Where Eagles Dare
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Allied agents stage a daring raid on a castle where the Nazis are holding American brigadier general George Carnaby prisoner, but that's not all that's really going on.
Where Eagles Dare Subtitle Congo Free State, The
Where Eagles Dare
Allied agents stage a daring raid on a castle where the Nazis are holding American brigadier general George Carnaby prisoner, but that's not all that's really going on.
During World War II, a British aircraft is shot down and crashes in Nazi held territory. The Germans capture the only survivor, American Brigadier General George Carnaby (Robert Beatty), and take him to the nearest S.S. 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 costs, and order Major Jonathan Smith (Richard Burton) to lead a crack commando team to rescue him. Amongst the team is an American Ranger, Lieutenant Morris Schaffer (Clint Eastwood), 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.
User Review
It's fictional, as were Alistair MacLean's other great war stories, but what's unique about Where Eagles Dare is that he also wrote the screenplay (in fact prior to writing the novel). Along with director Brian G Hutton, he created the basis of a two and a half hour+ movie which fairly hums along, not just because of the plentiful action scenes, but because of the intriguing plot line, that just keeps unfolding right up to the last couple of onscreen minutes. We are literally dropped into the action, along with the British/American extraction team shortly after the opening credits. There is only one brief flashback to sketch out the mission details for us, so we gain more narrative information as the movie timeline progresses, just as Clint Eastwood's Lt Schaffer does. Speaking of Eastwood, this was one of 3 films released in 1968, he had major roles in, that really consolidated his accession to the Hollywood "A" list, after he'd made a name for himself in European films. Sharing the lead with Richard Burton was a successful marriage of convenience, as one can't quite imagine Clint pulling off the longish, but necessary expository scenes, such as that around the fire in the Nazi drawing room, quite as well as Burton's Major Smith. That sort of stuff was second nature to the Shakespearian - trained Burton, whilst Eastwood contentedly added to his taciturn, but quietly threatening onscreen persona. The trademark MacLean twists come thick and fast in the second half of the film, as does the action which ramps up quite a deal, culminating in the extended escape episode from the Schlo� Adler, a mountaintop fortress accessible only by cable car or helicopter. And the onscreen action and tensity is only enhanced by Ron Goodwin's well-known soundtrack. Where Eagles Dare and his follow-up film Kelly's Heroes are the two war films for undoubtedly which director Hutton is most famous. Besides both involving a collaboration with Clint Eastwood, they are generally recognised as being popular modern classics of the genre. Though not necessarily artistically great, they have great entertainment value, which 50 years of time passing, hasn't affected in the least. Definitely worth a look!
