Where Eagles Dare

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For other uses, see Where Eagles Dare (disambiguation).
Where Eagles Dare
Where Eagles Dare poster.jpg
film poster by Howard Terpning
Directed by Brian G. Hutton
Produced by Elliott Kastner
Jerry Gershwin
Screenplay by Alistair MacLean
Based on Where Eagles Dare  
by Alistair MacLean
Starring Richard Burton
Clint Eastwood
Mary Ure
Music by Ron Goodwin
Cinematography Arthur Ibbetson
Editing by John Jympson
Studio Winkast Film Productions
Distributed by MGM
Release date(s)
  • 4 December 1968 (1968-12-04) (UK)
  • 12 March 1969 (1969-03-12) (US)
Running time 155 minutes
Country United Kingdom
United States
Language English
Box office $21,000,000[1]

Where Eagles Dare is a 1968 World War II action film starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It was directed by Brian G. Hutton and shot on location in Austria and Bavaria. Alistair MacLean wrote the novel and the screenplay at the same time. It was his first screenplay; both film and book became commercial successes.

The production hired some of the top moviemaking professionals and is considered a classic.[2] Major contributors included Hollywood stuntman Yakima Canutt, who, as second-unit director, shot most of the action scenes; British stuntman Alf Joint, who doubled for Burton in such sequences as the fight on top of the cable car; award-winning conductor and composer Ron Goodwin, who wrote the film score, and future Oscar-nominee Arthur Ibbetson, who worked on its cinematography.

Contents

Plot [edit]

In the winter of 1943-44, U.S. Army Brigadier General George Carnaby (Robert Beatty), a chief planner of the second front, is captured by the Germans when his aircraft is shot down en route to Crete. He is taken for interrogation to the Schloss Adler, a fortress high in the Alps of southern Bavaria. A team of commandos, led by Major John Smith (Richard Burton) and U.S. Army Ranger Lieutenant Morris Schaffer (Clint Eastwood), is briefed by Colonel Turner (Patrick Wymark) and Admiral Rolland (Michael Hordern) of MI6. Their mission is to parachute in, infiltrate the castle, and rescue General Carnaby before the Germans can interrogate him. MI6 Agent Mary Elison (Mary Ure) accompanies the mission in secret, her presence known only to Major Smith.

Early in the mission, two of the sergeants, MacPherson (Neil McCarthy) and radio operator Harrod (Brook Williams), are mysteriously killed; but Major Smith is unperturbed, keeping Lt. Schaffer as a close ally and secretly updating Admiral Rolland on developments by radio, using the call sign "Broadsword." After seeming to give up and allowing themselves to be captured, Maj. Smith and Schaffer, being officers, are separated from the three remaining NCOs—Thomas (William Squire), Berkeley (Peter Barkworth) and Christiansen (Donald Houston). Smith and Schaffer kill their captors and blow up a supply depot before hitching a ride on a cable car—the only approach to the castle. Mary, posing as a maid, had been brought into the castle by Heidi (Ingrid Pitt), a deep-cover MI6 agent working as a barmaid in the nearby village; Maj. von Hapen (Derren Nesbitt), an Gestapo officer whom Heidi has been cultivating, becomes infatuated with her. Mary helps Schaffer and Smith to climb up a rope and in through a window overlooking the castle's tramway station.

Carnaby's interrogation, carried out by Gen. Rosemeyer (Ferdy Mayne) and Col. Kramer (Anton Diffring), is underway when the three NCOs arrive and reveal themselves to be German double agents. Smith and Schaffer intrude, but Smith then forces Schaffer to disarm and establishes himself as Maj. Johann Schmidt of the SD, the military intelligence branch of the SS. He exposes the identity of "General Carnaby" — that of Cartwright Jones, an American Corporal. He also claims that Thomas, Berkeley and Christiansen are British impostors. To test them, Smith/Schmidt proposes they write down the names of their fellow agents/conspirators in Britain, to be compared to the personal list in his pocket (having discreetly divulged the name of Germany's top agent in Britain to Kramer, who silently affirms it). After the three finish their lists, Smith reveals his list to Kramer, which is in fact blank. With the room now covered by Smith and the re-armed Schaffer, Smith then reveals the rescue operation was a cover for the real mission — to discover the identities of German spies in Britain.

Meanwhile, Mary, while preparing the explosives, is visited by von Hapen. He takes her to the castle's cafe and persuades her to recite the tale of her assumed identity. Finding faults in her story, he investigates and happens upon the meeting over Carnaby's interrogation just as Smith finishes his explanation. Von Hapen puts the room under arrest, but is distracted by Mary's entrance, enabling Schaffer to kill him and the other German officers. The group then escapes with Thomas, Berkeley and Christiansen as prisoners. Schaffer sets explosives to create diversions around the compound, while Smith leads the group to the Radio Room, where he informs Rolland of their success. They then battle their way to the cable car station, sacrificing Thomas as a decoy. Berkeley and Christiansen attempt their own escape in a cable car, but Smith, after a roof-top fight with its passengers, destroys the car with an explosive, hurling himself onto a returning cable car and subsequently riding back down with the others. They abandon the car mid-descent to avoid a party of armed Germans and to reunite with Heidi and board a bus as their escape vehicle. With soldiers in hot pursuit, they wreak havoc in an airfield before escaping on a disguised extraction plane, where Col. Turner is waiting for them.

