Where Eagles Dare
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Where Eagles Dare | |
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| Directed by | Brian G. Hutton |
| Produced by | Elliott Kastner |
| Written by | Alistair MacLean (novel and screenplay) |
| Starring | Richard Burton Clint Eastwood Mary Ure |
| Music by | Ron Goodwin |
| Cinematography | Arthur Ibbetson, BSC |
| Editing by | John Jympson |
| Distributed by | MGM |
| Release date(s) | December 4, 1968 (UK) |
| Running time | 155 min. |
| Country |  United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Where Eagles Dare is a 1968 war adventure film directed by Brian G. Hutton, featuring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, and Mary Ure. Its screenplay and eponymous 1967 best-selling novel were written almost simultaneously by Alistair MacLean; this was his first screenplay; both the film and the novel are considered classics of their genres.[1]
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[edit] History
The driving force behind the film was Richard Burton's son, who wanted to see his father in a good, old-fashioned adventure war movie. Burton approached producer Elliott Kastner for ideas, who consulted with MacLean. At that time, most of MacLean's novels had either been made into films, or were in the process of being filmed, nevertheless, Kastner persuaded MacLean to write a new story; six weeks later, MacLean delivered the script of Where Eagles Dare..
The title derives 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".
[edit] Plot
Where Eagles Dare (and MacLean's work in general) is known and acclaimed for its intricate plot, fully revealed to the audience only in the final scene. Like almost all of MacLean's works, it also features a traitor, whose identity is only revealed at the finale.
Where Eagles Dare takes place during World War II. In the winter of 1943-44, U.S. Army Brigadier General George Carnaby, enroute to Crete to rendezvous with Russian forces to plan the final details of the invasion of Normandy, is captured by the Germans when his aircraft is shot down. He is taken to the Schloß Adler (The Castle of the Eagles - hence the story's title), a fortress high in the Alps above the town of Werfen and the headquarters of the German Secret Service in southern Bavaria. A special team of mainly British commandos is hurriedly assembled and briefed by Colonel Wyatt Turner and Admiral Rolland of MI6, and led by Major John Smith, MC and US Army Ranger Lieutenant Morris Schaffer. Their mission is to parachute into the locality, infiltrate the Schloß Adler, and rescue General Carnaby before the Germans can interrogate him.
However, this mission is entirely a cover for an MI6 operation to disclose the identities of German double agents who have infiltrated British intelligence. Major Smith and Admiral Rolland manage the operation together; they know of some agents but not enough, and so devise a plan to trick known agents into disclosing their contacts, revealing the entire network of infiltrators. Three of the party on the Bavarian mission, Thomas, Barclay, and Christiansen, are known to be double agents only by Smith and Rolland, and are their targets of the MI6 plan.
Unbeknownst to all but Smith and Rolland, SOE agent Mary Elison, a trusted member of MI6, accompanies the mission. General Carnaby, really an American actor and look-alike by the name of Cartwright Jones, deliberately crash-landed near the castle after a staged attack by Royal Air Force fighters. Only Smith and Rolland, therefore, know that he is merely an excuse to enter the castle, where Smith can place Thomas et al., and their superiors, in a situation in which he can force them to write the names MI6 wants without knowing to whom they are disclosing them.
During the early hours of the mission, Thomas, Barclay, and Christiansen begin killing other members of the team and attempting to cover the evidence. Major Smith is unsurprised but shares his secret only with Lt. Schaffer, trustworthy because he has no former connection with MI6. (MacLean was careful not to disclose the truth of the mission to the reader at this point, a decision excellently mirrored in the film.)
Contriving to get the entire party captured, Smith and Schaffer, being officers, are separated from Thomas et al., the only three non-officers left alive after the murder of two others. Smith and Schaffer kill their captors, successfully cover the evidence, create a diversion in the town by blowing up the railway station, and make their way to the cable car station that provides the only safe entrance to the castle. When Thomas et al. are brought up to the castle under German guard, Smith and Schaffer silently climb on top of the car and ride to the Schloß Adler with them. Meanwhile, Mary Elison is brought into the castle by Heidi, a top trusted MI6 agent since 1941 disguised as a barmaid in Werfen. Once in her room, she lets down a rope from her window over the cable car station, and Smith and Schaffer climb inside.
All the parties are now in the castle. Thomas, Barclay, and Christiansen, taken for questioning, declare their true German identity. Smith and Schaffer are known to be missing; the German officers in charge of the interrogation of Carnaby, Gen. Rosemeyer and Col. Kramer, discover their secret entry into the castle but fail to find them.
Smith and Schaffer, hiding in a gallery above the dining room where Carnaby's interrogation is to take place, descend to the floor. Smith turns his gun on the horrified Schaffer, forcing him to drop his own weapon. He announces himself as Major Johann Schmidt of SS Military Intelligence, satisfying the doubting Kramer and Rosemeyer of this identity with false proof handed, years ago, to German allies. He exposes the true identity of Carnaby/Jones, and explains to the Germans that Thomas et al. are not double agents, but rather, British impostors claiming to be them. To test the "impostors"' identity, Smith proposes that they write down all the names of their fellow conspirators, to be compared to the "master list" in his pocket. There is, of course, no such list, as the names about to be written are precisely what Smith is here for. In addition, Smith writes a name on another piece of paper, shown only to Kramer - the name of the top German agent in Britain. Smith is guessing, but Kramer nods his agreement, waiting to see if the "exposed British agents" can come up with equal proof of their German identity.
Meanwhile, Mary, investigating the castle to plan the party's escape, meets Major von Brauchitsch, a Gestapo officer. He takes her on a date to the castle's cafe, where he subtly forces her to give the tale of her assumed identity. Unfortunately, Mary's supposed hometown, Düsseldorf, is also von Brauchitsch's, and he realises through her faulty details that she is lying. Knowing there are British agents loose in the castle, von Brauchitsch leaves Mary to attempt to find the enemy.
Back in the dining room, Thomas, Barclay, and Christiansen finish writing their lists. Kramer takes one of the small notebooks, thumbing appreciatively through its pages, filled with German names. Smith hands him a notebook to compare to - the "master list." Its pages are blank. Before Kramer realises something is seriously amiss, Smith signals to Schaffer to retrieve his dropped gun. Together they shoot the guards, holding everyone but Carnaby/Jones at gunpoint. Taking the three books of names from Kramer, they are about to make good their escape when von Brauchitsch enters the room.
A Gestapo officer, von Brauchitsch trusts nobody and trains a pistol on the entire room, demanding an explanation. Smith, thinking quickly, explains that he has just uncovered a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, and that the books of names are the names of the conspirators, taken forcibly from the Germans seated at the table. Von Brauchitsch demands to see the names. Playing for time, Smith hesitates (stepping between von Brauchitsch and blocking his view of Schaffer - who removes his hidden pistol) in taking the books across the room to him; Schaffer shoots von Brauchitsch and Mary arrives bursting through the doors with her own gun. Between them, Mary, Smith, and Schaffer shoot Kramer, Rosemeyer, and the nurse on hand (whose job it was to inject Carnaby/Jones with scopolamine for the interrogation). They tie up Thomas, Barclay, and Christiansen, and begin their escape.
Smith and Schaffer organise a diversion in the form of blowing up half the castle while they, joined by Heidi, make their way to the cable car station. In the film version, the Germans shoot Carraciola after Smith forces him to climb down the rope Smith used to gain entry into the castle hours before. In one of the novel's most dramatic scenes, Thomas, Barclay, and Christiansen escape the guard of Smith and Schaffer, leaving the heroes stranded at the castle while they take the cable car down to Werfen. At the last second, Smith climbs on top of the car, fighting the men inside from the roof, balancing thousands of feet above the Alps. Christiansen climbs up to fight Smith, who forces him off the roof to his death. Placing a detonation charge on the car, Smith escapes by leaping onto the passing ascending car, leaving the surviving Thomas to be blown up. Smith rides up to the castle station, loads his party into the car, and rides it down, escaping the Germans waiting at the Werfen station by dropping into the river.
Smith, Schaffer, Mary, Heidi, and Jones make their way to a garage where earlier they had hotwired a bus for their escape. Pursued by the Germans, they drive to the nearby Oberhausen Airfield, where an RAF aircraft, painted as a German training plane posed a false emergency landing. On board is Colonel Turner, second-in-command of the supposed rescue mission. Under gunfire, the party boards the plane and escapes into the sky.
The final scene takes place on board the plane. Major Smith shows one of the books of German names to Turner, commenting that one single name is missing from the list - one that Thomas et al. couldn't have known, since the mastermind of the German spy network in Britain was kept hidden from them. It is the name Smith showed Kramer earlier that evening, the name Kramer confirmed as the top agent. That name is Colonel Turner. Turner, exposed, sees he faces a court-martial for treason in his native Britain, and chooses suicide, leaping from the plane. Smith returns to Rolland, having successfully destroyed German infiltration in Britain for the remainder of the war.
