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

1 win & 3 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	...	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:

british intelligence | commando unit | sabotage | infiltrator | mi6 | 

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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:

PG

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

12 March 1969 (USA)

Also Known As:

Agenten sterben einsam

Filming Locations:

Festung Hohenwerfen, Salzburg, Austria

Box Office

Budget:

$7,700,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$21,000,000, 31 December 1968

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gershwin-Kastner Productions, Winkast Film 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

According to a special feature about this film, Ingrid Pitt, who plays Heidi, made a daring escape in real life, over the Berlin Wall.

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Goofs

When the double agent named Thomas is shot while dangling from a rope outside the castle, the close-up shows him wearing a standard German field gray uniform. In the next shot, as he plummets to his death, he is wearing a camouflaged winter overcoat.

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Quotes

Vice Admiral Rolland: Security? The word's become a bloody joke!

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Alternate Versions

The original release running 158 minutes had an Intermission and Entre'acte that have been skipped from many video releases (including the DVD release from Warner), resulting in a 155 minute version. This has induced a fade-out and fade-in of the music in the scenes preceding and following. The intermission was originally placed after Lt. Schaeffer sets the explosives in the interrogation room.

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Connections

Referenced in A Bit of Fry and Laurie: Episode #2.5 (1990)

User Reviews

Could have been real...

Alistair McLean's movie adaptation is a thrill to watch.

Putting Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton together, was a masterpiece idea and it actually works!

The scenery in itself, in the Bavarian Alps, adds a touch of uneasiness about the entire story. Difficult to reach, difficult to conquer, but above all, difficult to escape from.

It's a cat and mouse game between British and German Intelligence services in World War Two. A later filmed adventure of this sort, but based on actual events, would add to the realistic perspectives shown in "Where Eagles Dare".

In fact, in 1976, a movie called "The Eagle Has Landed", inspired this time from a novel by Jack Higgins, dealt with the plan of the Third Reich to abduct and/or kill Winston Churchill!

If one considers that, "Where Eagles Dare" depicts something that could really have happened, only from the other side of the fence.

Everything in it is depicted in a very realistic and chilling manner and even if someone described it as James Bond in WWII, it is far less fantastic as one may come to think.

Granted, to perform such missions, someone ought to have been either a madman or so careless about his life, that luck would have had more importance than actual real tactics.

Nevertheless, this is an adventure movie that grips you from the very first instant and doesn't let loose to the end.

Far more paced than "Guns of Navarone", this is one of the few very good action movies ever made.

The music by veteran composer Ron Goodwin is memorable and unlike his other "war" installments so easily identifiable that you will be left humming it even when the movie is already finished.

It is more a cult movie, than an actual "history-making" one, but as i always say, they don't make them like this anymore.