21 Hours at Munich (1976)

A dramatization of the incident in 1972 when Arab terrorists broke into the Olympic compound in Munich and murdered eleven Israeli athletes.

Director:

William A. Graham

Writers:

Edward Hume (screenplay), Howard Fast (screenplay)

Stars:

William Holden, Shirley Knight, Franco Nero

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Holden	...	Chief of Police Manfred Schreiber
Shirley Knight	...	Anneliese Graes
Franco Nero	...	Issa
Anthony Quayle	...	General Zvi Zamir
Richard Basehart	...	Chancellor Willy Brandt
Noel Willman	...	Interior Minister Bruno Merk
Georg Marischka	...	Genscher
Else Quecke	...	Golda Meir
Michael Degen	...	Mohammed Khadif
Djamchid 'Jim' Soheili	...	Touny (as Djamchid Soheili)
Walter Kohut	...	Feldhaus
Jan Niklas	...	Schreiber's Aide
Ernest Lenart	...	Ben Horin
Osman Ragheb	...	Prime Minister Sedki
James Hurley	...	Avery Brundage

Storyline

The infamous attack on Israeli athletes and coaches in the Olympic Village during the 1972 Munich Olympics is chronicled in this made-for-television movie and supplemented with archive footage from the actual games. Members of the Palestinian Black September Movement kill two and hold nine others as hostages to exchange for hundreds of Arab prisoners in Israeli jails. The Israeli government adheres to its policy of not negotiating with terrorists, and German Holocaust guilt will not permit West German officials to allow the terrorists to leave the country with the hostages. Therefore, it falls to Chief of Police Manfred Schreiber to delay fulfilling the Palestinian demands through on-going negotiation, but sooner or later he knows that tough decisions will have to be made.

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Plot Keywords:

year 1972 | reference to hermann goring | munich 1972 summer olympics | 1972 summer olympics | 1970s | 

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Taglines:

The most violent episode in the history of terrorism.

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Genres:

Drama | History | Sport | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The three surviving terrorists were later traded by Germany as part of the Lufthansa hijacking negotiation.

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Quotes

Chief of Police Manfred Schreiber: We have the building surrounded. We're still waiting word from Israel. Until then we're working with one hand.
Avery Brundage: Just so long as it's a firm hand.

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Connections

Featured in Prefontaine (1997)

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Soundtracks

Osse Shalom
By Nurit Hirsch (as Nurit Hirsh)

User Reviews

A movie not to be missed

I was 16 when the Israeli massacre occurred in Munich 33 yrs ago today and this made for TV film is an excellent feature about those events. Made in 76' the film holds up very well. The film does not "hollywoodize" the events in Munich in any way. It tells the story about what happened in 72' in a very straightforward manner. William Holden, nearing the end of his career, is surprisingly good as the Police Chief of Munich. Franco Nero at first seems like a stretch to play an Arab terrorist but he is very good in this picture. The film also shows how the other Olympic activities kept going on while the hostage crises unfolded which now seems impossible to imagine. The bravery of the Israeli athletes, the confusion and ineptitude of the German police, the dbl-speak of the politicians, nothing is overlooked in this movie. If this movie was based on fictional events it would be a very fine film. The fact that the tragic events depicted actually occurred, and that the film so honorably and sensitively captures what happened in Munich means this film is worthy of the highest praise in my view.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hebrew

Release Date:

7 November 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Twenty-One Hours at Munich

Filming Locations:

Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Moonlight Productions, Filmways Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1