Rhodes Movies

Rhodes has been a hotspot for many different film productions in the past. Its stunning natural beauty in combination with its many historical landmarks has made the island a highly appealing shooting location for filmmakers. A good amount of Greek films produced in the 1960s tend to feature the magnificent island, while it has also caught the ire of some big Hollywood directors. Perhaps the two most well-known movies filmed in Rhodes are The Guns of Navarone and Escape to Athena.

The J. Lee Thompson-directed Guns of Navarone was released in 1961 and based on a popular 1957 novel by Alistair MacLean. It is set in 1943 and follows a group of elite soldiers who are tasked with infiltrating a Nazi-occupied Greek island in an attempt to rescue 2000 trapped British soldiers. The shooting locations included the cliffs between Lindos and Pefki, the Acropolis of Lindos, the Old Town, and Kallithea Beach. Star of the film Anthony Quinn was said to have fallen in love with the island and in particular the beautiful beach between Faliraki and Ladiko, which was later named Anthony Quinn Beach in his honor.

Directed by George P. Cosmatos, Escape to Athena was released in 1979 and was also set during the Second World War. In it, four prisoners of war being kept in a prison camp on a Greek island plan to escape their captors and steal the treasures kept on the island. Acclaimed actor David Niven agreed to be in the film partly because he liked the idea of returning to Rhodes, having previously starred in the aforementioned The Guns of Navarone. The Old Town and Kallithea Beach are both prominently featured in the film.

Other films shot in Rhodes include the Anthony Hopkins-led Peter and Paul, High Season starring Kenneth Branagh, Pascali’s Island starring Ben Kingsley as well as plenty of documentaries. In addition, many Greek films have been produced on the island, starring some of the most popular Greek actors of the past such as Aliki Vougiouklaki, Rena Vlahopoulou, Kostas Voutsas and Lambros Konstantaras.