Eagles Over London (1969) La battaglia d'Inghilterra (original title)

Director:

Enzo G. Castellari

Writers:

Tito Carpi (story) &
Vincenzo Flamini (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

January 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot Keywords:

World War Two | Apostrophe In Title | Country Name In Title | Punctuation In Title | Airforce

Cast

Frederick Stafford	...	Captain Paul Stevens
Van Johnson	...	Air Marshal George Taylor
Francisco Rabal	...	Martin Donovan
Ida Galli	...	Meg (as Evelyn Stewart)
Luigi Pistilli	...	Maj. Krueger
Renzo Palmer	...	Sgt. Donald Mulligan
Luis Dávila	...	Jacques
Christian Hay	...	Gaston
Jacques Berthier	...	Colonel Smith
Teresa Gimpera	...	Sheila
George Rigaud	...	British general
Eduardo Fajardo	...	German officer
Ugo Adinolfi
Umberto Di Grazia
Ricardo Valle
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Edy Biagetti	...	Karl (uncredited)
Ángel del Pozo	...	English airman (uncredited)
Alfredo Mayo	...	English officer (uncredited)
Walter Patriarca	...	Cameraman at Dunkirk (uncredited)
Alfonso Rojas	...	English officer (uncredited)

Directed by
Enzo G. Castellari

Writing credits
Tito Carpi		(story) &
Vincenzo Flamini		(story) &
José Luis Martínez Mollá		(story) (as José Martinez Molla) &
Guilles Morris Dumoulin		(story) (as Gilles Dumoulin) &
Enzo G. Castellari		(story)
Tito Carpi		(screenplay) &
Vincenzo Flamini		(screenplay) &
José Luis Martínez Mollá		(screenplay) (as José Martinez Molla) &
Guilles Morris Dumoulin		(screenplay) (as Gilles Dumoulin) &
Enzo G. Castellari		(screenplay)

Produced by
Edmondo Amati	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Francesco De Masi

Cinematography by
Alejandro Ulloa

Film Editing by
Vincenzo Tomassi		(as Vincent Thomas)

Production Design by
Alberto Boccianti
Adolfo Cofiño

Set Decoration by
Gianfranco Ramacci		(as Gianfrancesco Ramacci)

Makeup Department
Giancarlo De Leonardis	....	key hair stylist
Carlos Nin	....	makeup artist
Josefa Pérez	....	hair stylist (as Josefina Pérez)
Carlo Sindici	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Maurizio Amati	....	production supervisor
Francesco Campitelli	....	production manager
Francisco Enriquez	....	production supervisor
Luis Méndez	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mariano Canales	....	assistant director (as Mario Canales)
Giorgio Ubaldi	....	assistant director: aerial unit

Art Department
Adolfo Cofiño	....	architect

Sound Department
Gianni D'Amico	....	sound mixer
Antonio Moretti	....	boom operator
Pablo Pérez	....	sound effects
Pietro Vesperini	....	sound engineer
Erick Jolley	....	audio restoration (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Eugenio Ascani	....	special effects
Emilio Ruiz del Río	....	special effects aerial unit

Camera and Electrical Department
Giovanni Bergamini	....	camera operator (as Gianni Bergamini)

Editorial Department
Gianfranco Amicucci	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Francesco De Masi	....	musical director

Other crew
Isabel Mulá	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Fida Cinematografica
• Atlántida Films
• Les Productions Jacques Roitfeld

Distributors

• Atlántida Films (1970) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Cineglobe (1973) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Constantin Film (1970) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• International Film Distributors (1973) (Canada) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1977) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Severin Films (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• UAP Video GmbH (2005) (Germany) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"La battaglia d'Inghilterra" - Italy (original title)
"Battle Command" - USA (reissue title)

Runtime:

Italy:110 min | Spain:115 min | USA:100 min | France:110 min | West Germany:116 min

Country:

Italy | France | Spain

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 | West Germany:16 (nf) | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Holland Park, London, England, UK

Company:

Fida Cinematografica

Trivia:

Enzo G. Castellari original did not know what a "split screen" method was when he was asked to direct the effects sequences utilizing stock footage using a split screen method. He was shown the American films The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and The Boston Strangler (1968) which both utilized split screen.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: A London bus wouldn't show LONDON on the roll sign for the route's endpoint, but rather a specific place within London.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Train Kept A-Rollin' (2008) (V)

Great Suspense, Energy and Pizzaz

Here we have, yes, another Italian war movie from the early 1970s. This one features a half-decent international cast and a slew of decent action sequences.

As the British evacuate Dunkirk, several German saboteurs infiltrate their forces. They kill a squad of English troops and take their ID tags. Frederick Stafford, the platoon leader, finds the dead men and realizes their IDs are missing. Upon returning to England, he heads efforts to locate the saboteurs before they can blow up radar installations along the coast.

The film boasts a good international cast: Frederick Stafford, though dubbed, is pretty good as the Hungarian-English Captain. Van Johnson does a corny bit as an English Air Marshall and even participates in a few aerial battles. Francisco Rabal is very good as the German officer who befriends Stafford; Stafford realizes who he REALLY is and must face him during the bone-shattering climax. Hottie Ida Galli turns in a good performance as Stafford's girlfriend. I must also note the presence of Luigi Pistilli as the German group leader. The man was marvelous in the Leone westerns and is very good here as well.

The battle sequences range from superb to incredibly corny. The dogfights involve live action, miniatures, and poorly edited black and white stock footage. The ground combat scenes are often confusing -- but exciting -- since the British and German infiltrators wear the same uniforms. Great cinematography -- this appears to be filmed on location in England is is done well. The music score is typical adventure type stuff but does the job. Much of the combat footage found itself recycled in Umberto Lenzi's FROM HELL TO VICTORY in 1979.

Overall, for a good cast and great direction by Enzo Castellari, I give it a 7/10.