	....	process consultant
Pete Kleinow	....	visual effects (uncredited)
Harry Walton	....	visual effects (uncredited)
Gene Warren Jr.	....	visual effects (uncredited)
Gene Warren	....	visual effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Everett Creach	....	stunt coordinator
Jay Amor	....	stunts (uncredited)
Richard E. Butler	....	stunts (uncredited)
Mickey Caruso	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bobby Clark	....	stunts (uncredited)
Erik Cord	....	stunts (uncredited)
Everett Creach	....	stunts (uncredited)
Howard Curtis	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jeannie Epper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Roberto Escobar	....	stunts (uncredited)
Larry Holt	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gene LeBell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Minor	....	stunts (uncredited)
John Moio	....	co-stunt coordinator (uncredited)
Dean Smith	....	stunts (uncredited)
Paul Stader	....	stunts (uncredited)
Greg Walker	....	stunts (uncredited)
Richard Washington	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dick Ziker	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Steve Sabol	....	cameraman: N.F.L. Films, special football sequences
Norman Lang	....	electrician (uncredited)
Rexford L. Metz	....	camera operator: second unit (uncredited)

Casting Department
Beverly McDermott	....	location casting: Miami

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Shelly Levine	....	costumer: men (uncredited)

Music Department
June Edgerton	....	music editor
Herbert W. Spencer	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Charlsie Bryant	....	script supervisor
James W. Gavin	....	helicopter pilot (as James Gavin)
Nat Moore	....	football technical advisor
Nick Nickolary	....	pilot: Goodyear blimp (as Nick Nicolary)
Cathy Chazan	....	assistant: Mr. Evans (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures (presents)

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1977) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinema Internazional Corporation (1977) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1979) (USA) (TV)
• Fotomat (Drive-Thru Movies) Video (1979) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (1994) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Paramount Home Video (19??) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Modern Film Effects (special photographic effects)
• Excelsior! Animated Moving Pictures (uncredited)

Other Companies

• Cinema Research  optical effects & titles
• Connaught Productions  services
• NFL Films  special filming of football sequences

Also Known As:

Runtime:

143 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Movielab)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:12 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R (certificate #24543) | Netherlands:16 | Iceland:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Canada:18A (Ontario) | West Germany:18 (nf) | UK:15 (1987) | UK:AA (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Carson, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The movie's source novel was inspired from the murder of Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics Games as co-ordinated by the Black September organization. The title "Black Sunday" references "Black September". Harris wrote the novel after seeing the hostage crisis on television. These real-life events became the subject of the Academy Award (Oscar) Winning documentary One Day in September (1999).

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Moshevsky's body is to be flown back to Israel for burial, he is being loaded aboard a TWA freight flight. Jews being brought to Israel for burial, especially a Mosad Officer, are always brought by an El Al flight.

Quotes:

Captain Michael J. Lander:I wanted to give this whole son-of-a-bitchin' country something to remember me by!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Soundtrack:

I've Been Working on the Railroad

Not quite escapism anymore

Black Sunday was considered a "what if" disaster movie in the '70s, although it's not a disaster movie along the lines of Earthquake!, Flood! or the others. Now of course it seems less like a "what if" movie and some of the lines of "fictional" dialogue have actually been quoted in the news recently. This is an absorbing thriller, and does not rely on the special effects that so many thrillers like "The Siege" (and probably The Sum of All Fears, which I haven't seen) employ. Too bad Robert Shaw passed at such a relatively young age--in all of the movies I've seen him in (The Sting, The Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3, Jaws and this one), he created such different types of characters. I didn't even recognize him at first in this one, going from the Irish accent of Jaws to the Israeli accent in Black Sunday. John Frankenheimer gripped my attention for the whole movie, and considering its length (nearly 3 hours) this is no small feat. Even Bruce Dern, doing his usual psycho thing, was good. Highly recommended.