The film involved some of the top filmmakers of the day and was shot on location in Austria and Bavaria. Hollywood stuntmanYakima Canutt was the second unit director and shot most of the action scenes; British stuntman Alf Joint doubled for Burton in many sequences, including the fight on top of the cable car; award-winning conductor and composer Ron Goodwin wrote the film score; and future Oscar nomineeArthur Ibbetson worked on the cinematography. Where Eagles Dare received mostly positive critical reaction, with praise for the action sequences, score and the performances of Burton and Eastwood, and has since been considered a classic.[4][5]
Plot
In the winter of 1943-44, MI6 officers Colonel Turner and Admiral Rolland assign Major John Smith, five other commandos of the Special Operations Executive, and U.S. Army Ranger Lieutenant Morris Schaffer of the OSS to rescue U.S. ArmyBrigadier General George Carnaby, a chief planner for the Western Front, captured by the Germans and held at the Schloß Adler, a mountaintop fortress in the Bavarian alpine village of Werfen, accessible only by cable car. Disguised as German troops, Smith and his team are to parachute in, infiltrate the castle, and rescue Carnaby before the Germans can interrogate him. After a Ju 52 transport plane drops the team, agent Mary Ellison is dropped separately in secret, her presence known only to Smith.
Though two commandos are mysteriously killed, Smith continues the operation; he keeps Schaffer as a close ally, and helps Mary meet local agent Heidi Schmidt, who arranges for Mary to be employed at the castle. Smith starts revealing to Mary that the mission is not what it initially seems - Carnaby's capture was deliberately staged by the British, and that Carnaby himself was replaced with an impersonator named Cartwright Jones. In Werfen, the Germans eventually surround the commandos in a gasthaus, forcing them to surrender. Smith and Schaffer (being officers) are separated from the remaining three operatives: Thomas, Berkeley, and Christiansen. Smith and Schaffer kill their captors, blow up a supply depot, and prepare an escape route for later use. They ride on the roof of a cable car up to the castle, and then climb inside when Mary lowers a rope.
German General Rosemeyer and Standartenführer Kramer are interrogating Carnaby when the three new prisoners arrive, who reveal themselves as German double agents. Smith and Schaffer intrude, weapons drawn, but Smith forces Schaffer to disarm, identifying himself as Sturmbannführer Johann Schmidt of the Schutzstaffel's SD intelligence branch. He conveys proof of his identity, which includes showing the name of Germany's top spy in Britain to Kramer, who silently affirms it. He exposes "General Carnaby" as Corporal Cartwright Jones, and claims that the double agents are British impostors, Smith proposes that they prove themselves by writing down the names of their fellow agents in Britain, to be compared to his own list in his pocket. After the three finish their lists, Smith takes them and then reveals that he was bluffing, and that the actual objective of the mission was to exploit the staged capture of Carnaby/Jones to penetrate the Sicherheitsdienst in order to obtain the identities of the German agents and their commander.
Meanwhile, Mary is visited by Sturmbannführer von Hapen, an SD officer attracted to her, but he becomes suspicious of flaws in her cover story. Leaving her, he happens upon the scene of Carnaby's interrogation just as Smith finishes his explanation. Von Hapen puts everyone under arrest but is distracted when Mary arrives. Schaffer kills von Hapen and the other German officers with his silenced pistol. The group then makes its escape, taking the three double agents as prisoners. Schaffer sets explosives to create diversions around the castle, while Smith uses the radio room to inform Rolland of their success. From there they head to the cable car station, sacrificing Thomas as a decoy. Berkeley and Christiansen break free and attempt their own escape in a cable car; both are thwarted and killed by Smith. The group reunites with Heidi on the ground, boarding a bus they prepared earlier as an escape vehicle. They battle their way onto an airfield and escape via their Ju 52 transport, where Turner is waiting.
In the air, Smith reveals that Kramer confirmed Turner as Germany's top spy in Britain. Rolland lured Turner and the other double agents into the mission to expose them. Smith's trusted partner Mary and the American Schaffer (who had no connection to MI6) were assigned to the mission to ensure its success. Turner aims a Sten gun, but Rolland anticipated such a move and removed its firing pin. To avoid a humiliating court martial and execution, Turner is permitted to jump from the aircraft to his death. As the exhausted operatives fly home, Schaffer humorously tells Smith to keep his next operation "all-British".