Smith briefs Turner on the mission and confirms a suspicion he and Rolland had shared since before the start—that Turner is the top Nazi agent in Britain, whose name the late Colonel Kramer had agreed to before. Turner had been lured into participating so MI6 could expose him, with Smith's trusted partner Mary and the American Schaffer, who had no connection to MI6, specially assigned to the team to ensure the mission's success.

Smith elaborates further on Rolland's awareness of Turner's duplicity as the exposed spy brings the Sten gun cradled in his lap to bear on Smith, saying the Admiral made sure that he had that particular gun given to him before he boarded the escape plane: Turner attempts to shoot Smith, only to discover the firing pin has been previously removed. Deciding to save face, Turner commits suicide by jumping out of the plane without a parachute. The film ends with Schaffer saying to Smith: "Do me a favour, will ya? The next time you have one of these things, keep it an all-British operation," to which Smith replies, "I'll try, Lieutenant."

Cast [edit]

Production [edit]

Burton approached producer Elliott Kastner for ideas, who consulted MacLean. Most of MacLean's novels had been made into films or were being filmed. Kastner persuaded MacLean to write a new story; six weeks later, he delivered the script of Where Eagles Dare. The title is from Act I, Scene III in William Shakespeare's Richard III: "The world is grown so bad, that wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch". Eastwood and Burton reportedly dubbed the film 'Where Doubles Dare' due to time stand-ins doubled for action sequences.[2] Filming began on January 2, 1968 in Austria and did not conclude until July 1968.[3] Eastwood received a salary of $800,000 while Burton received $1,200,000.[3][4] This is one of the first films to use front projection effect (what today has now evolved into what is referred to as green screen technology). Specifically, this technology enabled filming of the scenes where the actors are on top of the cable car.

Filming locations [edit]

  • the castle – Burg Hohenwerfen, Werfen, Austria; filmed in January 1968,
  • cable car – Feuerkogel Seilbahn at Ebensee (Austria); filmed in January 1968,
  • airport scenes – Flugplatz Aigen im Ennstal (Austria); filmed in early 1968. The exact place of filming is the "Fiala-Fernbrugg" garrison, still used by HS Geschwader 2 and FlAR2/3rd Bat. of the Austrian army. The big rocky mountain in the background of the airfield is the Grimming mountains, about 40 km east from the "Hoher Dachstein", or about 80 km east and 10 km south from Werfen,[5]
  • other scenes – Borehamwood Studios, Hertfordshire, England; filmed in spring 1968

Bloopers — After the team parachutes into the high Alpine pasture, numerous footpaths can be seen in the supposedly virgin snow indicating multiple takes were made of these scenes. In the cable car scene, the actors are seen jumping from the cable car into the water. All four are shown reaching the banks and climbing out of the water. Mary Ure reaches the bank first, climbs out and a shot from behind shows a woman with her hair wet. When they cut back to the other actors still climbing out of the water, a scene with Ure visible, her hair looks dry. As they show the rest of the actors, a woman supposedly Ure, playing with her wet hair is again seen. As all four actors are then seen running from the banks, Ure's very blonde hair is dry.

The Helicopter — The accusation that the helicopter was anachronistic is sometimes made, but in fact the Nazis had 44 helicopters. Of course the one in the film was an American-made Bell 47(which did not in fact enter service until 1946), not a German wartime model.

Crete reference — In the script, the so-called general Carnaby was supposed to meet someone in Crete, and this was inappropriate. This island was occupied by the Germans from June 1941.

Reception [edit]

The film earned $6,560,000 in rentals at the North American box office during its first year of release.[6]

Soundtrack [edit]

Where Eagles Dare
Soundtrack album by Ron Goodwin
Released January 4, 2005
Genre Soundtracks
Original Score
Film music
Length 74:07
Label Film Score Monthly
Producer Lukas Kendall

The score was composed by Ron Goodwin. A soundtrack was released on Compact Disc in 2005 by Film Score Monthly, of the Silver Age Classics series, in association with Turner Entertainment. This was a two disc release, the first CD being the film music, the second the film music for Operation Crossbow and source music for Where Eagles Dare. This release has been limited to 3000 pressings.

Track listings for Where Eagles Dare

  1. Main Title
  2. Before Jump/Death of Harrod
  3. Mary and Smith Meet/Sting on Castle/Parade Ground
  4. Preparation in Luggage Office/Fight in Car
  5. The Booby Trap
  6. Ascent on the Cable Car
  7. Death of Radio Engineer and Helicopter Pilot
  8. Checking on Smith/Names in Notebook
  9. Smith Triumphs Over Nazis
  10. Intermission Playout
  11. Entr'Acte
  12. Encounter in the Castle
  13. Journey through the Castle Part 1
  14. Journey through the Castle Part 2
  15. Descent and Fight on the Cable Car
  16. Escape from the Cable Car
  17. Chase, Part 1 and 2
  18. The Chase in the Airfield
  19. The Real Traitor
  20. End Playout

References [edit]

  1. ^ Hughes, p.194
  2. ^ a b "Where Eagles Dare". TCM. Retrieved 2009-11-21. 
  3. ^ a b Hughes, pp.191-192
  4. ^ Munn, p. 79
  5. ^ Where Eagles Dare.com (Trivia)
  6. ^ "Big Rental Films of 1969", Variety, 7 January 1970 p 15

Bibliography [edit]

External links [edit]

Films directed by Brian G. Hutton
1960s
1970s
1980s
Novels
Short story collections
Non-fiction
Adaptations
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