Where Eagles Dare (1968)

Allied agents stage a daring raid on a castle where the Nazis are holding an American General prisoner... but that's not all that's really going on.

Director:

Brian G. Hutton

Writers:

Alistair MacLean (story), Alistair MacLean (screenplay),

Stars:

Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, Mary Ure

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Burton	...	Maj. Smith
Clint Eastwood	...	Schaffer
Mary Ure	...	Mary Ellison
Patrick Wymark	...	Col. Turner
Michael Hordern	...	Adm. Rolland
Donald Houston	...	Christiansen
Peter Barkworth	...	Berkeley
William Squire	...	Thomas
Robert Beatty	...	Gen. George Carnaby
Brook Williams	...	Sgt. Harrod
Neil McCarthy	...	Sgt. Jock MacPherson
Vincent Ball	...	Carpenter
Anton Diffring	...	Col. Kramer
Ferdy Mayne	...	Rosemeyer
Derren Nesbitt	...	Von Hapen

Storyline

During WW2 a British aircraft is shot down and crashes in Nazi held territory. The Germans capture the only survivor, an American General, and take him to the nearest SS headquarters. Unknown to the Germans the General has full knowledge of the D-Day operation. The British decide that the General must not be allowed to divulge any details of the Normandy landing at all cost and order Major John Smith to lead a crack commando team to rescue him. Amongst the team is an American Ranger, Lieutenant Schaffer, who is puzzled by his inclusion in an all British operation. When one of the team dies after the parachute drop, Schaffer suspects that Smith's mission has a much more secret objective.

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Plot Keywords:

american | british | general | mission | germany | 

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Taglines:

These people work for the military. First they're going to get the enemy... then they're going after the brass that sent them.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | War

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Certificate:

M

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English German

Release Date:

12 March 1969 (USA)

Also Known As:

Agenten sterben einsam

Filming Locations:

Aigen im Ennstal, Steiermark, Austria

Box Office

Gross:

SEK 11,639,000 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Jerry Gershwin Productions, Elliott Kastner Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

158 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Mono (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

An accident during one of the action scenes left producer Elliott Kastner and director Brian G. Hutton badly burned.

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Goofs

Throughout most of the film, Smith refers to Schaffer as "Lieutenant," using the British pronunciation "lef-tenant." But in the final scene in the airplane, he uses the American pronunciation "loo-tenant."

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Quotes

Major John Smith: Lieutenant, in the next 15 minutes we have to create enough confusion to get out of here alive.
Lt. Morris Schaffer: Major, right now you got me about as confused as I ever hope to be.

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Connections

Featured in Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2001)

User Reviews

One of the best adaptations among Allistair Maclean's novels

A highly entertaining world war II action film with two of the greatest actors of their time at a high point of their career - Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. The first hour or so is the setting to the action that will follow: a group of American and British soldiers is sent to a castle where the Natzis are holding an important American General. The plot of course is not that simple and has a lot of spins and surprises that accompanied by a fascinating action scenes (Very impressing for a 1968). With a beautiful filming location at the freezing landscapes of Germany and Austria this movie is truly an amazing to watch. Notable sequences are the cable car sequence and the final escaping sequence. Richard Burton gives his usual strong performance and Clint Eastwood is good as his executor. All in all a well crafted action classic that is highly recommended. 10/10