Where Eagles Dare
| Where Eagles Dare | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Brian G. Hutton |
| Written by | Alistair MacLean |
| Produced by | Elliott Kastner Jerry Gershwin |
| Starring | Richard Burton Clint Eastwood Mary Ure |
| Cinematography | Arthur Ibbetson, BSC |
| Edited by | John Jympson |
| Music by | Ron Goodwin |
| Distributed by | MGM |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 155 minutes |
| Countries | Template:Film UK Template:Film US |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $21,000,000[1] |
Where Eagles Dare is a 1968 World War II action-adventure spy film starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It was directed by Brian G. Hutton and shot on location in Upper 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 Yakima Canutt, the Hollywood stuntman, who as second-unit director shot most of the action scenes, British stuntman Alf Joint who doubled for Burton in sequences such 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.
Plot
In the winter of 1943-44, U.S. Army Brigadier General George Carnaby, one of the chief planners of D-Day, is captured by the Germans when his aircraft is shot down en-route to Crete. He is taken to the Schloß Adler, a fortress high in the Alps of southern Bavaria. A team of commandos is assembled and briefed by Colonel Wyatt Turner and Admiral Rolland of MI6, and led by Major John Smith and US Army Ranger Lieutenant Morris Schaffer. Their mission is to parachute in, infiltrate the castle, and rescue General Carnaby before the Germans can interrogate him. MI6 Agent Mary Elison accompanies the mission in secret, her presence known only to Major Smith.
As the mission begins, two members 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 being captured, Smith and Schaffer, being officers, are separated from the only three remaining NCOs (Thomas, Berkeley and Christiansen). 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, an MI6 agent disguised as a barmaid in the nearby village, and Major Von Hapen, a Gestapo officer and Heidi's acquaintance, becomes infatuated with her. Mary allows Schaffer and Smith to climb in through a window overlooking the castle's station.
Carnaby's interrogation is underway, carried out by Gen. Rosemeyer and Col. Kramer, when Thomas and the others arrive and reveal themselves to be German double agents. Smith and Schaffer intrude, but Smith betrays and disarms Schaffer, and establishes himself as Major Johann Schmidt of SS Military Intelligence. He exposes the identity of Carnaby — that of a U.S. Army Corporal named Cartwright Jones, posing as the real general — and also explains that Thomas and the rest are British impostors. To test them, Smith proposes they write the names of their fellow conspirators to be compared to the personal list in his pocket, and divulges the name of Germany's top agent in Britain secretly to Kramer, who silently affirms it. After the three finish their lists, Smith reveals his list to Kramer, which appears to be blank. To the room's surprise, Smith admits the rescue operation was a cover for the real mission — to discover the identities of German spies in Britain.
Meanwhile, Mary, preparing the explosives, meets von Hapen again; he takes her to the castle's cafe, and subtly forces her to recite the tale of her assumed identity. He finds faults in her story, prompting him to investigate; he happens upon the meeting just as Smith finishes his explanation, and becomes hostile. Mary's entrance distracts von Hapen enough for Schaffer to kill him and the other German officers, after which the group escapes with Thomas, Berkeley and Christiansen as prisoners. Schaffer sets explosives to create diversions around the compound, and 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; Thomas is sacrificed as a decoy, and Berkeley and Christiansen attempt their own escape, but Smith climbs atop the cable car they steal and destroys it with an explosive. Smith makes it back on a returning cable car and rides back down with the others, but the group abandons it mid-descent to reunite with Heidi and board a bus, prepared earlier as their escape vehicle. They drive hard to an airfield with soldiers in hot pursuit, and barely make it onto a disguised extraction plane, where Colonel 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 Kramer had agreed to before; Turner had been lured into participating so MI6 could expose him, with Mary (Smith's trusted partner) and Schaffer (an American with 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 be rewarded with a dead click - MI6 made sure the firing-pin was removed as they knew Turner would attempt to kill the man who would blow his cover. Deciding to save face, Turner commits suicide by jumping out of the plane. 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
- Richard Burton as Smith
- Clint Eastwood as Schaffer
- Mary Ure as Mary
- Patrick Wymark as Colonel Turner
- Michael Hordern as Admiral Rolland
- Donald Houston as Christiansen
- Peter Barkworth as Berkeley
- William Squire as Thomas
- Robert Beatty as Carnaby
- Brook Williams as Harrod
- Neil McCarthy as MacPherson
- Vincent Ball as Carpenter
- Anton Diffring as Kramer
- Ferdy Mayne as Rosemeyer
- Derren Nesbitt as Von Hapen
- Victor Beaumont as Weissner
- Ingrid Pitt as Heidi
- Guy Deghy as Major Wilhelm Wilner
Production
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
- 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
Soundtrack
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
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
- Main Title
- Before Jump/Death of Harrod
- Mary and Smith Meet/Sting on Castle/Parade Ground
- Preparation in Luggage Office/Fight in Car
- The Booby Trap
- Ascent on the Cable Car
- Death of Radio Engineer and Helicopter Pilot
- Checking on Smith/Names in Notebook
- Smith Triumphs Over Nazis
- Intermission Playout
- Entr'Acte
- Encounter in the Castle
- Journey through the Castle Part 1
- Journey through the Castle Part 2
- Descent and Fight on the Cable Car
- Escape from the Cable Car
- Chase, Part 1 and 2
- The Chase in the Airfield
- The Real Traitor
- End Playout
References
- ^ Hughes, p.194
- ^ a b "Where Eagles Dare". TCM. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
- ^ a b Hughes, pp.191-192
- ^ Munn, p. 79
- ^ Where Eagles Dare.com (Trivia)
Bibliography
- Hughes, Howard (2009). Aim for the Heart. London: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-902-7.
- Munn, Michael (1992). Clint Eastwood: Hollywood's Loner. London: Robson Books. ISBN 0-86051-790-X.
