Released simply as Ashanti, this search-and-rescue film was adapted by scenarist Stephen Geller (
Slaughterhouse-Five) from Evano, a novel by Alberto Vasques-Figueroa. Odious middle-eastern slave trader
Peter Ustinov sets the plot in motion by kidnapping Beverly Johnson, the wife of World Health Organization doctor
Michael Caine. As Johnson is subjected to the basest of humiliations, Caine joins forces with soldier-of-fortune
Rex Harrison, pilot
William Holden and nomad
Kabir Bedi to rescue his wife. Shiek
Omar Sharif purchases Johnson, clearing the decks for an all-stops-out action finale.
Aldo Tonti lensed the picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide