Main Cast: Peter O'Toole, Richard Attenborough, Cliff Gorman, Claude Dauphin, John V. Lindsay
Release Year: 1975
Country: US
Run Time: 126 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Based on a novel by Joan Hemingway and Paul Bonnecarrere, Rosebud opens with five young women vacationing aboard a luxurious yacht called the Rosebud. All five of the women are the daughters of wealthy and powerful men; one of them is the daughter of an influential American senator. Their vacation is shortlived, however, as the Rosebud has been targeted by a group of Middle Eastern terrorists who kidnap the girls and hold them as hostages until their demands are met. Quickly alerted to the situation is reporter Larry Martin (Peter O'Toole), who it turns out is really an agent for the CIA. Martin enlists the aid of agents from Israel and West Germany, as well as a strange Islamic Englishman who, as he is working to destroy Israel, would seem to be on the side of the terrorists. Martin has his work cut out for him, as he must rescue the hostages quickly and with no injury coming to any of them. Adapted by Eric Lee Preminger for his father, director Otto Preminger, Rosebud was initially set to star Robert Mitchum, who left or was fired after experiencing one of the director's customary heated confrontations. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Peter Lawford - Lord Carter; Raf Vallone - George Nikolaos; Adrienne Corri - Lady Carter; Amidou - Kirkbane; Yosef Shiloah - Hacam; Lalla Ward - Margaret; Kim Cattrall - Joyce; Debra Berger - Gertrude; Hans Verner - Freyer; Georges Beller - Patrice; Françoise Brion - Melina Nikolaos; Julian Pettifer - Julian Pettifer; Mark Burns - Shute; Klaus Löwitsch - Schloss; Maria Machado - Else; Ori Levy - Avivi; Isabelle Huppert - Helene; Jean Martin; Edward Behr - Himself; Brigitte Ariel - Sabine
Credit
Simon Holland - Art Director, Wolfgang Glattes - First Assistant Director, Otto Preminger - Director, Jean-Marie Pelissie - Second Unit Director, Thom Noble - Editor, Peter Thornton - Editor, Laurent Petitgirard - Composer (Music Score), Michael Seymour - Production Designer, Denys Coop - Cinematographer, Otto Preminger - Producer, Robin Gregory - Sound/Sound Designer, Don Sharpe - Sound/Sound Designer, Terry Sharratt - Sound/Sound Designer, Doug Turner - Sound/Sound Designer, Marjorie Kellogg - Screenwriter, Eric Lee Preminger - Screenwriter, Joan Hemingway - Book Author, Paul Bonnecarrere - Book Author
Larry Martin (O'Toole) is a Newsweekreporter, secretly working for the CIA. He is tasked, along with Israeli intelligence, to work for the release of five wealthy girls kidnapped by the PLA from the yacht Rosebud. Martin must contend with the girls' fathers all of whom are wealthy, connected and concerned. Sloat (Attenborough) is the head of Black September and is connected with the kidnappings and is subsequently hunted down.
The film opened to hostile reviews and is generally seen as a lesser work of Preminger's. Time magazine's title for its review was Rose Dud.