Burton later said, "I decided to do the picture because Elizabeth's two sons said they were fed up with me making films they weren't allowed to see, or in which I get killed. They wanted me to kill a few people instead."[6]
Burton approached producer Elliott Kastner "and asked him if he had some super-hero stuff for me where I don't get killed in the end."[7]
The producer consulted MacLean and requested an adventure film filled with mystery, suspense, and action. 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, at that time entitled Castle of Eagles. Kastner hated the title, and chose Where Eagles Dare instead. The title[8] is from Act I, Scene III, Line 71 in William Shakespeare's Richard III: "The world is grown so bad, that wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch". Like virtually all of MacLean's works, Where Eagles Dare features his trademark "secret traitor", who must be unmasked by the end.
Kastner and co-producer Jerry Gershwin announced in July 1966 that they had purchased five MacLean scripts, starting with Where Eagles Dare and When Eight Bells Toll.[9] Brian Hutton had just made Sol Madrid for the producers and was signed to direct.[10]
Filming
Eastwood and Burton reportedly dubbed the film 'Where Doubles Dare' due to the amount of screen time in which stand-ins doubled for the cast during action sequences.[4] Filming began on 2 January 1968 in Austria and concluded in July 1968.[11] Eastwood received a salary of $800,000 while Burton received $1,200,000.[11][12] This is one of the first sound films to have used front projection effect.[13] This technology enabled filming of the scenes where the actors are on top of the cable car.
Eastwood initially thought the script written by MacLean was "terrible" and was "all exposition and complications." According to Derren Nesbitt, Eastwood requested that he be given less dialogue. Most of Schaffer's lines were given to Burton, whilst Eastwood handled most of the action scenes.[14] Director Hutton played to his actors' strengths, allowing for Burton's theatrical background to help the character of Smith and Eastwood's quiet demeanour to establish Schaffer. Eastwood took the part on the advice of his agent, who felt it would be interesting to see his client appear with someone with seniority. Eastwood and Burton got along well on set.[15]
Derren Nesbitt was keen to be as authentic as possible with his character Gestapo Major von Hapen. Whilst on location, he requested to meet a former member of the Gestapo to better understand how to play the character and to get the military regalia correct. While dressed in his SS uniform, he caused a Baron to faint with shock and found out that he was Himmler's driver. Nesbitt said that the "Jewish chronicle called me afterwards and said, 'How could you play a German?' I said 'I do it because I play them very badly.' That seemed to satisfy them." He was injured on set whilst filming the scene in which Schaffer kills von Hapen. The blood squib attached to Nesbitt exploded with such force that he was temporarily blinded, though he made a quick recovery.[14][16]
The filming was delayed due to the adverse weather in Austria. Shooting took place in winter and early spring of 1968, and the crew had to contend with blizzards, sub-zero temperatures and potential avalanches. Further delays were incurred when Richard Burton, well known for his drinking binges, disappeared for several days, with his friends Peter O'Toole, Oliver Reed, Trevor Howard and Richard Harris.[17] As part of his deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Clint Eastwood took delivery of a Norton P11 motorcycle, which he 'tested' at Brands Hatch racetrack,[18] accompanied by Ingrid Pitt, something that he had been forbidden from doing by Kastner for insurance purposes in case of injury or worse.[19]
Stuntman Alf Joint, who had played Capungo – the man whom 007 electrocuted in the bathtub in Goldfinger – doubled and was stand-in for Richard Burton, and performed the famous cable car jump sequence, during which he lost three teeth.[17] Joint stated that at one point during production, Burton was so drunk that he knocked himself out while filming and Joint had to quickly fill in for him.[20] Derren Nesbitt observed that Burton was drinking as many as four bottles of vodka per day.[21]
The cable car used was a Feuerkogel Seilbahn at Ebensee, Austria; filmed in January 1968.
Note: the scenes featuring the castle and the cable car together were filmed using a scale model.[27][28][29]
Airport scenes were filmed at the Flugplatz at 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 of the "Hoher Dachstein", or about 80 km east and 10 km south from Werfen.[30]
The village setting was Lofer, Austria; filmed in January 1968.
Where Eagles Dare was a huge success,[33] earning $6,560,000 at the North American box office during its first year of release.[34] It was the seventh-most popular film at the UK box office in 1969, and 13th in the US.[35]
Though many critics found the plot somewhat confusing, reviews of the film were generally positive.
Vincent Canby of the New York Times gave a positive review, praising the action scenes and cinematography.[36] Likewise, Variety praised the film, describing it as 'Highly entertaining, thrilling and rarely lets down for a moment… more of a saga of cool, calculated courage, than any glorification of war.'.[37] The film was particularly lucrative for Richard Burton, who earned a considerable sum in royalties through television repeats and video sales.[38]Where Eagles Dare had its first showing on British television on 26 December 1979 on BBC1.
Mad Magazine published a satire of the film in its October 1969 issue under the title "Where Vultures Fare." In 2009 Cinema Retro released a special issue dedicated to Where Eagles Dare which detailed the production and filming of the film.[39]
Years after its debut, Where Eagles Dare enjoys a reputation as a classic[40][4] and is considered by many as one of the best war films of all time.[41][42][43] General praise is given towards Burton and Eastwood's performances, as well as the various actions scenes.[44] Director Steven Spielberg cited it as his favourite war film.[45][46]Empire film critic Ian Nathan gave the film three out of five stars, citing it as "A fine example of that war movie staple" and calling it, a "Classic War caper with a few too many plot contrivances but high on adventure".[47] From the review in The Movie Scene: ""Where Eagles Dare" is by no means a great movie but it achieves what it sets out to do and that is to deliver action, adventure and excitement in a Boy's Own kind of way."[48]
Home media
Where Eagles Dare was released on Blu-ray in 2010.[49]
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. It 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. The release has been limited to 3,000 pressings. The soundtrack has received critical acclaim.[50]
Disc one
No.
Title
Length
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"
Novel
The principal difference is that the 1966 novel by Alistair MacLean is less violent. One scene during the escape from the castle where Smith saves a German guard from burning to death presaged the non-lethal thriller vein that MacLean would explore in his later career. In the novel the characters are more clearly defined and slightly more humorous than their depictions in the film, which is fast-paced and has sombre performances from Burton and Eastwood at its centre. Three characters are differently named in the novel: Ted Berkeley is called Edward Carraciola, Jock MacPherson is called Torrance-Smythe, and Major von Hapen is instead Captain von Brauchitsch. The love stories between Schaffer and Heidi and between Smith and Mary were also cut.[51] Indeed, in the novel Smith asks London to arrange for a priest to meet them at the airport.
In the book the group is flown into Germany on board an RAF Avro Lancaster, whereas in the film they are transported in a LuftwaffeJunkers Ju 52. While in the film Kramer, Rosemeyer, and von Hapen are shot dead by Schaffer, in the novel they are just given high doses of nembutal. In the book Thomas, Carraciola, and Christiansen attempt to escape in the cable car with Smith on the roof. Carraciola is crushed by the steel suspension arm of the cable car while struggling with Smith on the roof; Thomas and Christiansen fall to their deaths after Smith blows the cable car up with plastic explosive. In the film Christiansen is killed and Berkeley (Carraciola in the novel) incapacitated by Smith on the cable car (he dies when the cable car explodes), and Thomas is shot and killed by a German while climbing down a rope.[52]
References
Notes
^Webster, Jack (1991). Alistair MacLean: A Life. Chapmans. p. 133.
^"Metro-Goldwyn Omits Dividend; O'Brien Resigns: Board Cites Possible Loss Of Up to $19 Million in The Current Fiscal Year Bronfman Named Chairman". Wall Street Journal. 27 May 1969. p. 2.
^Preview: a young director and his $9 million cliff-hanger: 'Chat' pictures 'What's that?' 'Positive' alternatives
By Roderick Nordell. The Christian Science Monitor 7 Mar 1969: 4.
^"Big Rental Films of 1969", Variety, 7 January 1970 p. 15
^"The World's Top Twenty Films." Sunday Times [London, UK] 27 September 1970: 27. The Sunday Times Digital Archive. accessed 5 April 2014