The film and novel are reasonably close. The principal difference is that the novel is less violent than the film, and, in particular, one scene, during the escape from the castle, where Smith saves a German guard from burning to death, presaged the non-lethal thriller vein MacLean explored in his later career. In the novel, the characters are more clearly defined, and slightly more humourous than the fast pace of the film and the grim acting of Burton and Eastwood portrayed. Two characters are differently named in the film: Carraciola is called Ted Berkeley and von Brauchitsch is named as Major von Hapen of the Gestapo (Despite von Hapen's uniform having SS collar flashes, this is correct as Gestapo officials also held SS rank). A budding love story between Schaffer and Heidi was also cut.
[edit] Principal cast
- Richard Burton : Smith
- Clint Eastwood : Schaffer
- Mary Ure : Mary
- Patrick Wymark : Turner
- Michael Hordern Rolland
- Donald Houston : Christiansen
- Peter Barkworth : Berkeley
- William Squire : Thomas
- Robert Beatty : Carnaby
- Brook Williams : Harrod
- Neil McCarthy : MacPherson
- Vincent Ball : Carpenter
- Anton Diffring: Kramer
- Ferdy Mayne : Rosemeyer
- Derren Nesbitt: Von Hapen
- Victor Beaumont: Weissner
- Ingrid Pitt: Heidi
These are the credits as they appear at the end of the movie. There are a number of differences between the characters' names in the film and the novel.
[edit] Production
- Director: Brian G. Hutton
- Producer: Elliott Kastner
- Screenplay: Alistair MacLean
- Cinematography: Arthur Ibbetson
- Music: Ron Goodwin
- Produced: 1968, by Winkast
- Certification: UK: PG / USA: PG-13 / Sweden: 15 yoa
- Subsequent cinema release dates: January 23, 1969 (Sweden), March 6, 1969 (West Germany), March 7, 1969 (Finland), March 12, 1969 (USA),
- 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,
- other scenes - Borehamwood Studios, Hertfordshire, England; filmed in spring 1968
[edit] Soundtrack
| Where Eagles Dare | ||
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| Soundtrack by Ron Goodwin | ||
| Released | January 4, 2005 | |
| Genre | Soundtracks Original Score Film music |
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| Length | 74:07 | |
| Label | Film Score Monthly | |
| Producer | Lukas Kendall | |
A soundtrack was released on Compact Disc in 2005, by specialty label Film Score Monthly, as part of their Silver Age Classics series, in association with Turner Entertainment. This soundtrack for Where Eagles Dare was a two disc release, the first CD being the film music, the second was 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
[edit] Cultural references
The TV cartoon, Animaniacs, parodied Where Eagles Dare, using Pinky and the Brain as principal characters.
Joe d'Amato used footage from this film in his movie Ator l'invincibile 2 (also known as Blademaster or Cave Dwellers). The footage can be seen during Ator l'invincibile 2's infamous hang glider scenes. When Cave Dwellers was used on the television show Mystery Science Theater 3000, this footage is noted by Crow.
The call-sign "Broadsword calling Danny Boy," as spoken by Burton, is sampled several times in the song "Bad Attitude" on the album Blue Rock by The Cross, a group founded by and featuring Roger Taylor, Queen's drummer.
This film is the subject of an Iron Maiden song, also of the same name. It is the opening track of their album Piece of Mind. On the concert album A Real Live Dead One, Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson introduces the song saying "Whatever the problem is, Clint Eastwood is gonna fix it ... 'Where Eagles Dare'!!!"
Electronica artist Tomcraft collaborated with Bloodhound Gang's Jimmy Pop on song titled "Broadsword Calling Danny Boy."
Inspiration for the cablecar stage of the PC video game Return to Castle Wolfenstein came from the similarly nerve-racking scene of the film.
During the video game Call of Duty the player can find a poster depicting a German soldier holding a flag with a swastika on it. The same poster is in the movie. It could also be argued that the British campaign is inspired by the movie.
[edit] Notes
- ^ MoviesUnlimited. MoviesUnlimited. Retrieved on 2007-11-20.
[edit] External links
- Filming Locations
- Where Eagles Dare at the Internet Movie Database
- Where Eagles Dare homepage (unofficial)
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