How many real stars played in the football film Escape To Victory

A. The 1981 film attracted a host of foobtall stars, including Pele, winner of three World Cups, scorer of over 1,200 goals and a player with the New York Cosmos which turned him into a global phenomenon.He was joined by Cosmos team-mate Werner Roth, England's World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore, Argentinian Osvaldo Ardiles, Belgian Paul Van Himst, Ajax legend Co Prins and Poland's Kazzie Deyna. Most of the players from Ipswich Town FC took to the pitch, as did Scotland's John Wark, international Russell Osman, reserve keeper Laurie Sivell and Eire's Kevin O'Callaghan.

Q. Who made the film - and why

A. Writer/actor/director/cinematographer John Huston certainly made better films than Escape to Victory: The Maltese Falcon. The Treasure of The Sierra Madre, Moby Dick, and The African Queen. The film today still enjoys a cult status, thanks probably to schoolboy nostalgia. As well as attracting an impressive array of footballers, the supporting cast included the appearance of respected British thesps Tim Pigott-Smith (The Jewel In The Crown), Maurice Roeves (The Last of the Mohicans) and Daniel Massey among the Allied off-field staff. The box office ratings got a major boost with Sir Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone taking key parts.

The origins of Escape to Victory are unclear. The film doesn't receive a mention in Huston's autobiography, An Open Book, and it's known the script was suggested by American Jeff Maguire and co-written by East-European Yabo Yablonsky.

It's possible that the idea of a team of Allied POW's taking on the full German side at the height of the Second World War was suggested by the celebrated WW1 incident in which the British and the Germans put their differences aside to have a kick about at Christmas. Or the time in 1938 when, an England team, in Berlin for a friendly game, gave the Hitler salute during preliminaries.

Huston certainly knew little about the game, but was known to be keen to work with Michael Caine after their collaboration on The Man Who Would Be King.

Q. Where was the film shot

A. The action took place in Hungary because the labour and extras were so cheap. Even the game at the end, which was set at the Stade Colomb in Paris, was filmed at a Hungarian first division team's ground. The film was wrapped in October 1980 and released in Britain the following September. It didn't enjoy the success of Stallone's Rocky or even The Eagle has Landed, but it did debut at number four on the UK film charts. It was scuppered by Indiana Jones (Raiders Of The Lost Ark) and James Bond (For Your Eyes Only). It hung around in the top five for a few weeks before being displaced by John Carpenter's Escape From New York.

Q. Was it a success in the US

A. It enjoyed success in Europe and Australia, but it proved as difficult to sell in America as the game itself. Indeed, the fact that the North American Soccer League folded within a decade of its inception, despite the presence of players such as Pele, George Best, Rodney Marsh and Trevor Francis, perhaps explains why Victory didn't make it onto Variety's highest-grossing lists.

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By Katharine MacColl