The Cassandra Crossing (1976) AVCO Embassy/Action-Thriller RT: 129 minutes Rated R (violence, suggestive content, drug references) Director: George Pan Cosmatos Screenplay: Tom Mankiewicz, Robert Katz and George Pan Cosmatos Music: Jerry Goldsmith Cinematography: Ennio Guarnieri Release date: February 9, 1977 (US) Cast: Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, Martin Sheen, O.J. Simpson, Lionel Stander, Ann Turkel, Ingrid Thulin, Lee Strasberg, Ava Gardner, Burt Lancaster, John Phillip Law, Alida Valli, Ray Lovelock, Fausta Avelli, Lou Castel. Box Office: N/A
Rating: *** ½
Before there was COVID, before there was Outbreak, before there was Warning Sign, there was The Cassandra Crossing, a movie that could have only been made in the 70s. It’s a combination epidemic thriller and disaster movie featuring an international all-star cast placed in an urgent situation. In this case, it’s an outbreak of a deadly disease aboard a cross-country train. Up until two years ago, I would have described this scenario as highly improbable. Now, I’m not so sure. But let us not get bogged down by horrific real-world concerns. Let’s just enjoy The Cassandra Crossing for what it is. A great guilty pleasure for those of us who get a thrill from the likes of Meteor, City on Fire and The Concorde: Airport ’79.
My, what an impressive pedigree The Cassandra Crossing has! It’s an AVCO Embassy release. That’s the studio behind titles like Phantasm, Winter Kills, City on Fire, The Fog, Scanners, Vice Squad, The Seduction, The Soldier and Deadly Force. It’s directed by George Pan Cosmatos who would go on to helm Rambo: First Blood Part II, Cobra, Leviathan and Tombstone. It’s produced by Sir Lew Grade and Carlo Ponti. Not familiar with those names? Allow me to bring you into the loop. Sir Lew, the founder of production company ITC Entertainment, is the guy behind expensive flops like Firepower, Escape to Athena, Saturn 3, Raise the Titanic and The Legend of the Lone Ranger. Carlo, who produced classics like Contempt, La Strada, Doctor Zhivago and Blow-Up, is famous for launching the career of his wife, Italian sex symbol Sophia Loren. It’s no mere coincidence she’s the top-billed star. It’s nepotism at its finest.
The score, a pretty good one at that, is by Jerry Goldsmith, the composer who brought his talent to a wide variety of films including the original Planet of the Apes, Chinatown, Alien, Poltergeist, Basic Instinct, three Rambo movies and five of the Star Trek flicks.
Then there’s the cast! WOW! As per usual with the disaster genre, The Cassandra Crossing has quite a line-up starting with Loren (Marriage Italian Style) as the novelist ex-wife of famous neurologist Dr. Chamberlain (Harris, Camelot), the hero of the story. They star alongside Ava Gardner (Earthquake) as the wife of a German arms dealer who’s traveling with her boy toy (Sheen, The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane), O.J. Simpson (The Towering Inferno) as a priest, Lee Strasberg (The Godfather Part II) as an elderly con man and Holocaust survivor, Lionel Stander (Hart to Hart) as the conductor, Ann Turkel (Humanoids from the Deep) and Ray Lovelock (Autopsy) as a young, oversexed couple and Alida Valli (The Third Man) as a nanny traveling with a cute little girl (Avelli, The Psychic). Right, because there always has to be a kid among the potential victims.
The cast also includes Burt Lancaster (Twilight’s Last Gleaming) and Ingrid Thulin (Cries and Whispers) as the American colonel and disease expert butting heads over how to resolve the situation from the safety of a control room. John Phillip Law (Barbarella), as another American military officer, is also in the room for reasons made clear in the final scene before the end credits roll.
Let’s talk plot now. It begins with a foiled terrorist incident at the International Health Organization building in Geneva. One of the three terrorists (Castel, A Bullet for the General) manages to escape, but not before being infected by a deadly, vaguely defined “pneumonic plague”. Is it a bioweapon like Dr. Strander (Thulin) suspects or is it there to be destroyed as Col. Mackenzie (Lancaster) claims? I think the answer is obvious. The escaped terrorist makes his way to the station where he stows away on a train bound for Stockholm. Naturally, he comes into contact with several of the 1000 passengers in first class including the aforementioned kid, a baby and Gardner’s beloved basset hound. He also coughs all over the rice while hiding in the kitchen. People start getting sick. Isn’t it a good thing Dr. Chamberlain is on hand then? Besides, it provides a welcome distraction from bickering with the ex-wife he still loves (and vice versa).
Mackenzie decides the best course of action is to seal the train (no one on or off) after sending in armed guards in hazmat suits and divert it to Nuremberg. This rerouting will require crossing an old, structurally unsound bridge (aka “The Cassandra Crossing”) that hasn’t been used in 30 years. The expert, naturally, disagrees with the plan to send the passengers to almost certain death. Based on what he observes, Chamberlain believes the situation isn’t as dire as Mackenzie makes it out to be. In fact, there are signs- e.g. the dog makes a full recovery- the disease isn’t necessarily fatal. It makes no difference; the colonel plans to proceed with his plan. Chamberlain, his wife and a few fellow passengers team up to try and take control of the train before it reaches the bridge.
Cosmatos took offense at people, especially critics, not liking The Cassandra Crossing. The extremely pissed-off director reportedly said, “I hate people who hate my movie!” I read a few of the reviews and they’re not kind. Critics savaged it. Audiences booed and hissed at preview screenings. It hasn’t achieved the same status as classic disaster pics like The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno and the Airport series. None of this matters in the slightest to this Movie Guy. I think it’s great fun! I derive a lot of pleasure from the cheesy special effects, preposterous plot, dopey dialogue, hammy acting and silly subplots. I already pointed out the one involving the still-in-love Chamberlains. There’s also one about an undercover Interpol agent tracking a heroin dealer on the train. Then there’s the relationship between Gardner and Sheen. If you thought Moment by Moment was ridiculous, wait until you get a load of this May-December affair. Who knew Sheen was into yoga!
Another essential element of the genre is the idea of former big-name movie stars (e.g. Gardner, Lancaster and Valli) attempting a return to the spotlight and embarrassing themselves in the process. To their credit, they seem to know how goofy the material is and act accordingly. It’s all in the spirit of fun, infectious to all but the heartless critics that lambasted this exquisite slice of disaster movie entertainment. Shame on them!
I saw The Cassandra Crossing once before in the 90s. It didn’t make any real impression at that time. I decided to revisit it after noticing it was available to stream on Amazon Prime. I had a total blast watching it this time. It’s a great bad movie. Much of it is laughable. Take the scene of Sheen trying to get to the engineer by climbing on top of the train. You know it’s the 70s when you see bad rear projection. I did, however, love the climax involving the use of miniatures and clumsy editing. This is such a fun movie, especially if you dig disaster movies. The Cassandra Crossing is a true guilty pleasure, but I feel no guilt in expressing my love for it. ALL ABOARD!!!
