When the SS Festivale sets sail from New York to France, it's 3,000 passengers include Pulitzer Prize-winning author Harold Columbine (Chad Everett) and 146 members of the Church of the Cosmic Path, led by Father Craig Dunleavy (Telly Savalas), their charismatic messiah. Seizing control of the ship, Dunleavy demands $70 million in gold, intending to kill everyone onboard once it's paid. Without knowing which passengers are cultists and warned that 12 will die for every hijacker harmed, Columbine and the captain (Louis Jourdan) search for a way to save 3,000 lives before Dunleavy makes good on his threat. Based on a novel by screenwriter Ernest Lehman (North by Northwest), the French Atlantic Affair was broadcast over three nights in November 1979. The Emmy-winning* miniseries star-studded cast includes Michelle Phillips, Donald Pleasence and three Oscar®-winning actors†: José Ferrer, John Houseman and Shelley Winters. *Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design and Title Sequences José Ferrer: Actor, Cyrano de Bergerac, 1950; John Houseman: Actor in a Supporting Role, the Paper Chase, 1973; Shelley Winters: Actress in a Supporting Role, the Diary of Anne Frank, 1959, and a Patch of Blue, 1965.