The Canadian Caper, saving U.S. diplomats trapped in Iran, getting Hollywood treatment

It was dubbed the Canadian Caper and became the source of a lot of (polite) chest thumping.

Now it's getting the full Hollywood blockbuster treatment, complete with A-list director and stars. But, of course, the American role will be front-row centre.

Iranian Islamic revolutionaries took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979, and held more than 50 American occupants hostage for 14 months. But several embassy staffers managed to escape the takeover that day and the story of how Canadian diplomats led by then-ambassador Ken Taylor sheltered them and helped them escape has become legendary in Canada.

The story was turned into a CBS TV movie in 1981 called Escape from Iran: The Canadian Caper, with Gordon Pinsent as Taylor.

Actor-director Ben Affleck will helm the new film, focusing on the CIA operation that helped get four consular officials and two wives out of Iran.

Postmedia News reported Friday the film started shooting in Los Angeles last week, with Washington, D.C., and Istanbul (presumably subbing for Tehran) the other locations.

George Clooney is producing the film and taking an acting role. Affleck plays Tony Mendez, a CIA agent who works with Taylor on the scheme to rescue the six Americans by pretending they're Canadian film-makers scouting locations for a bogus movie entitled Argo, which is what this film is called.

Other stars include Bryan Cranston, who plays the chemistry teacher-turned-meth cooker in AMC's Breaking Bad, as a CIA official and former Roseanne co-star John Goodman, and veteran character actor Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine) as movie types drawn into the plot.

Canadian actor Victor Garber, whose credits include movies such as Titanic, Sleepless in Seattle and Milk but is probably best known for his role in TV's Alias, will play Ken Taylor.

The Hollywood Reporter, which says the film is set for release next year, gives the CIA the lion's share of credit for the plan carried out, it says, "in co-operation with the Canadian government."

Canadians remember it differently.

The official account posted on the Foreign Affairs Department's website indicates Taylor and his embassy colleagues took the initiative and most of the risks while the Americans' escape route was set up, including scouting helicopter landing sites for a potential rescue operation.

The U.S. military later sent soldiers in to try to rescue the imprisoned hostages but it was aborted after two helicopters malfunctioned.

Taylor held his breath while Washington and Ottawa co-ordinated the escape plan, including genuine Canadian passports and forged Iranian travel documents. Meanwhile, word the diplomats were being sheltered by Canadians was leaking out and it became a race to get them to safety.

Disguised as Canadians, the six left Tehran on a regular Swissair flight on Jan. 27, 1980.

The remaining American hostages would not be freed until Jan. 20, 1981, the day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated U.S. president.

(Reuters Photo)