It is the fourth largest Greek island with a timeless cosmopolitan air, natural beauties, medieval castles, Byzantine temples and monuments that take you to other times. The reason for Rose which precisely because of this "mosaic", has always been the ideal setting for film productions.
In the "Emerald Island" as they call it, apart from the Greek producers and several from Hollywood discovered the perfect place to shoot some of the great film productions. Its diverse elements, the encounter with different cultures that everyone left and something reminiscent of it, its endless sandy beaches, its clear blue waters and its cosmopolitan aura attracted the interest of the producers, they decided to shoot their films in Rhodes.
Especially, in the 60's it became the big bang and not unjustly in the following years it was also called the "Hollywood of Greece". If you think that big stars of "Mecca of cinema" arrived on the island for shooting, such as Anthony Quinn, Gregory Peck, Claudia Cardinale, Roger Moore, Telis Savalas and many others.
But also its cream Greek cinema was found for filming in Rhodes, after many well-known Greek films were shot on the island.
It is the most famous international production that hosted the island, in 1960 starring Anthony Quinn, Grecory Peck and Irene Papa. The "Cannons of Navarone" was a proper overproduction and many islanders participated in it as accomplices.
Filming took place in the Old Town, in Lindos and Kremasti, while while the film was being shot, Queen Frederick was also in Rhodes, watching some of the filming. But also because of the stars who starred in it, Greek and foreign journalists traveled to the island.
Since the 50's, Rhodes has been a choice for shooting Greek films. But the bang, as it seems to have happened in the next decade, from the very beginning, since in 1960 many films were made on the island. And one can imagine that with so many productions he hosted, he had something of. Hollywood.
In addition to "The Cannons of Navarone", at the beginning of the same year another foreign film was made (but which did not have a box office success), "The Surprise Pack" starring Jules Briner and Michi Gaynor. In fact, the assistant of the director Stanley Donan was our Errikos Andreou.
Greek films in 1960 included "Holidays in Rhodes" with Costas Kakkava and Dina Trianti, "Redemption" with Spyros Fokas, Lorena de Luca and Miranda Kounelaki and "Butterfly of the Night" with Christina Sylva and Andrea Barkouli.
The title of the film may speak of Από "Escape to Athens", but its shooting in 1979 took place in Rhodes. It is a war adventure directed by George Cosmatos and is of British production. Starring Roger Moore, David Niven, Claudia Cardinale and Telly Savalas.
To most people, when they hear about a Greek film that was shot on the island of Rhodes, "Doloma" comes to mind. And not unjustly, since in addition to the financial success she experienced (and one of her best performances Alikis Vougiouklakis), many of its scenes have been connected with characteristic points of the island, such as the finale (one of the most beautiful and impressive in a Greek film) in Kallithea.
The "Bait»Was shot in 1964, it is directed by Aleko Sakellariou with protagonists besides Aliki, Aleko Alexandraki, Andrea Barkouli and Dino Iliopoulos. This particular film highlighted the beauties of the island, while one can say that it also reflects the cosmopolitan image of Rhodes at that time with its crowded beaches, large hotels and diverse tourists.
Another well-known Greek film that was shot on the island and conveys the same cosmopolitan feeling (with a greater dose of humor) is "Kati kourasmena lakaria", by Dinos Dimopoulos, starring Lambros Konstantaras, Betty Arvanitis, Dionysis Papagiannopoulos, , Chroni Exarchako and Melpo Zarokosta. The shooting took place in August 1967, while in the film many young people of the island took part as accomplices.
In September 1964, the following people arrived in Rhodes: Rena Vlachopoulou, Costas Voutsas, Zoe Laskari, Martha Karagianni, Andreas Douzos for part of the shooting of the film, "Girls for kissing" by Giannis Dalianidis.
In 1970, Rena Vlachopoulou and Chronis Exarchakos returned to Rhodes for the shooting of Giannis Dalianidis' film, "A Greek Woman in the Harem". According to the script, Rena arrives on the island, where a stranger pretends to be a psychic among strangers.